You’ve worked hard to create a great website, but does Google even show it? A new study reveals that over 60% of websites remain invisible to Google search engine users. This means potential customers won’t find you, and your business will miss out on valuable traffic.
Test whether your recent blog article or new website is already visible on Google.
IndexCheckr analyzed 16 million web pages and found that only 37% of them are fully indexed by Google. This is a worrying trend, especially considering that the web is the primary channel for finding customers today.
What is indexing?
Indexing is the process by which Google’s bots crawl and analyze web pages to add them to their search results. If your page is not indexed, it will not appear in search results, even if someone searches directly for your company name or the services you offer.
Why do pages remain unindexed?
The study highlights several reasons why web pages remain unindexed:
- Technical errors: Errors in the website’s code can prevent Google’s bots from crawling the page properly.
- Poor content: Google prefers high-quality and original content. If your page has duplicate or low-value content, it can hinder indexing.
- Too many links: Having too many external links on your page can confuse Google’s bots and prevent them from indexing the page properly.
- AI-generated content: The study shows that the number of unindexed pages has risen sharply in 2022 and 2023, which is likely linked to the spread of AI-generated content.
Is your website at risk?
In addition to unindexed pages, it is important to know that Google can also de-index previously indexed pages. This means the page is removed from search results. The study showed that as many as 21% of pages are de-indexed.
Why does Google de-index pages?
There can be several reasons:
- Page removal: If a page is removed from the web or its URL is changed, Google will remove it from its index.
- Content changes: If the page content has been significantly changed and no longer matches search queries, Google may de-index it.
- Technical issues: If a page has technical issues that prevent Google’s bots from crawling it, this can also contribute to de-indexing.
- Duplicate content: If subpages with similar content are detected in the website structure, Google will choose one of them and may de-index the most important one.
- Penalties: If Google detects that a page violates its guidelines (such as spreading spam or using forbidden SEO tactics), it may de-index the page.
Therefore, it is important to regularly monitor your website and make changes if necessary to ensure it remains in Google’s index and is visible to potential customers.
What to do?
If you want your website to be visible on Google, you must ensure it is technically sound, contains high-quality content, and is easily crawlable by Google’s bots. It is also important to submit your website to Google and regularly monitor its indexing status. For this, you should consider an SEO monitoring service, where tracking indexing status is a key component.
Don’t let your website lose visibility! Contact an SEO specialist and ensure your website is visible on Google and brings you new customers.
Link to the study: https://indexcheckr.com/resources/google-indexing