Resolving the "Crawled – Currently Not Indexed" Issue on Your WordPress Site

Resolving the "Crawled – Currently Not Indexed"

Issue on Your WordPress Site

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Introduction
Ensure Search Engine Visibility Is Enabled
Review Common Causes and Solutions for Indexing Issues
- Check for “Noindex” Tags
- Verify Your Robots.txt File
- Generate and Submit an XML Sitemap
- Improve Internal Linking
- Request Indexing Through Google Search Console
Additional Tips for Effective Indexing
- Use an SEO Plugin
- Monitor Google Search Console
- Address Technical Issues
Patience Is Key

If your WordPress site has a “Crawled – Currently Not Indexed” problem, begin with basic steps before moving into deeper troubleshooting. One of the oft-overlooked steps is to check your WordPress settings.

Check That Search Engine Visibility Is On

Log in to the WordPress dashboard and go to Settings > Reading. Look for the Search Engine Visibility section at the bottom of the Reading section. Deselect any checkbox that is checked saying “Discourage search engines from indexing this site”. This option is quite often enabled by default for new WordPress installations, to prevent search engines from crawling and indexing a site. Making sure it is deselected is perhaps the most important first action to correct indexing issues.

Improve Page Visibility with Yoast SEO

Yoast SEO is an advanced WordPress plugin that will give you much control over the visibility of your site’s search engine. It means you can state which pages should be shown in a search and those that aren’t. It is easy to change individual pages or posts to be ‘indexed’ or ‘noindex’ through altering the ‘Advanced’ settings within the plugin, leading search engines to know which they should do. This feature is particularly useful for managing the SEO of your site, making sure that only relevant content is indexed.

Moreover, Yoast SEO comes with tools to manage meta descriptions, canonical URLs, and XML sitemaps, further helping your site’s SEO performance. Regular updates and an easy-to-use interface make it a valuable asset for beginners and experienced users alike aiming to optimize their website’s presence in search engine results.

Review Common Causes and Solutions for Indexing Issues

Even if the visibility settings are properly configured, other reasons may still prevent pages from being indexed. Here are key areas to investigate and optimize:

1. Remove “Noindex” Tags

Check your website pages to ensure they do not contain meta tags with the “noindex” directive. These tags instruct search engines not to index specific pages, so you should remove them from any page you want to be indexed.

2. Verify Your Robots.txt File

Verify your robots.txt file to ensure that it’s not blocking pages that should be indexed. Ensure the file is set up correctly so that search engine crawlers can access important content on your site.

3. Create and Submit an XML Sitemap

Use an SEO plugin such as Yoast SEO or Rank Math to make an XML sitemap. This can be submitted to Google Search Console to help the search engines to find your site’s structure and then index your pages better.

4. Improvement in Internal Linking

Strengthen your internal linking structure of your site, which guides the search engine to the important pages of your site. It improves discoverability and chances of getting indexed.

5. Index Request through Google Search Console

Use the URL Inspection tool in Google Search Console to manually request indexing for specific pages that aren’t being indexed. This is particularly helpful for newly updated or created content.

Bonus Tips for Successful Indexing

SEO Plugin: Install an SEO plugin like Yoast SEO or Rank Math, which makes the management of sitemaps, meta tags, and other SEO settings much easier, thus not likely to go wrong.
Monitor Google Search Console: Monitor the Search Console for indexing issues or crawl errors and make corrections on the same.
Technical Problem Solution: Identify technical issues, like slow loads, server errors, or incorrectly set up redirects, which can be causing problems with crawling and indexing.

Patience Is a Virtue

Even after that, there is an indexing time delay. Anticipate Google re-crawling your website and monitoring the progress by keeping tabs in Google Search Console. Good to solve technical and structural errors ahead so that your WordPress is indexed the right way and appears as needed.

Resolving the "Crawled – Currently Not Indexed" Issue: Summary Table

Step	Description	Tools/Actions
Ensure Search Engine Visibility	Check the Search Engine Visibility option in Settings > Reading. Uncheck "Discourage search engines".	WordPress Dashboard, Settings > Reading
Check for "Noindex" Tags	Ensure that meta tags with the "noindex" directive are not present on important pages.	View page source, SEO plugins like Yoast SEO or Rank Math
Verify Robots.txt File	Confirm the robots.txt file isn’t blocking pages.	Access via file manager or SEO plugin; use Google Search Console’s Robots.txt Tester
Generate and Submit XML Sitemap	Create an XML sitemap and submit it to Google Search Console.	SEO plugins like Yoast SEO, Rank Math
Improve Internal Linking	Link related pages and ensure important pages are easy to discover for crawlers.	WordPress editor, SEO audit tools
Request Indexing	Manually request indexing for specific pages using Google Search Console’s URL Inspection tool.	Google Search Console > URL Inspection
Use an SEO Plugin	Automate sitemaps, meta tags, and indexing settings with plugins like Yoast SEO or Rank Math.	WordPress plugins like Yoast SEO, Rank Math
Monitor Google Search Console	Regularly check for crawl errors, indexing issues, or sitemap status updates.	Google Search Console
Address Technical Issues	Fix server errors, optimize page loading times, and ensure redirects are configured correctly.	Tools like GTmetrix, Google PageSpeed Insights, and hosting provider settings
Wait for Indexing	Allow Google time to re-crawl your site after making changes.	Monitor progress in Google Search Console