Guide
How to check if Google has indexed your website, and what to do if it hasn't
Short answer: Open Google Search Console, paste a page's address into the URL Inspection bar, and read the top line. "URL is on Google" means it's indexed. For the whole site, open the Page indexing report. A quick check without an account is to search Google for site:yourdomain.com. If a new page isn't there yet, Google says crawling can take a few days to a few weeks, and asking again doesn't speed it up.
When we rebuilt g-synq.com and put it live on 25 September 2026, the first thing I did was check what Google had indexed, page by page. It's the least glamorous part of SEO and the part that decides everything after it, because a page Google hasn't indexed can't appear for any search. Here's how I check it, with our own site as the example.
What does "indexed" mean?
Google finds a page, crawls it (fetches it), and then decides whether to add it to its index, which is the list of pages it can show in results. A page can be found but not fetched, fetched but not added, or added. Each of those has its own status in Search Console, and they need different responses.
How do I check with Google Search Console?
Search Console is free. You add your site as a property and prove you own it. Google's property help page (opened 30 September 2026) explains the two kinds: a Domain property covers all subdomains and both http and https, but verifying it needs a DNS record, while a URL-prefix property covers only addresses with the exact prefix you enter and allows several other verification methods. If you can add a DNS record, or your web person can, the Domain property gives you the fullest picture.
Then there are two checks:
- One page: paste its full address into the bar at the top and press Enter. Google's URL Inspection help says the tool shows Google's indexed version of the page. "URL is on Google" means the page has been indexed, can appear in results, and no problems were found. Google adds that this "doesn't guarantee that your page is appearing in Search results", so it isn't a ranking.
- The whole site: open the Page indexing report. It shows how many pages are indexed and how many are not, with the reasons listed. Google notes that the example list in the report is limited to 1,000 URLs and isn't guaranteed to show every URL in a status, which won't matter for a small business site.
Is there a quick check without Search Console?
Yes. Google's SEO Starter Guide says to search Google for your site with the site: operator, for example site:g-synq.com, and that if results point to your site, you're in the index. It's a rough check. It won't tell you why a page is missing, so use Search Console for that.
What do the "not indexed" statuses mean?
These come straight from Google's Page indexing report help, opened 30 September 2026.
| Status | What Google says it means | What I do |
|---|---|---|
| Discovered, currently not indexed | Google found the page but hasn't crawled it yet | Wait, and make sure other pages link to it |
| Crawled, currently not indexed | Google crawled it but didn't index it; it may or may not be indexed later, and there is no need to resubmit it | Improve the page, then wait |
| URL marked "noindex" | Google found a noindex instruction when it tried to index the page | Remove the instruction if you want it indexed |
| Page with redirect | A non-canonical address that redirects elsewhere, so it won't be indexed | Nothing, this is normal for old addresses |
| Duplicate without user-selected canonical | A copy of another page, with no preferred version declared, so Google chose one | Set a canonical tag pointing to the version you want |
What did this look like on a brand-new site?
g-synq.com went live on 25 September 2026, and the sitemap lists 20 pages as I write this section. On 29 September, Search Console showed that 17 of the 20 were indexed. The other three said "Discovered, currently not indexed": Google knew they existed but hadn't crawled them. That's the number I published on our SEO page.
I checked whether anything was blocking those three: the robots.txt file, noindex instructions, canonical tags and redirects were all fine, and every page returned a normal response. So it wasn't a fault. The three waiting pages were the ones with the fewest links pointing to them from the rest of the site, which fits what Google's starter guide says, that Google "primarily finds pages through links from other pages it already crawled". I can't see inside Google, so I'd call the link explanation likely, not proven.
Should I keep clicking Request indexing?
No. In the URL Inspection tool you can ask Google to index a page. Google says indexing "typically takes only a day or so, but can take much longer", that a request doesn't guarantee the page will appear, and that there's a daily limit. Its page on asking Google to recrawl says crawling can take "anywhere from a few days to a few weeks" and that requesting a recrawl more than once for the same URL won't get it crawled any faster.
For many pages, Google recommends a sitemap instead, especially if you've just launched a site. Ours is at g-synq.com/sitemap.xml and was submitted in Search Console.
What actually helps a new page get crawled?
- Links from your own pages. Link the new page from your home page or a page that's already indexed, not just from the footer.
- A sitemap that lists every page you want indexed, using the same address format as your canonical tags.
- Links from other sites, such as your business profiles and directory listings. Google finds pages through links, and a site nobody links to gives it little reason to hurry.
- A page worth indexing. Each page should answer one question on its own, not repeat another page.
None of this is a promise that Google will index a page by a certain date. Google's request page says that requesting a crawl "does not guarantee that inclusion in search results will happen instantly or even at all".
What to check, in order
| Step | Where | What you're looking for |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Search Console, Page indexing report | How many pages are indexed, and the reason for each that isn't |
| 2 | URL Inspection on your most important page | "URL is on Google", the last crawl date, and Google's chosen canonical |
| 3 | Your robots.txt and page source | No accidental block or noindex |
| 4 | Your own links | Every page linked from at least one page that is already indexed |
| 5 | Check again in a week | Whether "Discovered" pages have moved to "indexed" |
Once your pages are indexed, the next question is whether they show up in AI answers, which I cover in how to check your AI search visibility. And if you're wondering how long it takes before an indexed page brings anyone in, that's how long SEO takes. The indexing check is the first part of the audit described on the SEO page, and it works the same way whether your customers are in Singapore, the United States or Australia.