How do you know if a website is indexed by Google? This is a very common question. We base our work on the tool Ziptie.dev, but there are numerous other solutions available, some of which may be more or less effective than others. In this article, we will discuss the four most popular.
4 ways to check if a web page is indexed on Google
If you’re wondering, “is my website indexed on Google?”, there are several simple ways to find out. In this article, we will discuss four methods to determine whether your website is being indexed by Google, including using Google Search Console’s tools, a “site:” command, and ZipTie.dev.
How to check if my site is indexed with the Page Indexing Report on Google Search Console?
Page Indexing Report on Google Search Console provides information on which pages of a website have been indexed by Google and which ones have not. The report shows the number of indexed pages, and any indexing errors, and allows webmasters to request the indexing of specific pages.
How to check if a website has been indexed on Google using GSC?
- Log in to your Google Search Console account.
- Select your website from the list of properties.
- Click on the “Indexing” tab on the left-hand menu.
- Select “Pages” in the Index section.
Be careful! It’s a common issue that Google Search Console might display outdated information. For instance, reports like “Crawled, currently not indexed” may indicate that a URL is not indexed, but upon further investigation, it is found to be indexed. This can lead to confusion and hinder website optimization efforts.
Another issue is that Google Search Console does not give a full list of unindexed URLs. Each indexing report in GSC has a URL limit of 1000, which is sufficient for small websites but not practical for larger and more complex websites, particularly those in the e-commerce sector.
How to check if my site is indexed with the URL Inspection Tool on Google Search Console?
The URL Inspection Tool, in contrast to the Page indexing report, provides information about the indexing status of individual URLs on your website.
By using it, you will learn:
- whether the URL is indexed or not,
- if the page has errors that lead to not being indexed,
- and some more details about the URL.
You can also use the tool to request that Google re-crawl and re-index a specific URL.
To check whether your page is indexed in the URL Inspection Tool:
- Open your Google Search Console
- Put the URL you want to check in the “inspect any URL” box. We used for this:
3. You will get information below on whether the URL is on Google or not.
The URL we used is indexed and doing well. However, if the URL is not indexed, you will get information as below:
As you can see, it is specified why the page is not indexed. For more details, you need to unfold the “Page indexing” box.
You can also have a look at all pages that are not indexed and the reasons behind this. Go to Pages > Page Indexing > Why pages aren’t indexed report on Google Search Console.
How to check if my site is indexed with the “site:” command?
How to check if a website has been indexed on Google? Another way to check is by using the “site:” command, a Google search operator that displays a list of all pages from a specific website that has been indexed by their search engine.
To use this command, simply type in the Google search bar “site:” followed by the domain name of the website (e.g. “site:yourdomain.com”). It is also helpful to verify the indexing status of specific URLs. You can do this by entering the phrase “site:yourdomain.com/category” into the search engine.
How reliable is the “site:” command?
The “site:” command on Google search can be useful for checking the number of pages indexed on a website, but it is not always reliable or accurate. It does not always provide a full number of indexed pages. It can be efficient for smaller websites but the problem comes up with checking the indexation of complex websites with lots of pages. Bear in mind that in that case “site:” command may not display all of the pages, for example – sometimes it shows only around 25% of them.
While the “site:” command can be helpful, it is not always the most reliable. For a more accurate assessment of your website’s indexing status, turn to trusted solutions like ZipTie.dev and Google Search Console.
How to check if my site is indexed with the “site:” command with a specific keyword?
By adding a keyword or phrase after the website URL in the “site:” command, you are telling Google to search for pages that contain that keyword on the website. For example, if you enter “site:onely.com indexation” into the search bar, Google will only show results for pages on Onely.com that contain the keyword “indexation”.
If the page you are looking for appears in the search results and the keyword is highlighted in the search snippet, it means that Google has indexed that page and its content. That is a quick and easy way to see if your pages are being indexed by Google along with content containing specific keywords, but when in doubt – use other methods to confirm your page’s indexing status.
How to check if my site is indexed with the “site:” command and a text fragment from the web page
You can use the “site:” command plus a text fragment from a web page to check if Google has indexed a specific page on your website and if it contains a particular text fragment or phrase.
Remember, indexing takes time, so your pages will not show up on Google searches immediately after publication. However, if the page appears in the search results and the text fragment is highlighted in the snippet, it means that Google has indexed the page and it contains the text fragment.
This can be useful also when you have made changes to a page on your website and you want to see if Google has indexed the updated version.
How to check if my site is indexed with the ZipTie.dev?
ZipTie.dev offers three methods to check your website’s indexing status:
- Sitemap crawl, which enables a quick indexing check by scanning your sitemaps;
- URL List, where you can paste a list of URLs or upload a text file to verify specific categories or blog content indexing;
- Crawl feature examines your entire website. It can crawl through your site, discovering all internally linked URLs to ensure thorough indexing checks.
To check indexation in Ziptie.dev you must have an account, there is a 14 day free trial.
If you already have an account, click on the “Create an audit” button on the Ziptie.dev platform and choose one of the three options mentioned before.
How can I make sure my WordPress website is indexed on Google?
Sometimes you need to use plugins for optimizing WordPress pages, but when it comes to indexing checks – your WordPress website is no different than any other site.
If you want to ensure that your WordPress website is indexed on Google, just use the solutions we mentioned earlier.
Wrapping up
In conclusion, there are several methods to check if your web page is indexed by Google, including Google Search Console, the “site:” command and ZipTie.dev. Each method has its advantages and disadvantages – when choosing a tool, it is important to focus on its reliability and whether it is a good fit for your business.
If you are having trouble with indexing, we are here to help. Our experts will diagnose indexing issues on your website and maximize the number of pages that show up on Google Search.
After utilizing the suggested solutions and you have observed an indexation problem on your website, it is crucial to determine the cause. Check out my article to discover the most common reasons why websites are not indexed.
