Pages usually don’t get indexed by Google because Google can’t crawl them, Google is explicitly told not to index them, or Google finds the page too duplicative or low-value to add to the index.
In practice, most “not indexed” situations come from a small set of technical settings and content patterns, especially on WordPress sites common around Orlando service businesses. If you want us to review your setup end to end, our SEO services include a crawl and indexing check that pinpoints the exact blocker.
Common reasons pages stay out of Google’s index
- Accidental noindex: A meta robots tag, an HTTP X-Robots-Tag header, or a plugin setting (including “discourage search engines”) can block indexing sitewide or on specific templates.
- Blocked crawling: robots.txt rules, firewall rules, bot protection, IP restrictions, or blocked resources can keep Googlebot from fetching the page or rendering it.
- Wrong canonical signals: If the page points (or strongly implies) a different canonical URL, Google may index the other URL instead, leaving this one excluded.
- Redirects and status codes: 3xx chains, 4xx errors (not found), and 5xx server errors can prevent successful indexing, even if the page sometimes loads in a browser.
- Duplicate or near-duplicate pages: Location pages, tag archives, filter parameters, and copied service pages can look like repeats, so Google keeps only one version.
- Thin or unhelpful content: Pages with very little unique information (or that exist mainly for internal navigation) often get crawled but skipped for indexing.
- Soft 404s: Pages that return a 200 status but behave like an error page (for example, “no results” listings) can be treated as low-value and excluded.
- JavaScript rendering issues: If essential content is loaded only after heavy client-side scripts, or blocked resources prevent rendering, Google may not see the full page.
- Login or paywall barriers: Anything behind authentication, gated forms, or session-based navigation is commonly excluded.
- Staging and dev site leftovers: A staging subdomain copied to production with noindex, password protection, or blocked crawling is a frequent Orlando small-business rebuild mistake.
Fast way to diagnose the cause
Use Google Search Console’s URL Inspection on the exact URL you care about and read the “page indexing” outcome carefully. If the page is not indexed, the reason shown there is your starting point, not a guess. Then run the live test to confirm Googlebot can fetch and render the current version, not a cached past version.
| What you see in Search Console | What it usually means | What to do next |
|---|---|---|
| Excluded by “noindex” | Google is being told not to index | Remove the noindex at the page, template, or header level, then request indexing |
| Blocked by robots.txt | Crawling is disallowed | Edit robots.txt to allow the path, then retest and request indexing |
| Duplicate, Google chose different canonical | Google picked another URL as the main version | Fix canonicals, internal links, redirects, and consistency (www, http/https, trailing slash) |
| Alternate page with proper canonical | You told Google the canonical is elsewhere | Confirm that’s intentional, if not, change the canonical and internal links |
| Crawled, currently not indexed | Google saw it but skipped adding it | Add unique value, strengthen internal linking, and confirm it returns a clean 200 |
| Discovered, currently not indexed | Google knows it exists but hasn’t crawled or indexed yet | Improve internal links, include it in your XML sitemap, and remove crawl barriers |
| Soft 404 | The page looks like an error or empty result | Add real content or return the proper 404/410, then request indexing if kept |
| Not found (404) or server error (5xx) | Google cannot reliably access the page | Fix the URL, hosting, or server stability, then validate the fix in Search Console |
Two practical fixes we see constantly for local businesses: first, clean up canonical and redirect consistency (one preferred version of every URL, no chains), second, build stronger internal links so Google can find and understand your money pages without hunting. If canonical behavior is confusing, our FAQ on what a canonical tag is breaks down when to use it and when it backfires.
If you’re in a competitive Orlando niche like dental, law, or pest control, avoid mass-producing near-identical city pages. Instead, keep location coverage honest and add real proof and detail per page, like service-area boundaries, photos from local jobs, and FAQs that match what your team answers on the phone. That combination gets pages crawled, kept, and trusted more consistently.
