Cursor Codebase Index Stale After Rebase or Branch Switch
After a rebase or branch switch Cursor cites files and line numbers that no longer exist. The indexer fell behind your git state. Force a re-index and harden the workflow.
#Indexing
Articles tagged with #Indexing
Hreflang "No Return Tags": Fix the Missing Reciprocal Link
A crawler flags "missing return tags" on your hreflang cluster: page A points to B, but B doesn't point back to A. Make every reference reciprocal so Google stops ignoring the whole set.
JavaScript-Rendered Content Not Showing in Google Index
Your SPA renders fine for users, but Search Console shows the page indexed with an empty body. Why Googlebot's render pass loses your content, and the fastest fix.
Indexing Dropped After Google Switched Your Site to Mobile-First
Search Console confirms mobile-first indexing, then two weeks later valid pages and impressions fall 15-40%. The cause is almost always content the mobile HTML is missing. Here's how to diagnose and close the gap.
noindex,follow on Page 2+ Is Orphaning Your Deep Articles
An old SEO tip says put `noindex,follow` on paginated pages. Google treats long-term noindex,follow as noindex,nofollow, so articles reachable only via page 2+ quietly drop out of the index. Here is the fix.
Query-Parameter URLs Creating Duplicate Index Entries
Search Console reports thousands of duplicate URLs with `?utm_*`, `?sort=`, `?ref=` variants. Consolidate them with rel=canonical and clean internal links.
robots.txt Blocks CSS/JS and Indexing Quality Drops
You disallowed `/assets/` or `/_next/static/` to "save crawl budget," so Googlebot can't render the page. Fastest fix: stop blocking render resources and re-test in URL Inspection.
Sitemap Over 50,000 URLs: Split It With a Sitemap Index
A single sitemap.xml caps at 50,000 URLs and 50 MB uncompressed. Search Console says "Couldn't fetch" or only reads the first 50,000. How to split correctly and resubmit.
GSC Page Indexing by Folder: Debug Index Drift Fast
When your indexed-page count moves and you can't tell why, slicing Search Console by folder turns a vague problem into a specific URL pattern in about 15 minutes.
Internal Search Result Pages: Index or Noindex?
Internal search result pages should almost always be kept out of Google's index. Here is the rule, the two real exceptions, and how to deindex thousands of leaked /search?q= URLs cleanly.
Noindex vs Nofollow vs Disallow: When to Use Each
Three SEO controls, three different jobs. Pick the wrong one and you leak pages into the index, waste crawl budget, or hide content so thoroughly Google can never drop it.
Infinite Scroll Pages Don't Get Indexed
Only the first 20 items render in HTML; the next 100 load on scroll and Googlebot never sees them. Add crawlable ?page=n URLs to fix it.
Category Pages Not Indexed: Causes + Fix
Your /category/ pages sit at 'Crawled - currently not indexed' in Search Console while articles index fine. The fastest fix and the full diagnosis, verified June 2026.
Pages Suddenly Deindexed: Manual Action or Algorithm?
A well-ranking page vanishes from Google. Manual action or core-update demotion? How to tell which in 5 minutes, then the right fix for each.
Google Crawls My Homepage But Never the Article Pages
Search Console crawls your homepage daily but article pages stay at "Discovered — currently not indexed." Split discovery vs. crawl-budget failures and fix the right one.
Googlebot Crawl Spikes But Impressions Stay Flat
Crawl Stats shows Googlebot fetching hundreds of URLs a day, but the Performance report stays flat. Here is why crawling is not indexing, and how to unclog the middle.
Indexing Coverage Drops After a Site Redesign
After a redesign, Search Console's indexed page count falls. How to tell normal re-evaluation from real structural damage, and the exact checks to run.
Large Content Site Indexing Slowly
Thousands of pages, only a fraction indexed. How to tell if it's really crawl budget, and what actually moves the needle in 2026.
New Site Stuck in the Discovery Phase
Your new domain has been live 4-8 weeks, sitemap submitted, but every URL shows "Discovered – currently not indexed". Here is what actually moves the needle in 2026.
Orphan Pages: No Internal Links, So No Indexing
A URL sits in your sitemap but no page links to it. Google treats it as unimportant and parks it at 'Discovered — currently not indexed.' Fix: add 2+ contextual internal links from indexed pages.
Page Is Indexed but Has Zero Impressions in Search Console
URL Inspection says the page is on Google, but the Performance report shows 0 impressions. Here is what that state actually means and how to fix it.
Resubmitting URL Inspection Won't Force Google to Index a Page
You clicked "Request Indexing" 10 times and the URL still says "not on Google." Here is why URL Inspection isn't a force-index button, and what actually moves the needle.
Search Console Indexed Count Drops With No Obvious Reason
The Indexed line in the Search Console Pages report falls by 50–200 URLs overnight with no errors and no changes. Here is how to find which URLs left and decide what to do.
Sitemap URLs Missing From the Search Console Pages Report (2026)
Your sitemap is submitted and shows Success, but its URLs never appear in the Pages report. The exact checks that find the cause, with current GSC menu paths.
Tag Pages Indexed But Article Pages Lag: Causes + Fix Path
Google indexed every tag archive page, but your article pages are stuck in Discovered or Crawled - currently not indexed. Here is why, and the link-distribution fix.
Thin Pages Get Deprioritized by Google: Diagnose, Merge, or Remove
Google quietly stops crawling and indexing your thinnest pages with no penalty notice. Here is how to find them and decide whether to expand, merge, or remove each one.
I Used the Search Console Removals Tool — Now What?
Search Console's Removals tool only hides a URL from Google for about 6 months (180 days), then it returns. It is not a permanent delete or a re-crawl button. Here's how to get the result you actually wanted.
When "Slow Indexing" Is Actually Normal (Baseline Reference)
Realistic indexing-delay baselines for new sites, new sections, and post-redesign sites — plus the exact thresholds that mean it's a real problem.
Astro Sitemap Setup: hreflang, Exclusions, lastmod
Generate, validate, and submit sitemap.xml in Astro with @astrojs/sitemap — hreflang pairs, filter exclusions, lastmod, and what Google actually does with it (June 2026).
"Alternate Page With Proper Canonical Tag" Is Not an Error
Search Console flagged a pile of URLs as alternate pages. It's informational, not an error. Here's how to confirm it's fine and spot the one case that isn't.
Misconfigured Canonical: 4 Failure Modes + Fix Path
Wrong rel=canonical drops your real page from the index or ranks the wrong URL. Four broken patterns, Search Console checks, and the self-canonical fix.
Google Rewrote My Meta Description: Why and How to Get Yours Back
Google's SERP snippet isn't your meta description — usually it's too generic, missing the query keyword, duplicated, or the wrong length. Here's the fix.
Fix "Discovered - Currently Not Indexed" in Search Console (2026 Triage)
Updated June 2026 — what the Search Console status really means, the one diagnostic that tells you if it's a quality block or a crawl-budget block, and the exact robots.txt, internal-link, and sitemap fixes. For long-term indie-site authority strategy, see the linked guide.
Fix "Duplicate, Google Chose Different Canonical Than User"
You set a canonical, Google picked another URL and ignored you. Why it happens and the exact fix order, verified June 2026.
Hreflang Warning: Fix No Return Tags and Wrong Language Codes
Fix the most common hreflang errors: missing return tags, wrong language/region codes, and canonical conflicts. Includes the post-2022 diagnosis workflow now that Search Console's International Targeting report is gone.
Indexing Slow on a Brand-New Site: What Actually Moves the Needle
A new domain takes weeks to start indexing. Here's the fastest fix, what to ignore, and how to diagnose it in Search Console (June 2026).
Internal Links Not Discovered by Google: Diagnose and Fix
Pages exist and you've linked to them, but Search Console shows 0 internal links. Rule out the May-June 2026 GSC bug, then fix JS-rendered links, nofollow, and pseudo-links.
Fix "Crawled - Currently Not Indexed" From Thin Content
Thin, low-depth pages get excluded from Google's index. What "depth" means in 2026, why Information Gain decides it, and the exact fix-and-reindex loop.
Fix "Page Not Mobile-Friendly" in Search Console
Page flagged as not mobile-friendly? Add the viewport meta first, then fix tap targets, overflow, and font size. Verify with Lighthouse and URL Inspection.
Page Indexed But Not Ranking
URL Inspection says "URL is on Google" but it gets zero impressions. Diagnose which bucket you're in — depth, links, intent, cannibalization, or AI Overviews — and fix it.
Pages Dropped From Google's Index: Diagnose and Recover
A page that was indexed, ranked, and getting traffic suddenly shows 'URL is not on Google'. Here's how to tell technical regression from a core-update quality drop, and how to get it back.
Search Console "Not Indexed": Decode It by Status
The 9 most common "not indexed" statuses in Search Console and the exact fix for each, with current 2026 labels and timelines.
Submitted Sitemap But Not Indexed: 6 Real Causes (and Fixes)
Submitted a sitemap to Search Console weeks ago and still 0 pages indexed — or only a handful? Sitemap submission is not indexing. Here are the 6 real causes, how to tell which one you're hitting, and the exact fix for each.
Soft 404 in Search Console: Fix the 200-vs-404 Mismatch
Google flagged your page "Soft 404" — the server returns 200 but the page looks empty. Here is how to find which bucket you are in and return the right status.
Fix Structured Data Warnings in Search Console
JSON-LD warnings in Search Console — usually a missing recommended field, the wrong @type, a bad date, or a relative image URL. Here's the field-by-field fix.
Google Rewrote My Title in Search: Why It Happens and How to Fix It
Google replaces your title with the H1, site name, or body text when the title is too long, stuffed with pipes, or doesn't match the page. Here's how to win the title back.
Fix "URL is Unknown to Google" in Search Console
URL Inspection says "URL is unknown to Google." The page exists but Google never discovered it. Here is the fastest fix and why it happens.
"Crawled — Currently Not Indexed" — What It Actually Means and How to Fix It
Google crawled your page and decided not to index it. The reasons are almost always quality, duplication, or authority — not technical. The real fix list.
Discovered Not Indexed: A New Indie Site's Playbook
Why Google parks new indie-site URLs in 'Discovered — currently not indexed,' and the multi-week playbook that actually moves them: internal links, crawl budget, content depth, and a realistic timeline (June 2026).
Google Won't Crawl Your New Pages: The Diagnostic Checklist
A reproducible checklist for when you publish a page and Google ignores it. Run the steps in order, stop at the first failure. Verified for June 2026.
Next.js Sitemap and robots.txt: The App Router Way (2026)
A correct sitemap and robots.txt decide whether Google indexes your Next.js site. Here are the App Router idioms for both, verified against Next.js 16.
Reading the Search Console Pages Report Without Panicking
Search Console's Pages report shows 15 indexed vs. not-indexed reasons. Most scary-looking ones are intentional. Here is the triage order that actually matters.
Should Your Category Pages Be Indexed?
A decision framework for indexing category / hub pages: when they earn rankings, when they cannibalize articles, and how to turn empty categories into real landing pages.
Should Tag Pages Be Noindex? (For Most Sites, Yes)
When tag archives help SEO and when they hurt — plus the exact noindex pattern, the robots.txt mistake to avoid, and copy-paste code for WordPress, Astro, and Next.js.
Submit a New Site to Google — 2026 Four-Step Flow with Real Timelines
The shortest 2026 submission flow: verify a Domain property, submit a sitemap, request indexing on one URL, internal-link from the homepage — plus how long each step actually takes for a brand-new domain.
Submit a Sitemap in Google Search Console (and the 3 Status Lies)
The 2-minute sitemap submission flow, the exact meaning of Success / Has errors / Couldn't fetch, and how to fix each one.
Search Console URL Inspection: How to Read It Right
URL Inspection shows what Google has stored, when it last crawled, and why a page is or is not indexed. Read every field correctly, plus the API call to inspect in bulk (June 2026).
What a Sitemap Actually Is (and the Fields Google Ignores)
A plain-English explainer for sitemap.xml as of June 2026 — what it does, what it does not do, and the fields most generators stuff in that Google never reads.
Crawled — Currently Not Indexed: Why Google Skipped Your Page
Search Console says 'Crawled — currently not indexed'? Google fetched the page and chose not to index it. Here are the real causes in order, the fastest fix, and how to confirm it worked.
noindex vs robots.txt: Which to Use (and the Trap That Breaks Both)
noindex blocks indexing; robots.txt blocks crawling. They are not interchangeable. Here's a decision table, the conflict that silently leaves pages indexed with no snippet, and how to confirm the fix in Search Console.
Submit a New Website to Google: robots.txt + Manual Indexing Playbook
The full 2026 submission playbook: Search Console verification, sitemap, robots.txt Sitemap directive, the ~10/day Request Indexing quota, IndexNow for Bing, and realistic indexing timelines.
New Website Not Showing on Google? 10 Causes and the Fast Fix
Site live for a week and still not on Google? Start with URL Inspection, then work the 10 real causes: robots.txt, noindex meta, X-Robots-Tag header, bad canonicals, JS-only rendering, the new-domain wait, and thin content.