Indexability

Indexability — whether a page is technically able to enter a search engine's index; the absence of all barriers.

Indexability refers to whether a web page is technically in a state that allows it to be included in a search engine’s index. For a page to be indexable, there must be no technical barriers preventing it.

Checks that affect indexability:

• Does the page return a 200 OK HTTP status code?
• Is robots.txt blocking the page?
• Does the meta robots tag contain noindex?
• Is the X-Robots-Tag HTTP header imposing a restriction?
• Does the canonical tag point to another URL?
• Is the page behind a password-protected area?
• Is JavaScript-rendered content visible to the bot?

Being indexable does not guarantee that a page will be indexed. A page being technically free of obstacles is a prerequisite, but Google also considers signals such as quality, originality, and value when making the final indexing decision.

Tip: When investigating why a page is not indexed, first check its indexability. The “URL Inspection” tool in Search Console shows where a page gets stuck at each step of the indexing process.