Why isn’t my page showing up?
Choose where to spend your time before trying to get every page into Google.
Try the first questionA site owner wants every page indexed. Would you agree?
You have one session to investigate whether CheckMyTap needs indexing work. Compare its report with three other real reports from my own sites, then recommend what to inspect before anyone starts rewriting, deleting pages or requesting indexing. This assignment sets the priority; the counts do not tell you which site matters most.
Indexed means Google has put a page in its search index, making it eligible to appear in results. It does not guarantee a good position or clicks. “Not indexed” includes several different situations, some intentional.
| Site | Indexed | Not indexed |
|---|---|---|
| RatingPlate | 45 | 3 |
| CheckMyTap | 191 | 2K |
| UpOrbit | 76 | 267 |
| The Quack Report | 146 | 22 |
See why each answer is right or wrong
Not quiteCheckMyTap needs the most pages deleted because it has the largest not-indexed count.The size of the bucket does not tell you which pages are useful or why they were left out. Deleting pages without reading them could remove answers people need.
CorrectRead the reasons and check which pages should be indexed before choosing a fix.A redirect, an intentionally excluded page and an important page Google has not crawled need different decisions. The totals help you choose questions; they do not supply the answers.
Not quiteRequest indexing for every unindexed page in these example reports.Some pages should remain out of the index. A request also does not resolve an unwanted redirect, a blocked page or a page that does not answer a useful question.
RatingPlate: a small bucket with a specific explanation
RatingPlate’s export lists 45 indexed pages and 3 unindexed pages. All the unindexed pages are reported as “Page with redirect”: their URLs send visitors elsewhere. The export does not name the URLs or their destinations.
See why each answer is right or wrong
Not quiteRemove the redirects so the original URLs can be indexed.That could undo an intentional move. You first need to know what each original URL represents and whether its destination is the page people should reach.
CorrectCheck that the redirects are intended, then inspect the destination pages.An old URL that correctly sends people to its replacement is not automatically a defect. If the destination is wrong, fix the route; if the replacement should appear in search, inspect that destination’s status.
Not quiteThe report proves the whole site has no search problems.It explains one bucket, not the site’s search performance. An indexed page can still appear rarely, answer the wrong question or fail to attract clicks.
This is a check to make, not a claim that the redirects are correct. The summary export cannot establish that. For the separate question of whether an indexed page reaches searchers, use the search performance report.
CheckMyTap: the same label hides several decisions
CheckMyTap helps people look up water-quality information. Its report contains 2K unindexed pages. Read the breakdown before deciding what that number means.
| Reported reason | Pages |
|---|---|
| Not found (404) | 228 |
| Excluded by ‘noindex’ tag | 148 |
| Blocked by robots.txt | 6 |
| Page with redirect | 6 |
| Discovered - currently not indexed | 1.1K |
| Crawled - currently not indexed | 521 |
| Duplicate, Google chose different canonical than user | 1 |
“Discovered” means Google knows about a URL but has not crawled it yet. “Crawled” means Google fetched the page; this group has not been added to the index.
See why each answer is right or wrong
CorrectInspect important pages from the discovered and crawled groups, and check whether the other exclusions are intended.Choose pages the site actually wants people to find. Check their links, crawl access, index status and content before recommending technical work, an update or removal. The summary does not identify which pages need which action.
Not quiteDelete every crawled-but-unindexed page; Google has already rejected its content.The status does not establish that a page is poor or should be deleted. You have not seen the URLs, their content or the reasons behind the status.
Partly rightLeave everything alone until the whole report improves.Some pages may only need time, but waiting without checking important pages could leave an accidental block or a broken route unresolved. Name what you will inspect and when you will check again.
Understand the labels and choose a next action
An important page is blocked by mistake. If its live page has an unintended noindex instruction or crawl restriction, correct that setting, test the page again and check its status later. Keep an intentional restriction when the page should remain out of search.
An old URL redirects. If it sends people to the intended replacement, keep the redirect and inspect the replacement. If it sends them somewhere unrelated, correct the destination.
Google knows a useful page but has not crawled it. Check whether relevant pages link to it and whether it belongs in the sitemap. Add missing routes where appropriate, then monitor crawling. A link or sitemap entry does not guarantee indexing.
Google crawled a page but left it out. Inspect the recorded and live page, the preferred URL and what the content answers. Fix an identified technical problem; improve a missing answer; consider combining overlapping pages only after confirming they serve the same need. The report label alone does not choose among those actions.
A 404 means the page was not found. A noindex instruction asks search engines not to index a page. Robots.txt can restrict crawling. A canonical is a preferred version of a page; Google may choose a different version. Each can reflect an intentional choice or an accident, so inspect examples rather than treating the label as the diagnosis.
Review the change: did a smaller count mean improvement?
| Report date | Indexed | Not indexed | Known total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-09-20 | 252 | 2.3K | 2.5K |
| 2026-10-22 | 191 | 2K | 2.2K |
See why each answer is right or wrong
Not quiteThe lower not-indexed count proves the indexing work succeeded.The indexed count also fell. Some URLs disappeared from this report’s known total; the summary does not say which ones or why. A smaller excluded bucket is not proof that more important pages became indexed.
Not quiteThe lower indexed count proves the site lost valuable search traffic.The report does not measure visits or tell you whether the pages that disappeared were useful search destinations. You would need the affected URLs and their performance before making that claim.
CorrectBoth counts fell. Check which important pages changed status before calling it progress or a loss.This is the defensible report: describe the two movements, then investigate the pages behind them. Keep intentional removals separate from pages that still need to be found.
Read the video explanation
The not-indexed count fell.
The indexed count fell too.
Which pages changed?
Now apply the distinction to your own site. Start with a page someone needs, not a target percentage. Find its status in URL Inspection, compare Google’s recorded version with the live page where necessary, and decide whether its current treatment is intentional. A successful live test does not guarantee indexing.
These snapshots show movements in the reports, not what caused them. For a related example after a rebuild, check the missing page before treating the whole site.
Write your recommendation
For your assigned CheckMyTap investigation, write the short recommendation you would send to the site owner: what you would inspect, what you would leave alone for now, and which finding would change your action. Your notes stay on this page until you download them; they are not submitted or saved automatically.
Compare with a worked recommendation
For this assigned CheckMyTap session, I would inspect pages the owner wants people to find before recommending deletion or bulk indexing requests. Its October 22, 2026 report shows 2K unindexed pages across different reasons. I would correct an unintended block on an important page, but keep an intended exclusion. For discovered pages, I would check links and crawl access; for crawled pages, I would inspect the preferred URL and the answer before proposing an update or combination. RatingPlate’s 3 redirect rows illustrate why the same fix should not apply everywhere. CheckMyTap’s smaller unindexed total is not proof of improvement because its indexed count fell too. I would track whether the important pages reach the people who need them, rather than treat a smaller excluded count as the goal.
Compare the evidence and next check with your own. If you would choose a different action, explain what supports it.
Keep reading
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