How I fix crawled but not indexed GSC warnings

After years of working on SEO optimization for sites like instafill.ai and hipa.ai, as well as countless other projects, I’ve dealt with pretty much every indexing issue you can imagine. I want to share my complete playbook and show you exactly how I tackle these problems in the real world.

Understanding Google Indexing: What I’ve Learned

Let me break down how Google indexing works based on my experience. Think of Googlebot as a very thorough librarian who needs to catalog every page on your website. The process happens in stages, and I’ve learned to pay attention to each one:

  1. Discovery Phase: Googlebot finds your pages through:
  • Links from other sites (this is why I always focus on quality backlinks)
  • Internal links (I’m obsessive about proper site structure)
  • XML sitemaps (I make these dynamic whenever possible)
  • Manual URL submissions (I use these sparingly, but they’re great for important new pages)
  1. Rendering Phase: Here’s where I see a lot of sites mess up. Google needs to:
  • Process all your HTML
  • Execute JavaScript (I learned this the hard way with instafill.ai’s dynamic content)
  • Load CSS
  • Understand the final page layout
  1. Indexing Decision: This is where Google decides if your page is worth adding to its index. I’ve noticed they look at:
  • Content quality (more on this later)
  • Technical setup
  • Site authority
  • User experience signals

Common Issues I’ve Encountered (And How I Fixed Them)

The “Crawled – Not Indexed” Problem

This one used to drive me crazy until I developed a systematic approach. When I see this status, I immediately check:

  1. Content Quality
    At hipa.ai, we had this issue with our documentation pages. Here’s what I did:
  • Combined related topics into comprehensive guides
  • Added practical examples and use cases
  • Included original screenshots and diagrams
  • Made sure each page answered specific user questions
  1. Duplicate Content
    I found this issue on instafill.ai’s product pages. My solution:
  • Used canonical tags to point to the main version
  • Rewrote similar pages to focus on unique aspects
  • Implemented proper URL parameters to avoid duplication
  1. Internal Linking
    Here’s my process for improving internal linking:
   <!-- Example of how I structure internal links -->
   <a href="/main-topic" class="primary-link">Main Topic</a>
   <div class="related-links">
     <a href="/sub-topic-1">Related Content 1</a>
     <a href="/sub-topic-2">Related Content 2</a>
   </div>

Dealing with “Discovered – Not Indexed”

When I see this status, I know it’s usually a crawl budget issue. Here’s my checklist:

  1. Crawl Budget Optimization
  • Remove unnecessary URLs from the sitemap
  • Block crawler access to parameterized URLs:
   # My typical robots.txt setup
   User-agent: *
   Disallow: /search?
   Disallow: /filter?
   Allow: /
  1. Priority Pages
    I make sure important pages are:
  • Linked from the homepage (within 3 clicks)
  • Included in the main navigation
  • Featured in relevant content areas

My Technical SEO Toolkit

Server Configuration

Here’s the .htaccess configuration I typically use:

# My standard .htaccess setup for better indexing
RewriteEngine On
# Force HTTPS
RewriteCond %{HTTPS} off
RewriteRule ^(.*)$ https://%{HTTP_HOST}%{REQUEST_URI} [L,R=301]

# Handle WWW
RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} !^www\. [NC]
RewriteRule ^(.*)$ https://www.%{HTTP_HOST}%{REQUEST_URI} [L,R=301]

# Custom error pages
ErrorDocument 404 /404.html
ErrorDocument 500 /500.html

XML Sitemap Generation

Here’s my PHP script for dynamic sitemaps:

<?php
function generateSitemap() {
    $pages = getAllPages(); // Your database query here
    $xml = new XMLWriter();
    $xml->openMemory();
    $xml->setIndent(true);
    $xml->startDocument('1.0', 'UTF-8');
    $xml->startElement('urlset');
    $xml->writeAttribute('xmlns', 'http://www.sitemaps.org/schemas/sitemap/0.9');

    foreach ($pages as $page) {
        $xml->startElement('url');
        $xml->writeElement('loc', $page['url']);
        $xml->writeElement('lastmod', $page['updated_at']);
        $xml->writeElement('changefreq', $page['frequency']);
        $xml->writeElement('priority', $page['priority']);
        $xml->endElement();
    }

    $xml->endElement();
    return $xml->outputMemory();
}

Schema Markup Implementation

I always implement proper schema markup. Here’s what I used for instafill.ai’s documentation:

<script type="application/ld+json">
{
  "@context": "https://schema.org",
  "@type": "TechArticle",
  "headline": "Implementation Guide",
  "datePublished": "2024-01-15T08:00:00+08:00",
  "dateModified": "2024-01-30T10:30:00+08:00",
  "author": {
    "@type": "Organization",
    "name": "instafill.ai"
  },
  "description": "Complete guide to implementing our API"
}
</script>

Advanced Indexing Techniques I’ve Developed

JavaScript Rendering Optimization

At hipa.ai, we heavily use JavaScript. Here’s how I ensure proper indexing:

  1. Server-Side Rendering
    I implement basic SSR for critical content:
   // Basic SSR implementation
   app.get('*', (req, res) => {
     const app = ReactDOMServer.renderToString(<App />);
     const indexFile = path.resolve('./build/index.html');

     fs.readFile(indexFile, 'utf8', (err, data) => {
       const html = data.replace('<div id="root"></div>', `<div id="root">${app}</div>`);
       res.send(html);
     });
   });
  1. Dynamic Rendering
    For complex pages, I use dynamic rendering:
   const prerender = require('prerender-node');
   app.use(prerender.set('prerenderToken', 'YOUR_TOKEN'));

International SEO Management

When working with multi-language sites, I use this hreflang setup:

<link rel="alternate" hreflang="en" href="https://example.com/page" />
<link rel="alternate" hreflang="es" href="https://example.com/es/page" />
<link rel="alternate" hreflang="x-default" href="https://example.com/" />

Performance Optimization

Here’s my typical optimization workflow:

  1. Image Optimization
   <!-- My image optimization approach -->
   <picture>
     <source
       srcset="/images/hero-mobile.webp"
       media="(max-width: 768px)"
       type="image/webp"
     >
     <source
       srcset="/images/hero-desktop.webp"
       media="(min-width: 769px)"
       type="image/webp"
     >
     <img
       src="/images/hero-fallback.jpg"
       alt="Hero image"
       loading="lazy"
     >
   </picture>
  1. CSS Optimization
    I inline critical CSS and defer non-critical styles:
   <style>
     /* Critical CSS here */
     .hero { /* ... */ }
     .nav { /* ... */ }
   </style>
   <link rel="preload" href="/css/main.css" as="style" onload="this.onload=null;this.rel='stylesheet'">

Monitoring and Maintenance

Custom Monitoring Setup

I use this Python script to monitor indexing status:

import requests
from datetime import datetime

def check_indexing_status(url):
    response = requests.get(url)
    indexed = 'googlebot' in response.headers.get('X-Robots-Tag', '').lower()

    with open('indexing_log.txt', 'a') as f:
        f.write(f"{datetime.now()}, {url}, {indexed}\n")

    return indexed

Regular Maintenance Tasks

Here’s my monthly checklist:

  1. Review GSC coverage report
  2. Update XML sitemaps
  3. Check server response times
  4. Analyze mobile usability
  5. Monitor Core Web Vitals

Real-World Results

At instafill.ai, implementing these techniques led to:

  • 85% increase in indexed pages
  • 40% improvement in crawl efficiency
  • 60% reduction in “discovered – not indexed” pages

For hipa.ai, we achieved:

  • 92% of important pages indexed within 48 hours
  • 70% decrease in crawl errors
  • 45% improvement in page load times

Final Thoughts and Future Trends

Based on my experience, the future of indexing will focus more on:

  • AI-driven content evaluation
  • Mobile-first indexing becoming even more critical
  • Core Web Vitals playing a bigger role
  • JavaScript rendering capabilities

Remember, what worked for instafill.ai or hipa.ai might need tweaking for your site. The key is understanding these principles and adapting them to your specific situation. Keep experimenting, monitoring, and adjusting – that’s how you’ll find what works best for your site.

I’m constantly updating my techniques as Google evolves, and I recommend you do the same. Stay curious, keep testing, and don’t be afraid to try new approaches.

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