Pages don’t rank even after being indexed? Ask Google!

25 March 2025 10:08 AM

Imagine this: You have spent that whole day creating a webpage for your website with the most inspiring, plagiarism-free content and it gets indexed by Google right away. But it still doesn’t show your page on the search results pages. You keep on checking your Google Search Console, and your page is successfully indexed. But when you search for relevant keywords, your page is nowhere to be found on the search engine result page (SERP). Frustrating, right?

Many website owners and SEO professionals encounter this issue. If your pages are indexed but not ranking, it’s time to take a closer look at what might be happening under the hood.

What Is Google Indexing?

Before we dive into the possible reasons your page isn’t ranking, let's understand how Google indexing works. When Googlebot crawls your website, it discovers and analyzes the pages to store them in its database, known as the Google Index. If a page is indexed, it means Google acknowledges its existence and has stored it in its vast repository.

However, being indexed doesn’t guarantee rankings or organic traffic . Google still needs to determine whether your page deserves to appear at the top of search results based on relevance, quality, and other ranking factors.

Why Isn’t Your Indexed Page Ranking?

Even if your page is indexed, several factors can prevent it from ranking high or appearing at all on the SERP. Here are some common reasons:

Low-Quality or Thin Content

Google prioritizes content that provides real value. If your page lacks depth, originality, or useful information, it may struggle to rank. For instance, a 200-word product page with little description may be indexed but will likely not rank well against a competitor with a detailed 1,000-word guide on the same product.

Keyword Cannibalization

If multiple pages on your website target the same keyword, they may be competing against each other instead of ranking together. Google can struggle to determine which page to prioritize, leading to lower rankings for all of them.

Lack of Backlinks and Authority

Google considers backlinks as a trust signal. If your indexed page has zero or very few backlinks, it may not have enough authority to outrank competitors with more established link profiles.

Technical SEO Issues

Technical Search Engine Optimization issues can wreak havoc on your website. Issues like:

Slow page speed
Poor mobile optimization
Incorrect canonical tags
Blocked crawling via robots.txt

These factors make it harder for Google to properly evaluate and rank your page.

Lack of Search Intent Alignment

The public uses the internet to look for perfect and factual information. If someone searches “best smartphones 2024” and your page only lists a single smartphone review, Google may not consider your material to be comprehensive enough to rank highly.

Google’s Algorithm Updates

Keep an eye on Google. It keeps updating many of the terms and conditions and also performs several algorithm changes several times every year. If a recent update changes how rankings are calculated, some pages may drop in position or struggle to appear despite being indexed.

What Can You Do About It?

Now that we’ve identified possible reasons, here is a series of steps you can take if you want to rank your website on the top SERPs:

Improve Content Quality
Address Keyword Cannibalization
Strengthen Backlink Profile
Fix Technical SEO Errors
Align with Search Intent
Monitor Algorithm Updates

Key Takeaways

Indexing ≠ Ranking:Getting your page indexed doesn’t mean it will start ranking on the 1st page as well. Keep your expectations in check!
Content Quality Matters:Using Chat GPT content and plagiarized content affects your indexing process.
SEO Is More Than Keywords:Backlinks, technical SEO , and site authority play crucial roles in rankings.