A Google Search Console report showing which pages are indexed, excluded, or have errors.
Understanding the Index Coverage Report
The Index Coverage Report is one of the most valuable tools for SEO professionals and website owners. It’s available in Google Search Console and helps you understand how Google views and processes your site’s pages.
Countless websites struggle with visibility because of poor indexing health. This report acts like a diagnostic chart, showing how many of your pages are successfully indexed, which ones are excluded, and why. It’s the foundation for improving crawlability, resolving errors, and maximizing your site’s organic reach.
Index Coverage Report Across CMS Platforms
WordPress
For WordPress sites, the Index Coverage Report helps identify issues like blocked pages, “noindex” tags, or sitemap errors. Using SEO plugins such as Rank Math or Yoast, you can easily align your index settings with Google’s requirements and fix detected issues promptly.
Shopify
Shopify store owners can use the report to find product or collection pages that aren’t being indexed. Often, duplicate URLs or unnecessary filter pages cause index exclusions. Regular monitoring ensures your key products stay visible in search.
Wix
In Wix, the Index Coverage Report helps users track which pages Google can access. Sometimes dynamic pages or broken links lead to crawl errors. The report gives clear guidance on what needs fixing for consistent indexing.
Webflow
Webflow’s clean structure works well with Google indexing, but even then, missing canonical tags or blocked robots.txt rules can create problems. The Index Coverage Report quickly highlights these issues so you can take corrective action.
Custom CMS
For custom-built websites, the Index Coverage Report is essential for detecting crawl anomalies and server errors. It reveals indexing gaps early, helping developers fine-tune site architecture and ensure every important page is discoverable.
Index Coverage Report Across Industries
Ecommerce
Ecommerce sites rely heavily on product indexing. The Index Coverage Report ensures all essential product, category, and landing pages are indexed correctly. Unindexed product pages can mean lost visibility and revenue opportunities.
Local Businesses
For local sites, this report ensures that service, contact, and location pages are properly indexed. It’s critical for local SEO performance and helps businesses appear in geo-targeted searches.
SaaS
SaaS websites often have feature pages, pricing sections, and support articles. The Index Coverage Report identifies pages that Google isn’t indexing, which may be limiting visibility for key commercial or educational content.
Blogs
For bloggers, this report shows which posts are being indexed and which are excluded. It helps identify thin or duplicate content and guides decisions on updating or consolidating blog posts for better SEO results.
Do’s & Don’ts / Best Practices
When using the Index Coverage Report, focus on maintaining a healthy index status by submitting accurate sitemaps, fixing crawl errors, and ensuring internal links point to valuable pages. Avoid ignoring errors or assuming all pages are indexed just because they’re published.
Do’s:
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Submit an updated XML sitemap regularly.
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Review the report weekly to identify new errors or exclusions.
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Fix “Soft 404,” “Crawled – Currently Not Indexed,” or “Duplicate without user-selected canonical” issues quickly.
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Ensure every important page has quality, unique content.
Don’ts:
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Don’t block essential pages in robots.txt.
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Don’t overuse “noindex” tags on important URLs.
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Don’t ignore indexation warnings in Google Search Console.
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Don’t create unnecessary duplicate or low-value pages.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
A common mistake is misunderstanding the difference between crawled and indexed pages. Just because Google has crawled your site doesn’t mean the pages are in the index. Another mistake is neglecting to fix “Excluded” issues these often indicate duplicate pages, redirects, or thin content.
Failing to resubmit fixed pages for indexing or ignoring “Server Error (5xx)” and “Redirect Error” warnings also impacts overall site health. A disciplined review of the Index Coverage Report keeps your site well-optimized and visible in search results.
FAQs
What is the Index Coverage Report?
The Index Coverage Report is a tool in Google Search Console that shows which pages on your site Google has successfully indexed, and which ones it couldn’t, along with reasons.
What statuses does the Index Coverage Report include?
It includes Error, Valid with warnings, Valid, and Excluded each indicating whether pages are indexed, have issues, or are intentionally omitted.
Why should I use the Index Coverage Report?
It helps you spot crawling or indexing problems (e.g. 404s, noindex tags, server errors), so you can fix them and make sure your most important pages get indexed.
What does “Excluded” mean in this report?
“Excluded” pages are those Google chose not to include in its index (due to robots.txt blocks, canonical tags, noindex, duplicates, etc.).
How can I fix pages showing errors in the Index Coverage Report?
Inspect each error type with the URL Inspection tool, remove noindex/robots blocks where needed, fix 404s/redirect issues, and then request validation once fixed.
