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How to Check and Resolve Google Deindex Issues

Last updated: Nov 16, 2022

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Have you ever been unable to find a website on the search page? Most likely, it is caused by deindexing. Google has a hand in determining which sites may or may not appear in the SERP in this case.

Therefore, you need to know how to check Google deindex so that the issue of a website not appearing on the search page can be properly resolved. If not, then website traffic and market share will decrease drastically.

In order to avoid these losses, learn the full guide on how to check for Google deindex and how to deal with it below.

What is Deindex?

Figure 1: Illustration of Google's data storage index. The index stores all website data and will help it be displayed on the SERP.

Deindex from Google is a situation when a website is not stored in Google's index or database. If this happens, users will not be able to find the site on Google's search results page (SERP).

The reasons for a website's deindexation by Google can vary, but generally, it is because the website violates the provisions in the Google Webmaster Guidelines. With deindexing, Google hopes to ensure that low-quality websites do not appear in the search results. It is done to provide a positive user experience.

The deindex condition is certainly very detrimental to the website, especially if it is experienced by important pages that can increase sales. If your site is deindexed, it will lose the potential for organic traffic that comes from search engines.

In order to prevent or fix important pages that have been deindexed, you need to know how to check deindex and how to deal with them.

Factors that Cause Deindex

In general, there are two reasons why a website is deindexed by Google. First, you made a mistake, so Google can't index it. Second, human checkers from Google found violations of the Google Webmaster Guidelines, so they took a manual action.

You don't need to worry about deindexing if it's the former cause. It's possible that you accidentally provided a noindex directive that prevents Google from indexing it. The solution is simply to remove it from the <head> section of your page's HTML code.

However, if the deindex occurs because your website has been hit by a manual action, handling it will be more difficult. The reason is that you have to find out what violations have been committed on the website, fix them, and ask Google for a review.

To understand how to check deindex, you must first identify the factors that cause it. Some of the reasons Google provides a manual action on a website are as follows:

Low Quality Content

The meaning of "low-quality content" here is content that is automatically generated using auto-generated or "content spinning." Content like this is created by robots by taking various pieces of content on the internet and modifying a few words, sentences, or paragraphs to produce slightly different content.

Spamming content that focuses on writing length without regard to its relevance to the topic, too many repetitions of words, and bad grammar also cause content to be considered low quality by Google.

In order to avoid this, you should use professional content writing services so that your website content is of high quality and SEO-friendly.

Unnatural Backlinks

Backlinks are indeed one of the factors that can increase ranking on Google. It's just that backlinks that are obtained unnaturally will have the opposite effect.

Examples of practices for getting unnatural backlinks include spam blog commenting, getting a lot of links in a short period of time, low-quality guest posting, and buying or exchanging links.

Websites that are detected to have unnatural backlinks by Google's algorithm will automatically suffer a decrease in their ranking. Furthermore, it may even be deindexed from Google's SERP.

Cloaking Detected

As a part of black hat SEO, cloaking is a trick that you should avoid if you don't want to be deindexed. Cloaking is a manipulation method that involves providing different content or URLs between the results on search engines and the page the user visits.

For example, the page that appears in search results is an article on health tips, but the page that appears when opened is a sales page for medicinal products. Cloaking practices will definitely result in manual action and cause your website to be deindexed.

Unsafe Websites

Google does not want to put its users at risk by displaying websites whose security is not guaranteed in search results. Such an action is taken because Google may think the website has been hacked by hackers, and there are scripts that can spread malware to website visitors.

When users visit websites that indicate malware, they will get a warning from Google. Content whose security is in doubt on website pages that do not use HTTPS is also likely to be removed from Google's index.

Keyword Stuffing

Keyword stuffing is one of the old methods in SEO where content writers will insert as many keywords as possible into their writing without caring about the relevance or convenience of readers.

Content that contains keyword stuffing is created for the purpose of search engines, not for readers. Thus, content like this falls into the category of low-quality content and is rarely indexed by Google.

Inactive Domains

Domains that are inactive because they have not been updated will be automatically removed from the Google index. Therefore, make sure you always extend the expiration date of the domain if you still intend to use it.

Troubles in the Server

If the server experiences problems so that the website cannot be accessed for a long time, Google will deindex the website even though the server is back to normal. This could have occurred because the server that initially experienced problems and was then reactivated was unable to restore all website data.

In order to avoid this, you need to invest in a website monitoring service so that you will get alerts when there is a problem with the server.

Not Updated on the Recent Google’s Algorithm

Google regularly updates its algorithm to improve the quality of search results. Sometimes, updating the algorithm can affect ranking if the website doesn't adapt to the new one. In fact, your website can be deindexed if you don't follow up on the newest algorithm update.

For example, Google updated its algorithm regarding mobile friendliness in 2015. It caused many websites, especially those that were not mobile-friendly, to experience a drop in ranking or even disappear from the SERP.

How to Check Deindex

If you feel that there are website pages that are deindexed, you need to make sure by checking Google deindex. To learn it, you can follow the guide below:

check domain's name — Figure 3: Screenshot of the Google search results page. You can learn how to check Google deindex through the Google search feature.

The first way to check deindex is quite easy. All you have to do is open the Google search page, then enter the query "site:domainname.com" in the search field.

If the search results on the SERP show a list of the website pages you are looking for, then the website has already been indexed by Google. On the other hand, if your page doesn't appear, chances are that the website isn't indexed, and you need to find out why.

You can also do a more specific search by using a specific URL or page title. An example is "site:domainname.com/category/article-title" or "site:domainname.com article title".

Check on Google Search Console

Figure 4: Screenshot of the page indexing page in Google Search Console. Find out how to check deindex through this feature in GSC.

As an SEO specialist, you certainly have access to the managed Google Search Console (GSC). This tool can be a way to check for Google deindex. You can open the Page Index section, then see the status related to indexing at the bottom.

You can find out what causes pages not to be indexed and what pages are affected. If there is a page that you want to appear in the SERP but it's not indexed, you need to find out the cause and fix it.

Apart from that, another way to check deindex is to check the Manual Action page in GSC. If there is a warning from Google, you must immediately fix the website and make a request for a review.

How to Resolve Deindex Issues

You already know how to check deindex and the factors that cause it. Next, you may want to know how to solve the issues. For that, you learn the following steps to fix Google's deindexing problems:

Ask for Google’s Reconsiderations

After knowing the cause of the deindex due to a manual action by Google, you can find out which pages are affected. Usually, Google will provide this information in the action manual that they provide at GSC.

If all affected pages have been corrected, you can submit a review by clicking the "Request Review" button in the manual action report. In the request, describe the repair you've made. Ensure that the description meets the following:

Describe the problems that occur on the website.
Describe the steps you took to fix the problem.
Provide documentation of the results of the efforts you have made.

The review process will take some time. You will receive updates regarding the progress of the review via email.

Resubmit Website Sitemap

You know how to check deindex on GSC, and the cause is not due to manual action. If so, it's possible that the cause of the deindex is due to another problem, such as a problem on the server. To solve this, try resubmitting your website sitemap so that Google can carry out the indexing process again.

Look for Alternative Methods to Get Traffic

Websites cannot rely solely on organic traffic from search results. If a problem such as deindexing occurs, the website will experience a drastic decrease in traffic, which can hinder business operations.

An alternative way to solve such an issue is to gain traffic from other sources, such as social media and email marketing. With these two platforms, your website can still attract organic traffic.

Thus, the end of the complete guide about deindex, its factors, how to check it, and how to solve the issues that come with it. We hope that this guide will help you overcome problems related to indexing.

Don't hesitate to use SEO services if you need further assistance regarding how to check deindex and how to deal with it.

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