Webmaster Tools Indexed pages vs. Sitemap?
-
Looking at Google Webmaster Tools and I'm noticing a few things, most sites I look at the number of indexed pages in the sitemaps report is usually less than 100% (i.e. something like 122 indexed out of 134 submitted or something) and the number of indexed pages in the indexed status report is usually higher. So for example, one site says over 1000 pages indexed in the indexed status report but the sitemap says something like 122 indexed.
My question: Is the sitemap report always a subset of the URLs submitted in the sitemap? Will the number of pages indexed there always be lower than or equal to the URLs referenced in the sitemap?
Also, if there is a big disparity between the sitemap submitted URLs and the indexed URLs (like 10x) is that concerning to anyone else?
-
Unfortunately not, the closest you'll get is selecting a long period of time in Analytics and then exporting all the pages that received organic search traffic. If you could then cross check them with your list of URLs on your site it could provide you with a small list. But I would still check them in Google to make sure they aren't indexed. As I said it's not the best way.
-
Is there a reliable way to determine which pages have not been indexed?
-
Great answer by Tom already, but I want to add that probably images and other types of content whom are mostly not by default included in sitemaps could also be among the indexed 'pages'.
-
There's no golden rule that your sitemap > indexed pages or vice versa.
If you have more URLs in your sitemap than you have indexed pages, you want to look at the pages not indexed to see why that is the case. It could be that those pages have duplicate and/or thin content, and so Google is ignoring them. A canonical tag might be instructing Google to ignore them. Or the pages might be off the site navigation and are more than 4 links/jumps away from the homepage or another page on the site, make them hard to find.
Conversely, if you had lots more pages indexed than in your sitemap, it could be a navigation or URL duplication problem. Check to see if any of the pages are duplicate versions caused by things like dynamic URLs generated through search on the site or the site navigation, for example. If those pages are the only physical pages that you have created and you know every single one has been submitted in a sitemap - and so any other indexed URLs would be unaccounted for, that may well be cause for concern, so check nothing is being indexed multiple times.
Just a couple of scenarios, but I hope it helps.
Browse Questions
Explore more categories
-
Moz Tools
Chat with the community about the Moz tools.
-
SEO Tactics
Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers
-
Community
Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!
-
Digital Marketing
Chat about tactics outside of SEO
-
Research & Trends
Dive into research and trends in the search industry.
-
Support
Connect on product support and feature requests.
Related Questions
-
How important is Lighthouse page speed measurement?
Hi, Many experts cite the Lighthouse speed as an important factor for search ranking. It's confusing because several top sites have Lighthouse speed of 30-40, yet they rank well. Also, some sites that load quickly have a low Lighthouse speed score (when I test on mobile/desktop they load much quicker than stated by Lighthouse). When we look at other image rich sites (such as Airbnb, John Deere etc) the Lighthouse score can be 30-40. Our site https://www.equipmentradar.com/ loads quickly on Desktop and Mobile, but the Lighthouse score is similar to Airbnb and so forth. We have many photos similar to photo below, probably 30-40, many of which load async. Should we spend more time optimizing Lighthouse or is it ok? Are large images fine to load async? Thank you, Dave bg_05.jpg
Reporting & Analytics | | erdev0 -
Mobile first indexing but can you force Google to index your desktop url instead?
Hi Guys So I just wanted to know if there is an option to force google to index your desktop version instead of the mobile version after the mobile first indexing by Google. Cheers Martin
Reporting & Analytics | | martin19700 -
Sudden Drop in Index Status on GSC
Hi all, We've seen a sudden drop in index status on GSC from 19,000 to 12,000. Rankings, referring domains, organic traffic etc. have not changed. However, we have implemented a huge number of redirects and done a site migration from http to https in the past year. Could this have an effect? Thanks!
Reporting & Analytics | | SMVSEO0 -
Search Keywords, Meta Keywords and Meta Descriptions; Keeping Webmaster Tools Current
What are Search Keywords, Meta Keywords and Meta Descriptions? What exactly is the difference between them and which one is more important? In regards to Webmaster Tools, if we delete a page or a product, it still shows up in Search Analytics. How can we update Webmaster Tools so as to keep it current with our website? Lastly, again in regards to Webmaster Tools, in Search Analytics. At the moment we put relevant queries into the Meta Description of low ranking pages, in order to raise the position of the page. Is this the right way to handle queries? Should we be putting the queries into the Meta Description or the Meta Keywords?
Reporting & Analytics | | CostumeD0 -
Does analytics track an order two times by refresh on the confirmation-page?
Hi there,
Reporting & Analytics | | Webdannmark
I have a quick question. Does Google analytics track an order two times, if the user buys a product, see the confirmation page and then click refresh/click or back and forward again?
The order/tracking data must be the same, but i guess the tracking code runs for every refresh and therefore tracks the order two times in Analytics or does analytics know that it is the same order? Someone that can clearify this?Thanks! Regards
Kasper0 -
Why did my home page fall off of google rankings?
My home page at www.smt-associates.com has been ranked well for various key word phrases for years. I've tried to optimize it for the search "Crystal Lake CPA Firm" and it always had ranked number 1-2. Now it doesn't even rank in the top 5 pages (actually I don't know which page it falls on). I did an on-page report card and it has an A rating. So, what is preventing Google from ranking my home page on page 1? There's not that much competition so this should be an easy ranking for me. I don't know how ling this has not been listed, but I did modify my site about 12-18 months ago with a new WP theme. Could the theme be the problem?
Reporting & Analytics | | smtcpa0 -
Correlation between google and yahoo indexed pages
My blog ocpatentlawyer.com has about 130 pages or so. Google has indexed most if not all of the posts and pages. In contrast, yahoo has only indexed about 1/4 of the pages and posts. Are there any actions that can be taken based on this information? For example, if i prepare a blog post should I prepare it so that it will most likely be indexed into yahoo knowing that google will also index it. If so, how can i prepare blog posts that will most likely be indexed into yahoo's index?
Reporting & Analytics | | jamesjd70