5 Most Common Google Indexing Issues on Large Websites

Even the best digital marketing agency in the game will agree that running large websites with thousands of pages and URLs can be tricky. Site growth comes with its own set of SEO challenges, and page indexing often ranks at the top.

A poorly indexed website is a bit like sailing in the dark—you might be out there, but no one can spot you.

Google admits it, too. To them, the web is infinite, and proper indexing gives the search engine a compass to navigate. Of course, since the web is boundless, not every page can be indexed. So, when traffic dips, an indexing issue could be the culprit. From duplicate content to poorly made sitemaps, here’s the lowdown on Google’s most common indexing issues, with insights from our very own SEO expert.

1. Duplicate Content

It’s one of the most common Google indexing issues on larger sites. “In simple words, it’s content that’s often extremely similar or identical on several pages with a website, sometimes across different domains,” says First Page SEO Expert Selim Goral. Take an e-commerce website, for instance; with countless product pages and similar descriptions, getting indexed can be a real headache.

The fix? Use tools like canonical tags. They help indicate specific or preferred pages. “Add meta no-index tags to the pages with thin content and ensure your taxonomy pages have no-index tags. Adding rel nofollow tags to faceted navigations will also show search engine bots whether you care about faceted pages or not,” suggests Goral. It also helps to merge your content, making it concise enough to fill one page.

2. Crawl Budget Limitations

What exactly is a crawl budget? “It’s just the number of pages a search engine crawls and indexes on a website within a given timeframe,” explains Goral. Larger websites need more resources to achieve a 100% indexing rate, making an efficient crawl budget critical. When your crawl budget is drained, some essential pages, especially those deeper in the site’s structure, might not get indexed.

So, how do you tackle this? For starters, use robots.txt to guide bots to crawl specific pages. Block pages that are not critical for search using robots.txt; this lowers the chance of them being indexed. Goral suggests monitoring your log files and ensuring search engine bots are not stuck on a page(s) while they try to crawl your website.

3. Quality of Content

Google’s Gary Illyes says the final step in indexing is ‘index selection,’ which relies heavily on the site’s quality based on collected signals. “These signals vary, and there is not one simple formula that works for every SERP (Search Engine Result Page). Adding information to a service page can sometimes improve rankings, but it can also backfire. Managing this balance is a key responsibility of an SEO tech”, says Goral.

One of Google’s priorities this year is to crawl content that “deserves” to be crawled and deliver only valuable content to users, which is why focusing on the quality of your site’s content is critical.

4. XML Sitemap Issues

We cannot emphasise this enough: sitemaps are essential to SEO success, so it’s important to execute them well. Google says XML sitemaps work best for larger websites, but with frequently changing URLs and constant content modifications, incomplete sitemaps are inevitable and can mean missing pages in search results.

The fix? “Sitemap issues are one of the most common Google indexing issues. If your sitemap is too big, try breaking it into smaller, more organised sitemaps. It makes it easier for search engines and their bots to process your page”, suggests Goral.

5. Javascript and AJAX Issues

Many large websites rely on JavaScript and AJAX because they’re crucial for creating dynamic web content and interactions. However, using these technologies can sometimes lead to indexing issues, especially with new content.

For example, search engines might not immediately render and execute JavaScript, inevitably delaying indexing. Also, if search engines can’t interpret or access AJAX dynamic content, it might not get indexed at all.

Here’s what Goral shares, “Although Google claims they’re capable of indexing and rendering Javascript pages, the main worry here is effectiveness. It can take ages for Google to crawl or index those Javascript pages, and nobody has that much time. If your website is built with a Javascript framework, make sure you render everything on the server side before you go live,” he says.

“If you load your content via Javascript, ensure it has been crawled and indexed. You can easily find out whether your content has been indexed by searching Google for the piece of content you posted,” he adds.

Minimise Indexing Problems: Stay Ahead in the SEO Game

Being a site owner and dealing with indexing errors can be challenging, but the right advice can fast-track your SEO journey. Need a hand with your SEO strategy? First Page has you covered. Get in touch with experts at the highest-rated digital marketing agency in Australia, for tailor-made SEO strategies to optimise your website’s success.