Common Blog Indexing Problems and How to Fix Them

byLawraz -
Indexing issues and solutions

When you start blogging, one of the most frustrating things is noticing that your blog posts are not showing up on Google search results. This usually means your blog is having indexing problems. If search engines cannot index your site properly, your content will never rank, no matter how good it is.

In this complete beginner-friendly guide, we will explore the most common blog indexing problems and how you can fix them step by step.

What is Indexing in Blogging?

Before we look at the problems, let’s understand indexing in simple terms.

When you publish a new blog post, search engines like Google need to:

  1. Crawl your content (discover it using bots).

  2. Index it (store it in their database).

  3. Rank it (show it to users when they search).

If your blog is not indexed, Google doesn’t know it exists, and people cannot find it online.

If you are new to blogging, check out our guide on Fixing Sitemap Submission Errors in Blogger to learn why sitemaps matter.

Why Blog Indexing Problems Happen

Indexing issues can occur for many reasons:

  • Technical errors in your robots.txt or meta tags.

  • Problems with your sitemap submission.

  • Poor content quality.

  • Duplicate or thin content.

  • Slow website speed.

  • Domain or URL issues.

The good news? Every indexing problem has a solution.

Common Blog Indexing Problems and Fixes

Let’s go through the major issues one by one and how you can fix them.

1. Sitemap Errors

A sitemap tells Google where your pages are. If it is missing or incorrect, indexing problems will appear.

Common Sitemap Issues

  • “Couldn’t fetch” error in Google Search Console.

  • Submitted URLs not indexed.

  • Sitemap not found.

How to Fix

  1. Log into Google Search Console.

  2. Go to Sitemaps → Add a new sitemap.

  3. Enter: sitemap.xml or atom.xml (for Blogger blogs).

  4. Check if your sitemap is valid.

2. Robots.txt Blocking Search Engines

Your robots.txt file controls what search engines can or cannot crawl.

Problem

If wrongly configured, it may block Google from indexing your blog posts.

Fix

  1. Go to Blogger Dashboard → Settings → Crawlers and Indexing.

  2. Enable Custom robots.txt.

  3. Use this recommended format:

User-agent: *
Disallow: /search
Allow: /
Sitemap: https://yourdomain.com/sitemap.xml

This prevents Google from indexing duplicate “search” pages but allows posts and pages.

3. Pages Marked as “Noindex”

Sometimes, your posts may have a noindex tag, telling Google not to index them.

Fix

  • Check your theme HTML for <meta name="robots" content="noindex">.

  • Remove it or change to index, follow.

  • In Blogger, go to Settings → Crawlers and Indexing → Custom Robots Header Tags, and make sure:

    • Home page: all or index, follow.

    • Posts and pages: all or index, follow.

4. Duplicate Content Issues

Google avoids indexing duplicate or very similar content.

Examples

  • Copy-pasted articles from other websites.

  • Multiple URLs showing the same content (e.g., ?m=1 in Blogger mobile URLs).

Fix

  • Write original, unique content.

  • Avoid duplicate titles and descriptions.

  • Use canonical tags in Blogger settings (enabled by default).

See our article on How Bloggers Can Earn Daily with Monetag for an example of original content strategy.

5. Thin or Low-Quality Content

If your posts are too short, irrelevant, or stuffed with keywords, Google may ignore them.

Fix

  • Write in-depth articles (at least 1000+ words).

  • Use proper headings (H2, H3).

  • Add images with alt text.

  • Answer user questions clearly.

Check out our post on How to Use Images Effectively in Blog Posts.

6. Slow Website Speed

Google prefers fast-loading blogs. If your site is slow, indexing may be delayed.

Fix

  • Use a lightweight Blogger template like SeoFlex or Simplify.

  • Compress images before uploading.

  • Avoid too many widgets and ads.

  • Use tools like PageSpeed Insights to test speed.

7. Domain Issues

If you recently moved from Blogspot to a custom domain, indexing may take time.

Fix

  • Add both http://, https://, www, and non-www versions of your domain in Google Search Console.

  • Redirect old Blogspot links to your new domain.

  • Request indexing for key posts.

See our guide on Buying a Custom Domain on Namecheap to learn how to set up correctly.

8. Crawl Budget Problems

If your blog has too many low-value pages (like tags, archives, search pages), Google may waste its crawl budget.

Fix

  • Block search pages in robots.txt.

  • Keep only quality pages indexed.

  • Regularly remove or update old posts.

Best Practices to Prevent Indexing Issues

Now that you know the common problems, here are some tips to keep your blog healthy:

Submit Sitemap Regularly

Keep your sitemap updated in Search Console.

Write Quality Content

Focus on original, helpful, and SEO-friendly articles.

Use Proper Internal Linking

Connect your blog posts together. For example, in this guide, we linked to posts like:

Request Indexing Manually

Use URL Inspection Tool in Google Search Console for important posts.

Avoid Spammy Practices

Don’t buy backlinks, don’t stuff keywords, and don’t copy-paste content.

Conclusion

Blog indexing problems are common, especially for new bloggers. But with the right steps, you can fix errors, improve visibility, and boost your blog traffic.

Remember:

  • Check your sitemap.

  • Configure robots.txt properly.

  • Avoid duplicate and low-quality content.

  • Use Google Search Console regularly.

If you follow this guide, your blog posts will start getting indexed faster and ranked higher in search results.

Next, read our article on Guide to Selling Printables Online for another income stream you can add to your blog.

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