Key takeaways
- A practical guide to the GSC status 'Discovered - currently not indexed': what it really signals (crawl allocation), why it's common after pivots/migrations, and the few actions that reliably increase indexing
Table of Contents
"Discovered - currently not indexed" is often misunderstood.
It does not mean your page is "bad". It usually means Google knows the URL exists, but has not allocated enough crawl + processing to store it.
Start with the cluster map:
If you are debugging "crawled" statuses, these pair well:
What this status usually means
Most common realities:
- the site is new or recently changed topic
- Google is sampling URLs and staying conservative
- crawl debt (old URLs, thin archives, duplicates) competes for attention
First: make sure it's worth indexing
If the page is a utility list, a thin archive, or a "navigation only" page, don't fight for it.
Focus on core pages:
- pillars
- topic hubs
- the best supporting essays
Fixes that actually move the needle
1) Strengthen internal linking hierarchy
Discovery is not priority.
Make the relationship explicit:
- hub в†’ supporting list (visible links)
- supporting post в†’ link back to hub + pillar
Entry points:
2) Reduce crawl debt before publishing more
If the site has lots of low-value URLs, Google becomes conservative.
Typical debt:
- old slugs from a previous topic
- duplicates (www/apex, parameters)
- paginated archives
- legacy feed endpoints
If you pivoted, clean it up:
3) Fix duplication signals (canonicals and alternates)
If Google suspects duplicates, it will delay indexing.
Key statuses to understand:
4) Make the page "cheap to store"
Pages that get indexed faster tend to have:
- clear intent ("what to do when X happens")
- structured steps/checklists
- stable HTML (content present without JS)
If the page is thin or looks like "nothing", check soft 404 patterns:
5) Request indexing only for a small set of core URLs
If you request indexing for everything, you waste time.
Pick 5–10 core URLs and request indexing for those.
How to validate progress
- URL Inspection: "URL is on Google"
- Pages report: indexed count trending up over 1–2 weeks
- Performance: impressions for the whole cluster rising (not just one page)
FAQ
How long does this take?
On new/pivoted sites, 3–14 days is common to see movement. Sometimes longer. Focus on coherence and internal links; the index follows.
Is this a technical bug?
Sometimes. If the URL is blocked, duplicated, or unstable, fix those first. Otherwise assume crawl allocation + prioritization.
Next in SEO & Search
Up next:
Duplicate without user-selected canonical: How to fix it (GSC)A practical guide to the GSC status "Duplicate without user-selected canonical": why Google picks a different canonical, the most common duplication patterns (hosts, params, archives), and how to validate the fix.