Key takeaways
- Indexing answers “will Google store this URL
- ” Ranking answers “will Google distribute it for queries
- ” This entry page explains the difference, why indexing is the primary gate in 2026, and how to debug each layer
Table of Contents
People treat indexing like a milestone: once a page is indexed, the job is done and “rankings” are the next chapter.
That story made sense when the index was the main interface to search. In 2026 it often doesn’t.
Here’s the clean distinction:
- Indexing = storage (admission into the system’s memory)
- Ranking = distribution (selection for a query class, at a time, on a surface)
If you want the full indexing model first:
What “indexed” really means
“Indexed” is an internal bookkeeping state: the URL (or a representative URL) is stored.
It is not a promise of traffic.
That is why you can see:
- “URL is on Google” in URL Inspection
- low impressions
- brief spikes, then suppression
The system is not confused. It is being conservative.
Why this changes the work
If you debug only ranking factors when the real issue is indexing, you’ll waste time.
The correct order is:
- Make the URL storable (crawlable, renderable, non-duplicate, coherent identity)
- Make the URL selectable (one intent, predictable outcome, clear role in the site)
The two most common “in-between” failures
1) Canonicalization chooses a different URL than you expect
Your page might be “fine”, but not chosen as the representative.
2) The page is structurally optional (orphan / weak placement)
If the architecture doesn’t acknowledge the page, it stays low priority even if it exists.
System context
- Indexing and visibility (guide)
- Google indexing explained (pillar)
- Why pages are not indexed
- Canonical vs duplicate content
Next step
If you’re stuck in “not indexed” buckets, the highest-leverage next layer is identity resolution: