Short definition
Adding a page to a search engine’s database so it can appear in results.
Beginner In plain English
After reading a page, a search engine decides whether to store it in its library. Only stored (indexed) pages can show up when people search.
Professional How pros use it
Pages can be crawled but not indexed because of noindex, canonicalization, duplication or low quality. Use Search Console’s page indexing report to see why URLs are excluded.
Examples
- A new blog post showing in Search Console as "Indexed".
- A thank-you page intentionally set to noindex.
More detail
The process of a search engine storing a page so it can appear in results. A page must be indexed before it can rank.
In client work, you will often need to explain this term in plain language, so practice describing it in one sentence.
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