SEO Technical: Indexing

Guides indexing troubleshooting and fix actions. For how to find and diagnose issues in GSC, see analytics-google-search-console.

When invoking: On first use, if helpful, open with 1–2 sentences on what this skill covers and why it matters, then provide the main output. On subsequent use or when the user asks to skip, go directly to the main output.

Scope (Technical SEO)

• Fix actions: noindex, robots.txt, canonical, content quality, URL Inspection

• Noindex: Use when excluding pages intentionally; not all content needs indexing. Complements robots.txt (crawl control) and analytics-google-search-console (Coverage interpretation)

Initial Assessment

Check for product marketing context first: If .claude/product-marketing-context.md or .cursor/product-marketing-context.md exists, read it for site URL and indexing goals.

Identify issue from GSC (see analytics-google-search-console for Coverage report, issue types, diagnosis workflow). Then apply fix below.

Crawled - Currently Not Indexed

Cause Action

Low quality, duplicate, off-topic Improve content, fix duplicates, set correct canonical

Static assets (CSS/JS) See below

Feed, share URLs with params Usually OK to ignore; or noindex, canonical to main URL

Important content pages Use URL Inspection, verify canonical/internal links/sitemap, Request indexing

Static Assets (Next.js / Vercel)

Vercel adds unique dpl= params to static assets per deploy, creating many "Crawled - currently not indexed" URLs.

Do Don't

Keep robots.txt allowing /_next/

Do not block /_next/ (breaks CSS/JS loading)

Accept static assets in GSC as expected Do not block /_next/static/css/ or ?dpl=

Use X-Robots-Tag for static assets CSS/JS should not be indexed; no SEO impact

Static assets in "Crawled - currently not indexed" is normal and expected.

Other Issue Types (from GSC Coverage)

Issue Fix

Excluded by «noindex» tag Remove noindex if accidental; keep if intentional

Redirect / 404 Fix URL or add redirect

Duplicate / Canonical Set correct canonical; usually OK

Noindex Usage

• When: Login, admin, duplicate content, low-value pages, legal boilerplate, thank-you pages

• How: metadata.robots = { index: false } or X-Robots-Tag

• Rationale: Not all site content should be indexed; noindex is a valid choice for many pages

• Caution: Avoid noindex on important content pages

• With robots.txt: robots.txt controls crawl access; noindex controls indexing. Use both: robots for paths (e.g. /admin/), noindex for specific pages. See seo-technical-robots

Google Indexing API

Type Typical use

JobPosting Job boards

BroadcastEvent Live platforms

Requirements: Enable Indexing API, create service account, add owner in Search Console, request quota (default 200 URLs/day).

Output Format

• Action items: Prioritized fixes

• References: Page indexing report

Related Skills

• analytics-google-search-console: Find and diagnose indexing issues in GSC

• seo-technical-robots: Ensure robots.txt does not block indexing

• seo-technical-sitemap: Submit and maintain sitemap

• seo-technical-indexnow: Faster indexing for Bing

• seo-technical-canonical: Resolve duplicate content