The WordPress indexing checklist
Twelve checks that show whether Google can find, read and keep your important pages. They’re for WordPress and WooCommerce site owners who don’t need to be developers. Set aside about an hour for a small site. You need an administrator login and, for a few steps, Google Search Console.
Last reviewed 2026-09-30. Every step links to the official documentation it’s based on.
Why indexing comes first
A page that isn’t indexed can’t rank, and it can’t be used in Google’s AI Overviews either: Google says pages need to be indexed and eligible to show a snippet to appear there.[1] Speed and content work are wasted on pages search engines can’t use.
WordPress settings
- Untick “Discourage search engines from indexing this site” under Settings → Reading. Developers often switch it on during a build and forget it.
- Set permalinks to “Post name” under Settings → Permalinks, so each page has one readable address. Change this on a live site only with redirects in place.
- Open yoursite.com/robots.txt and make sure there’s no
Disallow: /line and no rule blocking your pages, CSS or images. Google: introduction to robots.txt
Your key pages
- View the source of each key page and search for
noindex. A robots meta tag containing it keeps the page out of Google. Google: block indexing with noindex - Check the canonical tag on each key page. A standalone page should point to itself. A duplicate — a filtered, sorted, printable or tracking-parameter version — should point to the version you want indexed. What no page should do is point at the home page. Canonicals are a strong hint, not a command: Google can still choose a different page, and the Page indexing report tells you when it has. Google: consolidate duplicate URLs
- Test every version of your address: http, https, with and without www. All should end on one version with a single redirect.
- Link to each key page from your menu or from other pages. Pages nothing links to are hard for search engines to find.
Sitemap and Search Console
- Open your sitemap (WordPress creates one at /wp-sitemap.xml; SEO plugins often use /sitemap_index.xml) and confirm it lists the pages you care about and nothing you’ve deliberately hidden. Google: sitemaps overview
- Submit that sitemap in Search Console under Sitemaps, and check it was read without errors.
- Read the Page indexing report and look at why pages are “Not indexed”. “Excluded by noindex tag” and “Duplicate without user-selected canonical” are the ones to act on first. Google: Page indexing report
- Inspect your three most important pages with the URL Inspection tool, and request indexing once they’re fixed. Google: URL Inspection tool
For WooCommerce stores
- Search Google for
site:yourstore.complus a filter word such as a colour or “orderby”. If filter and sort pages appear, they’re competing with your real category pages. Google: managing faceted navigation
What to do with what you find
Most sites fail one or two of these checks, and the fixes are often a single setting. If you found a noindex tag or a blocked robots.txt, fix that first: nothing else matters until Google can reach the page.
If the causes are deeper, such as duplicate URLs, a theme overriding your settings, or a store full of filter pages, that’s what the diagnostic is for. You get the evidence, the fixes in order and a fixed price.