Indexation control for programmatic SEO: read Google's verdict
Short answer: Give the page set its own sitemap, submit it in Search Console, and filter the Pages report by that sitemap at 2, 4 and 8 weeks. Crawled but not indexed means Google judged the page not worth keeping. Under 50% indexed after 4 weeks: stop and fix the template.
After you publish, Google gives you a verdict on every page. Most people never read it.
Where to look
- Give the set its own sitemap file, like sitemap-routes.xml, and submit it in Search Console under Sitemaps.
- Open Pages (the indexing report) and use the filter at the top to show only that sitemap.
- Check it at 2, 4 and 8 weeks.
How to read it
- Indexed, with impressions: good. Publish the next batch.
- Crawled, currently not indexed: Google read the page and chose not to keep it. That is a quality signal. Add data, merge, or noindex. Do not publish more pages like it.
- Discovered, currently not indexed: Google knows the URL but has not visited yet. Usually a links problem. Go back to lesson 10.
- Duplicate without user-selected canonical: two pages look the same to Google. Merge them, or set a canonical.
Example: the 50% rule
First batch: 15 pages submitted. After 4 weeks: 12 indexed, 3 crawled but not indexed.
80% indexed, so the next batch goes out. The 3 skipped pages had only 4 facts each, so they get more data first.
If only 6 of 15 had been indexed, I would stop and fix the template before publishing one more page.
Your 10-minute task: Set up your check
- Create a sitemap for your set, or find the one your CMS made.
- Submit it in Search Console under Sitemaps.
- Put 3 dates in your calendar: 2, 4 and 8 weeks after your first publish.
- Already have an older set? Check it now: indexed vs submitted. Under 50% is your first job.
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