Quick answer: “Discovered – currently not indexed” means Google knows the URL exists (often from your sitemap) but hasn't crawled it yet. “Crawled – currently not indexed” means Google visited the page and chose not to add it to the index for now. Neither is an error, and neither is always a problem. The fix is usually to make the page more useful, better linked from your own site, and to make sure it's worth indexing.
If you open the Pages report in Google Search Console and see lots of URLs under "Why pages aren't indexed," don't panic. Google doesn't index everything it finds, and on an ecommerce site, a certain number of excluded URLs is normal. What matters is whether your important pages are indexed: your homepage, main collections, best-selling products and key articles.
The two statuses, explained
- Discovered – currently not indexed: Google found the URL but hasn't visited it yet. Common causes: a new site, a large number of new URLs, or Google not considering the site important enough to crawl quickly.
- Crawled – currently not indexed: Google visited, looked at the page and decided not to include it right now. Common causes: thin or duplicate content, low perceived value, or a page that looks very similar to others.
Step 1: Check which pages are affected
In Search Console, open Indexing → Pages, click the reason, and look at the example URLs. Ask: do I actually want these indexed?
-
Filtered or sorted URLs,
/cart,/account, search result pages: you don't. Shopify and your theme handle most of these correctly. - Old products or tag pages with nothing on them: probably not worth indexing.
- Your main collections, products and articles: yes. Focus here.
Step 2: Make sure nothing is blocking you
- The storefront password is off.
- The page doesn't have a "noindex" tag. Check with the URL Inspection tool.
- The page isn't hidden from search through Shopify's SEO settings.
- The sitemap (
yourdomain.com/sitemap.xml) is submitted and shows the right pages. - Your primary domain is set, so there's one version of each page.
Step 3: Make the page worth indexing
This is the most common real fix. Ask what makes this page different from every similar page on the web and on your own site.
- Product pages: write original descriptions, add specifics, real photos, FAQs. See our product description template.
- Collection pages: add helpful intro text, not just a grid. See collection page SEO.
- Near-duplicate products (many color variants as separate products): combine them into one product with variants where it makes sense.
- Thin pages: merge, improve or remove them.
Step 4: Link to the page from your own site
Pages with no internal links (orphan pages) look unimportant. Link to key products from collections, related products and relevant blog posts. Link to collections from your navigation and homepage. Descriptive anchor text ("linen shirts for men") beats "click here."
Step 5: Request indexing, sparingly
For a handful of important pages, use URL Inspection → Request indexing after you've improved them. Don't spam the tool. It doesn't speed things up for lots of URLs, and it doesn't fix quality problems.
Step 6: Be patient with new sites
A new store with few links and little history is crawled slowly. Over weeks, as Google sees consistent, useful content, crawling picks up. Publishing helpful articles and getting a few genuine links or mentions helps. See how long SEO takes.
Step 7: Keep your site fast and clean
Crawling takes resources. If your site is slow or full of junk URLs, Google may crawl less. Shopify handles much of this, but heavy apps and broken redirects can contribute. Check for redirect chains and 404s; our 301 redirects guide helps.
What not to worry about
- A few dozen "not indexed" URLs that are filters, pagination or duplicates.
- Pages marked "Duplicate, Google chose different canonical" if the canonical it chose is correct.
- Temporary fluctuations. Check trends over weeks.
A short checklist
- List which not-indexed pages you actually care about.
- Confirm they aren't blocked or noindexed.
- Improve the content and link to them internally.
- Request indexing for the top few.
- Check again in 2 to 4 weeks.
If you'd like us to audit your site's indexing and fix what's holding it back, see our Shopify SEO service or request a quote. Starting from scratch? Work through our SEO checklist first.
Frequently asked questions
What does “Discovered – currently not indexed” mean?
Google knows the URL exists but hasn't crawled it yet. It isn't an error, and it's common on newer or large sites.
What does “Crawled – currently not indexed” mean?
Google visited the page and chose not to include it for now, often because it looks thin, duplicate or low value.
Should I worry about non-indexed filter and cart URLs?
No. Those are normally not meant to be indexed. Focus on your important collections, products and articles.
Does requesting indexing help?
For a few important pages after you've improved them, yes. It won't fix quality problems and doesn't scale to hundreds of URLs.
Related services
- Shopify SEO Services – product and collection optimization, structured data and Search Console
- Shopify Blog Content & SEO Articles – helpful articles planned around real searches
- Shopify Navigation, Filters & Search Setup – clearer menus, working filters and better search
