Indexing
The process of storing and organizing crawled pages in a search engine's database so they can be returned in search results.
Indexing is what happens after crawling: the search engine analyzes a page and stores it in its index — the giant database it searches when someone enters a query. Only indexed pages can appear in results.
Crawled but not indexed
A page can be crawled yet left out of the index if it’s seen as low quality, duplicate, or blocked. Checking your indexing status (e.g., in Google Search Console) shows which pages are eligible to rank.
Why it matters
Ranking is impossible without indexing. If a page isn’t in the index, it simply doesn’t exist as far as search is concerned.
Related Terms
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301 Redirect
A permanent redirect that sends visitors and search engines from an old URL to a new one, passing along most of the old page's ranking value.
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Alt Text
A written description of an image in a page's HTML, used by screen readers and search engines to understand what the image shows.
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Anchor Text
The visible, clickable words of a hyperlink, which give readers and search engines a clue about the linked page's topic.