Short answer. A new website is usually not broken. For Google to show it, Google has to find the pages, fetch them and decide to keep them, and for a small new site that can take weeks. Check that nothing is blocking Google, check that a sitemap is submitted, read what Search Console says about each page, and act on that status.
What happened on our own site
Think of a new website as a shop that has just opened on a side street. The doors are unlocked and the lights are on, but nobody has put it on the map yet. Ours went live on 2 October 2026 with the “do not index” setting removed. We then asked Search Console how many of our sitemap pages Google had indexed.
| Date (2026) | Pages in sitemap | Discovered, not indexed | Indexed |
|---|---|---|---|
| 12 October | 62 | not recorded | 17 |
| 16 October | 63 | not recorded | 19 |
| 19 October | 70 | 32 | 20 |
| 23 October | 65 | 26 | 31 |
Source: Search Console URL inspection of every page in our sitemap, on those dates. The total changes because the sitemap changed between checks, so compare the share, not the raw count. Other statuses are not in the table: on 23 October, 5 pages had no result yet, 1 was “crawled, currently not indexed” and 2 showed “Redirect error”. The two “Redirect error” pages return a normal page when we fetch them ourselves, and we do not yet know why Google reports an error.
In between we submitted the sitemap, sent an IndexNow notice on 16 October (that reaches Bing, not Google) and used “Request indexing” on 20 pages on 19 and 20 October. Of the 31 indexed pages, 14 show a last crawl between 19 and 22 October, the days after those requests. The other 17 were crawled earlier. That fits the requests having helped, but other things changed too and the site is small, so we cannot say they caused it. On 23 October our six service pages and our newest article were still not indexed, three weeks after launch.
Check 1: is something blocking Google?
A “noindex” setting, often left on from the building stage, tells Google to leave a page out. A robots.txt file can stop Google from fetching pages at all. Open a page, view the source and search for “noindex”, or ask whoever built the site.
Check 2: is the sitemap submitted?
A sitemap is a list of your pages that you hand to Google. Google’s own guidance calls it an important way to discover URLs, especially after a launch. In Search Console, open Sitemaps, add the address (usually /sitemap.xml) and check it says it was read without errors.
Check 3: what does Google say about this page?
In Search Console, paste a page address into the inspection bar at the top. It shows whether the page is on Google and when Google last crawled it. That is the stored version, so it can lag behind the live page.
Check 4: read the status, then act
- Discovered, currently not indexed. Google knows the address but has not fetched the page yet. For a new site this is common and often means waiting. Check the page is in the sitemap and linked from a page Google already knows.
- Crawled, currently not indexed. Google fetched the page and did not keep it, for now. Google says it may or may not be indexed in the future, and that there is no need to resubmit it. Asking again does not help; improving the page or linking to it from your other pages is the useful work.
- Redirect error. Something in a redirect is wrong, such as a loop or a chain that is too long. Fix the redirect, then test the address.
- No result yet. On our own checks some pages came back with no usable result (12 on 19 October, 5 on 23 October). We simply asked again a few days later.
Steps
Check, read, act
- Check nothing blocks Google. Look for noindex and robots.txt rules.
- Submit the sitemap. Search Console, Sitemaps, no errors.
- Inspect one page. Paste its address in the top bar.
- Read the status. Discovered, crawled or redirect error.
- Act on that status. Fix what is broken; wait if it is only new.
- Request indexing once for the pages that matter most.
Long Square Studio. Based on Google Search Console Help, read 2026-10-23.
What “Request indexing” does and does not do
It asks Google to crawl one address. The page gets a quick check and, if it passes, joins the queue. Google says plainly that a request does not guarantee the page will appear in the index, and individual requests have a daily limit. Asking for the same address again does not speed it up. Use it once for the pages that matter most, and the sitemap for the rest.
When to wait and when to worry
Google says crawling can take anywhere from a few days to a few weeks. Wait if a page is simply “discovered” and the site is new. Act if a page is blocked, shows an error, is missing from the sitemap or has no link pointing to it. Fix what is broken, then give it time, and note the date you checked.
A few common questions
Why is Google not crawling my website?
Most often it has not got to the pages yet. Google says it can postpone a crawl, and the report then shows no last crawl date. Check the first two steps above, then watch the status.
How do I check my business website for basic search problems?
Start with the page title, description, main heading, phone speed and image alt text. Our ten-minute check covers each, with how often we found each problem on 28 local sites.
Sources
Google’s pages, read 23 October 2026. They change, so check them before you act.
- URL Inspection tool, Search Console Help (opens in a new tab)
- Page indexing report, Search Console Help (opens in a new tab)
- Ask Google to recrawl your URLs, Google Search Central (opens in a new tab)
Not sure which of your pages Google has kept? Start an inquiry.
