I've been facing an issue where my personal portfolio site is not being indexed properly by Google. When I search for my full name or the site URL on Google, it doesn't show up, whereas it appears as the 1st or 2nd result on Bing. I suspected a problem with the `robots.txt` file, but upon checking, it seems fine with the following configuration:
```
User-agent: *
Allow: /
Sitemap: https://[website-url]/sitemap.xml
```
I also updated the meta tags and added more keywords to help search engines find my site better. I've uploaded the sitemap as well.
It's not a case of being blacklisted or de-indexed, since a simple search with the query `site:[my-website-url]` shows all pages of my site in the results. I also checked Google Search Console, submitted a sitemap, and fixed some reported issues, but after requesting them to validate and recrawl yesterday, I still don't see any changes. Any ideas on how to resolve this?
4 Answers
Have you checked your Google Search Console settings? It might give you some insights on what's happening with your site.
Make sure you're using your own domain. Have you tried the "Test Live URL" feature in Google Search Console? I initially faced some limitations there, but it might help in pushing the indexing.
You could try flushing your DNS cache. Just do a quick Google search on how to do that, and it might help your site show up better in search results.
I actually purged the cache from my Cloudflare settings, using the total cache purge option.
It could also be related to how Google is prioritizing your other content. Sometimes tweaking your site's structure or adding more relevant content can help get it indexed better.
Yes, I checked it and made the recommended fixes around 24-48 hours ago, but I haven't noticed any changes yet.