ObservationsIndexation and crawling

251 of 278 pages had zero impressions, and the cause was not technical

In short

Most of a young site was invisible in Google. Every technical check passed, which pointed to a different problem.

What I did

On my own lead-generation site for the roofing trade, Search Console showed zero impressions for 251 of 278 pages. That included 10 of the 16 main hub pages. I checked the hubs: no noindex tags, clean canonicals, all in the sitemap. Nothing technical was blocking them.
Where

My own lead-generation website, checked in August 2026, rechecked in October
What changed

Search Console's indexing report on 6 October counted 219 indexed and 108 not indexed addresses; it counts every address Google knows, not only the 278 pages. Google had 219 addresses indexed, but only 80 pages had any impressions in the 28 days to 4 October, so many indexed pages were not being shown. That points to trust and authority, not code.
What you should do

If many pages show zero impressions, check the technical basics first. If they all pass, stop changing code. The site probably needs more trust signals, such as links and mentions from other sites.
How long it took

About an hour for the checks

Indexed but not shown means Google has the page in its index but does not rank it for any search people make.

Why it matters

When pages do not show up, the first instinct is to keep fixing technical things. That is the right first step. But once the basics pass, more technical work changes nothing.

How to check your own site

  • In Search Console, open the Pages report and read the reasons pages are not indexed.
  • Use URL Inspection on your most important pages.
  • If pages are indexed but get no impressions, focus on links, mentions and better content, not code.

At a glance

Effort to copyAbout an hour
Type of businessLead generation
251 of 278pages with zero impressions
10 of 16hub pages among them
0technical blockers found
What this changed in how I work

When the technical checks pass, I stop touching the code. More technical tweaks will not fix a trust problem.

Part of The SEO Lab, an open notebook of real SEO work, published as it happens.Recorded 17 October 2026. Filed under Observations. Everything here comes from work I did myself. If a number looks wrong, ask me how it was measured.

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