By Shad Super in Questions —

What Impact Does Page Load Speed Have on "Crawled - Currently Not Indexed," and How Can I Improve It for Faster Indexing?

Summary

Page load speed is a critical factor that influences "Crawled - currently not indexed" status in Google Search Console. Google's crawler, Googlebot, prefers sites that load quickly and it could abandon your site if it takes too long to load. By optimizing page load speed, you can improve the crawlability and indexing of your site. These optimizations include server response time improvements, efficient asset delivery, render-blocking resource minimization, and web font optimization.

Importance of Page Load Speed to Googlebot

Page Load Speed and Crawling

Slow page load speed can negatively affect how Googlebot crawls your site. Taking longer to load could lead to fewer pages crawled within your site's allotted crawl budget resulting in pages being marked as "Crawled - currently not indexed" [Overview of Google crawlers, Google, 2021].

Optimizations for Faster Indexing

Server Response Time Optimization

Backup your server performance by using a superior web hosting service, implementing server caching and optimizing your database [Time to First Byte, web.dev, 2020].

Efficient Asset Delivery

Efficient asset delivery can be achieved by compressing text and image files, implementing responsive image solutions and preloading critical resources [Offscreen Images, Google, 2021].

Minimize Render-Blocking Resources

Minimize the impact of render-blocking JavaScript and CSS by deferring non-critical JavaScript, using asynchronous loading and inline critical CSS [Blocking Resources, Google, 2021].

Web Font Optimization

Optimize web fonts by leveraging font-display properties, subsetting fonts, and preconnecting to font providers [font-display, web.dev, 2022].

Concluding Remarks

Improving page load speed contributes significantly to a website's crawlability and indexability. By optimizing the server response, asset delivery, and web fonts and minimizing render-blocking resources, you can ensure that your pages are crawled and indexed more quickly.

References