+ scripts Result: Google crawls it, never indexes it, and moves on. This isn't a content quality problem. It's a delivery failure. ## The Real Problem "Crawled – currently not indexed" means Google fetched your page and decided it wasn't worth indexing. The Google Search Console message is vague by design — it tells you almost nothing about *why*. We see this constantly on React, Vite, and [Lovable](https://datajelly.com/blog/lovable-seo-not-ranking) builds. The pattern is always the same: Browser view 3,000–8,000 words, full UI, interactive components Raw HTML response 2–5 KB, mostly Result: **never indexed**. Google never renders it. This happens constantly on [Lovable](https://datajelly.com/blog/lovable-seo-not-ranking) , Vite, and static SPA builds. 2 ### JS bundle failure HTML loads fine. `/main.js` returns 404 or fails to execute. React never mounts. Result: no headings, no text, page dropped. Guard flags this as `critical_bundle_failure`. Your browser retries and recovers. Googlebot doesn't. 3 ### Slow hydration timeout TTFB: **2.5s**. JS loads at ~4s. Content visible at ~6–8s. Result: Google captures incomplete DOM. The page *might* look partially rendered but has missing sections. Indexing skipped or incomplete. We see this a lot on sites with heavy API calls during mount — Google doesn't wait for your data fetching to finish. 4 ### Script-heavy HTML HTML: **25KB** (looks decent). Visible text: **~120 chars**. 80% of the HTML is script tags. Result: classified as low-value. Not indexed. The file *size* is fine — the *content* ratio is the problem. 5 ### Bot mismatch / bot blocking Humans see full rendered page. Googlebot gets a fallback, error state, or 403 from Cloudflare/CDN bot protection. Result: Google indexes the broken version (or nothing). You can check this with the [HTTP Debug Tool](https://datajelly.com/seo-tools/http-debug) — compare responses across different user agents. ## Solutions Compared We covered this in depth in [Prerender vs SSR vs Edge Rendering](https://datajelly.com/blog/prerender-vs-ssr-vs-edge-rendering) , but here's the summary as it applies to indexing failures: ## Prerender (build-time) Works for small static sites. Breaks with dynamic routes. <100 static routes Dynamic pages Route explosion ### SSR (server-side) Reliable when working. Expensive and complex. Full HTML every request Slow backend = partial render Hydration mismatches ### Edge snapshot (runtime) Bots get fully rendered HTML. Humans keep SPA. No empty shells No JS dependency No app rewrite The key difference: you stop relying on Google to render your app correctly. Instead, bots receive complete HTML snapshots, and [AI crawlers receive clean Markdown](https://datajelly.com/guides/ai-markdown-view) . ## Practical Checklist Run these checks against your site right now. Most take under 60 seconds. ## 1. Check raw HTML size Run `curl -s your-url | wc -c` >20KB = good <10KB = problem <5KB = guaranteed issue ### 2. Measure visible text Check how many words are in the raw `` HTML (not after JS execution). 300–800+ words = safe <200 words = likely invisible ### 3. Inspect DOM structure Check for real content in the initial HTML: Bad:

Good:

Your Page Title

Real content here...

### 4. Check resource failures Look for JS 404s, CSS failures, 3+ resource errors. Use the [HTTP Debug Tool](https://datajelly.com/seo-tools/http-debug) to catch these. ### 5. Compare bot vs browser response Test with normal headers vs bot headers. If the HTML differs, you have a potential indexing risk. The [Bot Test Tool](https://datajelly.com/seo-tools/bot-test) does this comparison automatically. ### 6. Check render timing Red flags: TTFB >2s, content >5s to appear. Google often stops before your content loads. ### 7. Watch HTML stability If HTML changes drastically between crawls — DOM drops >40–50%, text disappears — Google treats the page as unreliable and won't index it consistently. ## The Fix If you're seeing "crawled – currently not indexed" on an SPA or JavaScript-heavy site, you have two real choices: Rewrite to SSR High effort. High complexity. Most teams don't finish this. Add a visibility layer Edge-based. No app changes. Fixes rendering at the source. ## DataJelly does exactly this: - Edge proxy serves full HTML snapshots to search bots - Generates AI Markdown for AI crawlers - Leaves your React app completely unchanged - Fixes incomplete HTML at the source — not in your codebase [Run Visibility Test — Free](https://datajelly.com/#visibility-test) [Talk to Our Team](https://datajelly.com/contact) [Start 14-Day Free Trial](https://datajelly.com/pricing) ## Quick Test: What Do Bots Actually See? ~30 seconds Most people guess. Don't. Run this test and look at the actual response your site returns to bots. 1 ### Fetch your page as Googlebot Use your terminal: `curl -A "Googlebot" https://yourdomain.com` Look for: - Real visible text (not just `

`) - Meaningful content in the HTML - Page size (should not be tiny) 2 ### Compare bot vs browser Now test what a real browser gets: `curl -A "Mozilla/5.0" https://yourdomain.com` If these responses are different, Google is indexing a different page than your users see. Stop guessing — measure it. ### Real example: 253 words vs 13,547 We see this constantly. Here's a real example from production: Googlebot saw 253 words and 2 KB of HTML. A browser saw 13,547 words and 77.5 KB. Same URL — completely different content. [![Bot vs browser comparison showing 253 words for Googlebot vs 13,547 words for a rendered browser on the same URL](https://datajelly.com/assets/bot-comparison-proof-BSBvKXDf.png) ](https://datajelly.com/assets/bot-comparison-proof-BSBvKXDf.png) If your HTML doesn't contain the content, Google doesn't either. [Compare Googlebot vs browser on your site → HTTP Debug Tool](https://datajelly.com/seo-tools/http-debug) 3 ### Check for common failure signals We see this all the time in production: - HTML under ~1KB → usually empty shell - Visible text under ~200 characters → thin or missing content - Missing or <h1> → weak or broken page - Large difference between bot vs browser HTML → rendering issue ### Use the DataJelly Visibility Test (Recommended) You can run this without touching curl. It shows you: - Raw HTML returned to bots (Googlebot, Bing, GPTBot, etc.) - Fully rendered browser version - Side-by-side differences in word count, HTML size, links, and content [Run Visibility Test — Free](https://datajelly.com/#visibility-test) ### What this test tells you (no guessing) After running this, you'll know: - Whether your HTML is actually indexable - Whether bots are seeing partial content - Whether rendering is breaking in production This is the difference between *"I think SEO is set up"* and **"I know what Google is indexing."** If you don't understand why this happens, read: [Why Google Can't See Your SPA](https://datajelly.com/blog/why-google-cant-see-your-spa) ### If this test fails You have three real options: SSR Works if you can keep it stable in production Prerendering Breaks with dynamic content and scale Edge Rendering Reflects real production output without app changes If you do nothing, you will not rank consistently. [Learn how Edge Rendering works →](https://datajelly.com/products/edge) This issue doesn't show up in Lighthouse. It shows up in rankings. [Run the Test](https://datajelly.com/#visibility-test) [Ask a Question](https://datajelly.com/contact) ## Final Takeaway "Crawled but not indexed" is a delivery failure. Not a content problem. Not a backlink problem. If your HTML is too small, too empty, or too dependent on JavaScript — Google will crawl it forever and never index it. Fix the HTML response first. Everything else is noise. ## Frequently Asked Questions ## Why is my page crawled but not indexed? ## What HTML size causes indexing problems? ## Does Google always render JavaScript? ## How do I verify what Google sees? ## Can JS errors cause non-indexing? ## Why does my site look fine but isn't indexed? ## What's the fastest way to fix this? ## Related Reading [React SEO Is Broken by Default Why React apps ship empty HTML and how to fix it.](https://datajelly.com/blog/react-seo-broken-by-default) [Why Google Can't See Your SPA The rendering gap explained — with diagrams showing what bots actually receive.](https://datajelly.com/blog/why-google-cant-see-your-spa) [How AI Crawlers Read Your Website AI crawlers don't render JS either. Here's what they actually see.](https://datajelly.com/blog/how-ai-crawlers-read-your-website) [Sitemap Exists But Google Ignores Pages Why discovery ≠ indexing — and the rendering fix.](https://datajelly.com/blog/sitemap-exists-google-ignores-pages) [SPA SEO Checklist 10 things you must fix before you expect traffic from a single-page application.](https://datajelly.com/blog/spa-seo-checklist) [Prerender vs SSR vs Edge Rendering Side-by-side comparison of what actually works for SEO in production.](https://datajelly.com/blog/prerender-vs-ssr-vs-edge-rendering) [Bot Test Tool Compare what bots see vs what browsers render on any URL.](https://datajelly.com/seo-tools/bot-test) [HTTP Debug Tool Compare raw vs rendered responses across different user agents.](https://datajelly.com/seo-tools/http-debug) [DataJelly Edge How edge rendering fixes indexing without changing your app.](https://datajelly.com/products/edge) [DataJelly Guard Automated auditing that catches rendering failures before Google does.](https://datajelly.com/products/guard) ## Structured Data (JSON-LD) ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"FAQPage","mainEntity":[{"@type":"Question","name":"Why is my page crawled but not indexed?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"Because Google received weak HTML \u2014 typically under 10KB with little visible text \u2014 or a broken render. Google evaluates the initial HTML response before deciding whether to invest in rendering JavaScript. If your HTML looks empty, Google often skips rendering entirely."}},{"@type":"Question","name":"What HTML size causes indexing problems?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"Pages under ~10KB are high risk. Pages under 5KB almost never get indexed unless they come from extremely authoritative domains. If your raw HTML is mostly \u003Cscript\u003E tags with no real content, that\u0027s the problem."}},{"@type":"Question","name":"Does Google always render JavaScript?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"No. Google uses a two-phase indexing system. Raw HTML is processed first, and JavaScript rendering is queued for later \u2014 sometimes hours or days later. If the initial HTML looks low-value, Google often skips rendering entirely."}},{"@type":"Question","name":"How do I verify what Google sees?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"Use curl or view raw page source. If you don\u0027t see real content there, Google doesn\u0027t either. You can also use Google Search Console\u0027s URL Inspection tool to see the rendered HTML, but curl gives you the ground truth faster."}},{"@type":"Question","name":"Can JS errors cause non-indexing?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"Yes. Failed JavaScript bundles or console errors frequently result in incomplete DOM and dropped pages. A single failed script can prevent your entire React app from mounting."}},{"@type":"Question","name":"Why does my site look fine but isn\u0027t indexed?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"Because browsers execute JavaScript fully and retry failed requests. Google often doesn\u0027t \u2014 or fails to render completely. What you see in Chrome is not what Googlebot sees."}},{"@type":"Question","name":"What\u0027s the fastest way to fix this?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"Serve fully rendered HTML to bots at the edge. This removes rendering risk entirely \u2014 bots get complete content without depending on JavaScript execution. No app rewrite required."}}]} ``` ## Discovery & Navigation > Semantic links for AI agent traversal. * [DataJelly Edge](https://datajelly.com/products/edge) * [DataJelly Guard](https://datajelly.com/products/guard) * [Features](https://datajelly.com/#features) * [Pricing](https://datajelly.com/pricing) * [Visibility Test](https://datajelly.com/visibility-test) * [Prerendering](https://datajelly.com/prerendering) * [Prerender Alternative](https://datajelly.com/prerender-alternative) * [Lovable SEO](https://datajelly.com/lovable-seo) * [Visibility Layer Guide](https://datajelly.com/guides/visibility-layer) * [How Snapshots Work](https://datajelly.com/guides/how-snapshots-work) * [AI SEO Platform](https://datajelly.com/ai-seo-platform) * [Bot Detection](https://datajelly.com/bot-detection) * [Dashboard](https://dashboard.datajelly.com/) * [SEO Tools](https://datajelly.com/seo-tools) * [Visibility Test](https://datajelly.com/seo-tools/visibility-test) * [Site Audit](https://datajelly.com/seo-tools/site-audit) * [Bot Test](https://datajelly.com/seo-tools/bot-test) * [Social Card Preview](https://datajelly.com/seo-tools/social-card-preview) * [Robots.txt Tester](https://datajelly.com/seo-tools/robots-txt-tester) * [Sitemap Validator](https://datajelly.com/seo-tools/sitemap-validator) * [Structured Data Validator](https://datajelly.com/seo-tools/structured-data-validator) * [HTTP Header Checker](https://datajelly.com/seo-tools/http-header-checker) * [Page Speed Analyzer](https://datajelly.com/seo-tools/page-speed-analyzer) * [SSL Certificate Checker](https://datajelly.com/seo-tools/ssl-checker) * [DNS Records Viewer](https://datajelly.com/seo-tools/dns-records-viewer) * [Guides](https://datajelly.com/guides) * [Getting Started](https://datajelly.com/guides/getting-started) * [SPA SEO Guide](https://datajelly.com/guides/spa-seo) * [JavaScript SEO Guide](https://datajelly.com/guides/javascript-seo) * [SSR Guide](https://datajelly.com/guides/ssr) * [Search Engine Crawling Guide](https://datajelly.com/guides/search-engine-crawling) * [Lovable SEO Guide](https://datajelly.com/guides/lovable-seo) * [AI SEO Testing Guide](https://datajelly.com/guides/ai-seo) * [SEO Testing Guide](https://datajelly.com/guides/seo-testing) * [SERP Tracking Guide](https://datajelly.com/guides/serp-tracking) * [Security Testing Guide](https://datajelly.com/security) * [About Us](https://datajelly.com/about) * [Contact](https://datajelly.com/contact) * [Blog](https://datajelly.com/blog) * [Terms of Service](https://datajelly.com/terms)