Why Google Omits Results & How to Fix It?

Why Do Your Pages End Up in Google Omitted Results?

One of the main reasons why Google omits certain pages from their search results is to ensure that multiple pages that are similar or mostly the same do not inundate their results. Google only wants to index pages that are most relevant and have the most ranking power.

From a visitor’s perspective, imagine how it would be if you clicked on 10 pages and found that they were all very similar, just variations of the same content; that would be quite boring. If this happened to you each time search results were delivered, most likely you may decide to complete your searches elsewhere.

In many cases it is fairly easy to correct the problem with omitted pages, as they are usually attributed to webmaster / site owner oversights. Omitted results are in no way considered a penalty, but they can be detrimental in the way that they limit your abilities to gain the exposure your website deserves.

How Do You Check Omitted Search Results in Google?

One really easy way to check if your pages are being omitted is to use Google’s advanced search operator and check what Google says is being included and being omitted.

Below are the steps to check if your pages are being omitted in Google:

1. Go to https://www.google.com in your browser
2. Type in site:yourdomain.com (replace yourdomain.com with your actual website domain).  Select the search button.
3. When the results show up, look at the top to see the total number of results (something like 1 of 10 of about xxx from mydomain.com)
4. At the bottom of the page is a list of numbers representing 10 results from your site, keep selecting the last number to get to the last set of results Google is showing. If you get to the end of the results and see a message “In order to show you the most relevant results, we have omitted some entries very similar to xxx already displayed. If you like, you can repeat the search with the omitted results included.” This would indicate that you indeed have omitted results.  If you do not see this message then all of your web pages are being indexed properly.

Reasons Why Your Pages May Be In Omitted Results

Now that you have determined whether or not you have pages in the Google omitted results, it is time to figure out why your pages are being omitted. Select the text link that allows you to review the omitted results.  You will now be presented with all the pages within your website that have been indexed by Google.

Below are the steps to take to locate the reason why pages are being omitted:

1. Look at the title tag
2. Look at the text snippet / description provided
3. Look at the URL

After you have looked at these areas determine if you see any similarities between them.  Here are the most common problems that cause web pages to be omitted from Google’s results that typically come up in our SEO Site Audits:

1. Title Tag replicated across multiple pages
2. Meta Description tag replicated across multiple pages
3. Title Tag has no meaning (is not relevant) to the content within the page
4. Meta Description tag does not accurately represent the content within the page
5. Multiple pages within the site have the same (or similar) duplicate content
6. Multiple pages have minimal content within them to be considered unique
7. Pay Per Click landing pages have accidentally been indexed
8. Low quality pages have been indexed
9. Content within the site has multiple URL’s

How to Stop Google from Omitting Results

If you have spotted the possible reasons why your pages are falling into the Google omitted results, you need to take the time to correct these areas in order to begin gaining better exposure.  Below are a few tips on how to correct these problematic areas:

1. Ensure that each page within your website has a unique title tag
2. Ensure that each page within your website has a unique meta description tag
3. Ensure that you have not replicated a large portion of your page content across many pages within your website (duplicate content)
4. Ensure that your Pay Per Click landing pages are marked “Noindex” or placed within a folder that is disallowed / excluded via the robots.txt file.

Ensure that all pages within your website are created with good quality content…any pages that are created for the visitors and are not good representations of what your site’s theme and content is about should be removed via the “Noindex” or via the robots.txt file

Keeping Your Web Pages Out of Google’s Omitted Results

Now that you have identified why your web pages were moved to Google’s omitted results and how to correct the problem; it’s time to ensure that you keep them out.  Below are a few good pointers for moving forward and keeping your web pages out of Google’s Omitted Results.

1. If you use a Dynamic Web Template (DWT) either from Microsoft FrontPage or Macromedia Dreamweaver, it is imperative that you set an editable region within the <head></head> section. Once this is done, insure that you have your title, meta description and meta keyword tags within that editable region. This will ensure that you have the ability to provide unique titles, meta descriptions and meta keywords to each web page.
2. Always use your domain name when linking to your home page.  Often times websites use index.htm, ./, #, www.mydomain.com or some variation of this to link to their home page.  Keep your home page linking unified.  This will ensure that you do not end up with a couple of home pages listed in Google and what may look like duplicate content.
3. If you have a content management system that automatically creates titles or meta descriptions for you, chances are it may replicate the same title tag or description across various pages within your site. Ask your web designer to ensure that you can have unique titles and meta descriptions for each page. This may require a few extra database fields to be created, but it is well worth it.
4. Utilize your robots.txt file to purposely remove content that you feel is low quality, duplicated or was created for visitors (such as log in pages, checkout pages, privacy statements etc.).

Remember, if your goal is to gain the most of your search engine exposure, your pages have to show up in the results.  Ensuring your pages are truly search engine friendly will provide you with one of the highest returns on investments possible.  Continually watch over your site and check Google’s omitted results to ensure you are helping to provide a high-quality visitor experience for all users.

Finally, be sure to sign up for a Google Webmaster Console account, it is fast and simple and can provide you with a wealth of information pertaining to problematic areas within your website; and help keep you out of Google’s omitted results!

Content Source: 1stonthelist.ca