answers before you hire anyone
Guides.
The long versions of the questions clients ask me every week, written from real Search Console work across 740+ client sites. Read them, fix it yourself if you can, and message me if you would rather not.
Every Search Console indexing status, explainedEvery status the Page indexing report and URL Inspection can show you, what each one actually means, whether it needs fixing, and the page that fixes it.
IndexMeNow alternatives and review: the three timersIndexMeNow lists 24/48h in its title, 80% in 72h in its copy, and a 10-day refund in its terms. What the gap means, and the cheaper alternatives.
Indexification alternatives: what still works from 2013Indexification sells unlimited submissions using methods Google spent a decade learning to discount. What unlimited buys you, and where to go instead.
Crawled, currently not indexed: what it means and the fixGoogle fetched your page and decided not to store it. How to pull the affected list, cut it down, work out which of four causes you have, and fix that one.
On-page SEO vs technical SEO: where the line isTechnical SEO decides what Google can reach. On-page SEO decides what Google concludes. One test that sorts any task into the right pile, and which to fix first.
Technical SEO vs content SEO: which one you needTechnical SEO has a ceiling. Content SEO has a floor. One question tells you which of the two your site is actually short on, and how to split a budget between them.
Technical SEO audit checklist, ordered by what it costsA technical SEO audit checklist in fix-first order, from blocking faults to cosmetics. What to check, how to check it, what a fail looks like, and when to stop.
SEO audit cost: what drives the number you get quotedWhat an SEO audit costs depends on five things, and page count is barely one of them. The real drivers, the pricing models, and how to check a quote is fair.
SEO audit report sample, and the template behind itWhat a real SEO audit report contains, section by section, with a worked finding written out in full and a template you can copy. Not a sales PDF with the findings removed.
AI search visibility: what it is and how to measure itWhether AI Overviews, ChatGPT, Perplexity and Gemini mention and cite you. What it is, why no dashboard reports it, how to baseline it, and what moves it.
How to track brand mentions in AI search, step by stepA repeatable way to find out whether ChatGPT, Gemini, AI Overviews and Perplexity name your brand: the prompt sheet, the run, what to record, and the tools.
How to improve brand visibility in AI search enginesThe strategies that actually change whether AI search engines name and cite you, in the order worth doing them, and the popular ones that do nothing at all.
What generative engine optimization services actually doWhat a GEO or AEO engagement should deliver, what it cannot deliver, how to read a proposal, and the questions worth asking before anyone takes your money.
Ahrefs vs Semrush vs Moz: which suite to standardise onThree suites that overlap more than they differ. Which one to commit to, judged on the work rather than the feature list, and what none of them can tell you.
Ahrefs vs SpyFu vs Semrush for competitor researchThree tools pointed at the same job from different angles. Which one to use for competitor research, what each is actually modelling, and where all three guess.
Ubersuggest vs Ahrefs: what going cheap costs youThe budget tool against the premium one. What Ubersuggest genuinely covers, where the gap bites, and how to tell which side of the line your work sits on.
Ahrefs vs Moz: DR, DA and the index behind themDomain Rating against Domain Authority, and why the number matters less than the crawler under it. What each tool is really selling, and when to pick which.
"URL is not on Google": find the real reason"URL is not on Google" is a verdict, not a diagnosis. Where Search Console hides the real reason, and which one of them is not a problem at all.
Shopify products not showing on Google?Why Shopify catalogues pile up unindexed, the store settings that quietly block Google, and how tracked client stores went from ignored to 88% indexed.
Search Console platform properties: Instagram, TikTok, X, YouTubeHow to add Instagram, TikTok, X or YouTube to Google Search Console as a platform property, what the three reports show, what is missing, and how to read the numbers.
How to add Instagram to Google Search ConsoleStep by step, with screenshots from a real account: adding an Instagram account to Google Search Console as a platform property, what the two consent screens ask for, and what the reports show once data arrives.
How to add TikTok to Google Search ConsoleStep by step, with screenshots from a real account: adding a TikTok account to Google Search Console as a platform property, what Google for Creators asks permission for, and what the reports show afterwards.
How to add YouTube to Google Search ConsoleStep by step, with screenshots from a real account: adding a YouTube channel to Google Search Console as a platform property. No popup, no OAuth, just a channel picker, and one trap if you manage several channels.
How long does Google take to index a page or site?Honest indexing timelines from more than 8,500 tracked URLs: what is normal, what controls the speed, and when a long wait means something is wrong.
Does Request Indexing actually work?When Request Indexing works in hours, when it does nothing, and how to use the daily limit properly. From someone who has pressed the button thousands of times.
Is the site: operator accurate?Google says the site: operator does not necessarily return every indexed URL. What it really shows, why the number keeps moving, and what to check instead.
Google indexing tools compared (2026)What SpeedyIndex, IndexMeNow, Omega Indexer, IndexPlease and the rest actually do, what they cost, where each is the right choice, and the one thing none of them can fix.
Google Indexing API: how to use it, limits, and risksGoogle's Indexing API covers job postings and live videos only. What changed in 2025 and 2026, why off-label submissions stopped landing, and what to do now.
Tag Parrot alternatives now that it has closedTag Parrot shut down and refunded everyone, citing Google's changes. What genuinely replaces it, and why the replacement is not a backlink indexer.
Giga Indexer alternatives: two price tablesGiga Indexer's homepage lists one set of prices and its checkout charges another. What its own pages say, the one claim worth testing, and the alternatives.
Why is my site not showing up on Google? 4 reasonsThe four reasons Google ignores pages that exist, how to tell which one is yours, and what actually fixes each of them. From 740+ client sites.
Discovered, currently not indexed, explainedGoogle knows your page exists and has not crawled it yet. What the status means, why it is usually not crawl budget, and what moves pages out of it.
URL is unknown to Google: meaning and fixSearch Console says URL is unknown to Google but your page is live. The five real causes, a test that tells them apart, and which fix actually applies to each.
SpeedyIndex alternatives, with real pricesHonest SpeedyIndex alternatives for backlinks, your own pages, and job posts, with real prices, and the one case where no indexer is the answer.
Foudroyer alternatives: which tool do you need?Foudroyer is an AI SEO suite where auto-indexing is one bullet, not a link indexer. Which product you actually need, and the alternatives for each.
URL is not available to Google: causes and fixesThis message comes from the live test, not the index, which is why an indexed page can show it. What each cause means, and the order worth checking them in.
Bulk index checker tools, compared by how they actually checkIndex checkers split into two kinds that answer different questions, and which you need depends on whether you own the site. Real limits and real prices.
Rapid Index Checker alternatives: free and paid, testedRapid Index Checker alternatives split by whether you own the site. The free official route that beats most paid tools, the paid ones worth money, and the accuracy claim to test first.
Rapid URL Indexer alternatives, and when not to switchRapid URL Indexer has the fairest pricing in backlink indexing. Here is the honest case for staying, the three situations where an alternative genuinely fits, and the one problem no indexer solves.
Indexceptional review, past the press releasesAn independent Indexceptional review. What the tool genuinely does better than anyone, what it costs against the market, and why the 'ranked #1' stories you found are paid distribution rather than tests.
5 IndexBolt alternatives, and the crawl-versus-index catchSeven honest IndexBolt alternatives with real per-URL costs, plus the distinction its pricing depends on: crawling is not indexing. Free options included.
Linkdexing review: what two weeks in the dark buys youAn independent Linkdexing review: what two weeks of manual processing delivers, why the free trial complaints recur, and what an 80 percent claim hides.
Bulk URL inspection tools, and the quota nobody explainsBulk URL inspection tools all read the same API and return the same answer. What differs is quota, setup and price, plus the trick that raises your daily budget.
Omega Indexer alternatives and its refund clockOmega Indexer refunds links unindexed in 24 hours while drip-feeding over 30 days. Two different clocks. Its real pricing, and the alternatives.
SpeedyIndex review: what a token actually buysAn honest SpeedyIndex review: the token system decoded into cost per link, the Yandex side nobody mentions, and who should not buy it.
IndexMeNow vs SpeedyIndex: ten times the priceIndexMeNow and SpeedyIndex sell near-identical promises at very different prices. Cost per link, refunds, minimum spend and reach compared.
Location pages that actually get indexedGoogle declines templated city pages in bulk. What makes location pages index, from someone who built and indexed 90+ of them for one local trade brand.
Why Google dropped your pages from the indexIndexed pages do not leave loudly, so here is why they get dropped, the update-day regressions behind it, and how one store's losses became seven repeat orders.Nothing in that category yet.
More guides are on the way. The short versions live in the services FAQ, and the proof behind all of it is in the case studies.