How to Fix Crawl Errors and Indexing Issues

When you see a "Crawled, not indexed" or "404" warning in Search Console, it doesn't always mean an urgent problem, but it shouldn't be ignored either. Crawl errors and indexing issues can keep even a well-written page from ever showing up in search results. In this article we cover how to find and fix these issues.

The Difference Between Crawling and Indexing

Crawling is a search engine bot finding a page and downloading its content. Indexing is adding that content to the engine's database so it can be shown in search results. A page can be crawled without being indexed, these two steps are independent of each other. The reports in Search Console show which page is stuck at which stage.

Reading the Reports in Search Console

The Pages report lists indexed and non-indexed pages along with the reasons. "Crawled, currently not indexed" and "Discovered, currently not indexed" mean different things, the first shows the engine has seen the page but hasn't decided yet, the second shows it hasn't reached the page at all. The URL Inspection tool runs a live test for a single address and shows what's causing the issue.

Common Causes of 404s

When a page is deleted or its address changes, the internal and external links pointing to the old address stay broken. A link with a typo produces the same result. You need to check the 404 pages on your site regularly and either redirect them to the right address or fix the link. Not every 404 needs a redirect, returning a 404 for content that genuinely no longer exists is also a legitimate choice.

Redirect Chains and Loops

Passing through more than one redirect on the way from one address to another slows the bot down in reaching its target and, in some cases, blocks indexing. A redirect looping back to its own starting point creates a loop and keeps the page from ever loading. The page just never opens then. The most reliable way to keep chains short is redirecting every address straight to its final destination.

Canonical Tag Conflicts

A canonical tag states which address is the original one when multiple addresses show the same content. When this tag points to an address other than the page's own, that can be a deliberate choice or a mistake made by accident. You need to make sure the canonical tag really points to the address you want it to, otherwise the engine may mistake the wrong page for the original.

Accidental Blocking Through robots.txt and Meta Tags

A single badly written robots.txt rule can close an important section off to every bot. Likewise, a noindex tag on a page can keep that page out of the index, whether on purpose or by accident. This file and these tags should be kept under version control, and every change should be reviewed.

Keeping the Sitemap Up to Date

The sitemap file tells bots which pages exist. When a new page is added, it needs to be added to the sitemap too, otherwise the page can be discovered late. An address that no longer exists staying in the sitemap leads to unnecessary crawl requests.

Conclusion

Crawl and indexing issues often stay silent, the page exists but never shows up in search results. Monitoring Search Console reports regularly is the most reliable way to catch these issues early. In our site performance service we run these checks as part of ongoing site maintenance. Get in touch if you'd like to review your site's crawl status together.