The first step in improving your website’s search engine performance is to identify and fix crawl errors, which are a crucial component of SEO that many people ignore.
In this regard, Google Search Console is among the most dependable and effective tools available. With this free Google platform, you can easily and precisely track, manage, and troubleshoot your website’s visibility in Google Search results.
Digi Rathi’s comprehensive guide will take you step-by-step through the full process of locating and resolving crawl issues so that your website may improve its exposure, rankings, and long-term search engine success.
What Are Crawl Errors?
It’s critical to fix crawl errors before attempting to resolve them. When a search engine bot (such as Googlebot) attempts to view a page on your website but is unsuccessful, it is known as a crawl error. Server problems, broken links, improper redirects, or blocked resources might all be the cause of these errors.
Generally, crawl errors fall into one of two categories:
Site issues can include server faults, DNS errors, and robots.txt retrieval failures, and they can impact your entire website.
404 Not Found, soft 404s, and Access Denied messages are examples of URL errors, which are problems with specific pages.
Fixing crawl issues as soon as they arise is crucial since neglecting them can result in poor SEO performance, decreased indexing, and poorer search ranks.
Why It’s Important to Fix Crawl Problems
You lose out on important organic traffic if Google is unable to adequately scan your website and index your content. Crawl errors indicate issues that require immediate repair. You may increase your site’s health, user experience, and search engine rankings by understanding how to resolve crawl problems.
Other compelling arguments for resolving these problems include
Improved Indexation: Makes sure search engines can find all of your vital material.
Better User Experience: By fixing faulty pages, users are less likely to leave.
Faster Load Times: Site speed can be greatly increased by fixing server problems.
Higher Rankings: Websites that are error-free and simple to crawl are given preference by search engines.
At Digi Rathi, we think a clean crawl report is the first step towards a well-optimized website.
Fix Crawl Errors in Google Search Console – Step-by-Step
Let’s now get into the practical part — how to fix crawl errors using Google Search Console.
Step 1: Log in to Google Search Console
Visit Google Search Console and sign in with your Google account. Select the property (website) you want to monitor.
Step 2: Navigate to “Pages” Report
In the left-hand sidebar, click on “Pages” under the “Indexing” tab. Here, you’ll see which URLs are not indexed and why. The most common errors are:
404 Not Found
Redirect errors
Server (5xx) errors
Blocked by robots.txt
Soft 404s
This is your starting point to fix crawl errors based on what’s affecting your site.
Common Crawl Errors and How to Fix Them
Let’s explore some typical crawl errors and the best ways to fix them.
1. 404 Not Found Errors
When a page is missing, thease occur. To correct these kinds of crawl errors:
If the missing page was accidentally deleted, restore it.
Create a 301 redirect to a working page that is pertinent.
Leave the page alone if it has been permanently removed and is no longer relevant; Google will ultimately cease attempting to crawl it.
2. Server Errors (5xx)
If server issues are not fixed right away, they can harm your SEO. They could be brought on by excessive traffic, timeout problems, or improperly set up servers.
How to correct:
Speak with your hosting company.
Look for problems in your server logs.
Make sure your website can withstand periods of high traffic.
In order to address crawl issues that prevent users from accessing your complete website, this is an essential step.
3. Soft 404 Errors
When a page returns a “200 OK” result yet displays a “Page Not Found” warning to users, this is known as a soft 404.
To correct:
In the event that the content is absent, provide a valid 404 status code.
If there is material on the page that was misinterpreted as being empty, add it to make it better.
4. Redirect Errors
These happen when a redirect chain leads to a faulty URL or is excessively lengthy.
To correct crawl errors such as these:
Redirect chains with more than two steps should be avoided.
Incorrect redirection rules in your CMS settings or.htaccess file should be fixed or removed.
5. Blocked by robots.txt
If you unintentionally prevented crawling of crucial pages:
Examine the robots.txt file you have.
Any Disallow lines that restrict Googlebot’s access to important content should be removed.
This is one of the simplest crawl issues to resolve and a surprisingly widespread problem.
Tools to Help You Fix Crawl Problems
You can utilize number of tools in addition to Google Search Console:
Screaming Frog: A desktop crawler that assists in locating problems such as redirect chains, broken links, and duplicate content.
Ahrefs and Semrush are tools that offer crawl reports and offer solutions for technical SEO problems.
The URL Inspection Tool in Google Search Console allows you to inspect live URLs and ask for re-indexing after crawl problems have been fixed.
For the best view of the crawl health of your website, Digi Rathi advises combining these tools.
Best Practices to Prevent Crawl Errors
It is better to prevent than to treat. The following practices will help you reduce crawl errors going forward:
Every week, check Google Search Console.
Use crawling tools to regularly examine your website.
Redirects should be avoided.
After relocating material, update internal links.
To direct users back, utilize a personalized 404 page.
Update your sitemap.xml file.
In addition to helping you correct crawl issues, these measures also help you avoid them in the first place.
Final Thoughts
Google considers crawl errors to be a warning sign. They alert the search engine to a problem with your website, which could lower your ranks if it is not fixed. Thankfully, you can promptly correct crawl issues and maintain your SEO strategy with the correct tools and a methodical approach.
A brief summary of the keyword procedure is as follows:
Open Google Search Console and log in.
Determine the different kinds of errors in the “Pages” report.
Utilize resources and industry best practices to address every problem.
Examine the URL again after making corrections.
The organic performance of your website can be significantly improved by knowing how to resolve crawl issues, regardless of whether you are a digital marketer or a business owner.
