Google Search Console errors: which ones matter
Google Search Console errors matter when they prevent important pages from appearing in Google Search, stop Google from reading your content, or point to a problem with your website. Redirects, duplicate page exclusions and intentional noindex settings are often normal, so check which URLs are affected and why before trying to fix anything.
Which Google Search Console errors should you fix first?
Start with pages that bring you business or help customers find your services. For a plumber, that might be the homepage, the emergency plumbing page and the pages for the towns you cover. If Google cannot index those URLs, potential customers may have trouble finding them in search.
Open Google Search Console, select your website property, then click Pages under Indexing in the left menu. The Page indexing report separates pages that are indexed from those that are not. Under the chart, look at the reasons listed in the table and the number of affected URLs.
Prioritise these problems when they affect pages you want Google to show:
- Server errors (5xx). Google tried to access the page, but the server returned an error. Check whether the site is down or the problem keeps happening. Your hosting provider or developer may need to investigate.
- Blocked by robots.txt. The robots.txt file gives search engines instructions about which URLs they can crawl. If it blocks a service page that should appear in search, review the rule before changing it.
- Excluded by noindex. The page tells search engines not to include it in search results. This is correct for some pages, but a mistake on your homepage or a key service page needs attention.
- Not found (404). The URL returns a page-not-found response. If the page was deleted and has no replacement, this can be normal. If an important service page has disappeared by mistake, restore it or arrange a suitable replacement.
- Redirect error. Google cannot follow the redirect properly, perhaps because of a loop or a long chain of redirects. Check the affected URL and the destination.
A large number beside a reason does not automatically mean a serious problem. One hundred old URLs that should no longer exist can be less urgent than one missing page for your main service. Judge the affected URLs by their purpose, not just the count.
Which excluded pages are normal?
Google does not index every URL it discovers, and that is often fine. A website can contain old addresses, duplicate versions of a page and private or administrative pages that have no reason to appear in search. The Page indexing report records many of these situations without indicating that something is broken.
| Status in Search Console | What it means | What to check |
|---|---|---|
| Page with redirect | The URL sends visitors and search engines to another address. | Check that the destination is correct and the redirect works. An old URL redirecting to its replacement is usually fine. |
| Alternate page with proper canonical tag | The page identifies another URL as the preferred version. | Confirm that the preferred URL is the one you want Google to index. |
| Excluded by noindex tag | The page explicitly asks search engines not to index it. | Leave it alone if the setting is intentional. Remove the restriction from a valuable page if it was added by mistake. |
| Not found (404) | The requested URL does not exist. | Check whether the page was deliberately removed or should still be available. |
| Crawled, currently not indexed | Google visited the page but has not included it in its index. | Check the page's content, usefulness and internal links. Review whether it deserves to appear in search. |
| Discovered, currently not indexed | Google knows about the URL but has not yet crawled it. | Check the site's overall condition and the page's importance before deciding what to do. |
The two statuses involving pages that Google has not indexed need closer inspection if they affect valuable content. They do not prove that Google has found a technical fault. A newly published page may need time, while a thin page with little useful information may not be selected for indexing. The cause needs to be checked before you decide on a fix.
If you see several excluded URLs, open the reason and inspect the examples. A list of old product addresses, tracking URLs or redirected pages tells a different story from a list containing your homepage and every main service page.
How can you check whether an affected URL is important?
Do not rely on the summary chart alone. Google Search Console lets you inspect an individual URL to see how Google treats it. Copy a URL from the affected examples, paste it into the URL inspection field at the top of Search Console, and wait for the report.
- Check the URL itself. Make sure it is the exact page you intended to publish, rather than an old address or a URL with extra parameters.
- Read the indexing result. Look for the wording under page indexing and whether Google reports the URL as indexed.
- Check the user-declared canonical and Google-selected canonical, where available. A canonical is the address nominated as the main version of a page. If Google selects a different address, investigate whether the two pages are duplicates and whether your preferred address is correct.
- Test the live URL if the report suggests a problem. Click Test live URL to check whether Google can access the page now. This tests the current page, which may differ from Google's stored information.
- Decide whether the page belongs in search. A contact form confirmation page may not need indexing. A page explaining your boiler repair service probably does.
For example, suppose your electrician website has a service page at /rewiring/ that should appear in Google, but URL inspection reports that it is excluded by noindex. View the page and check its settings. If the page is meant to be public, the noindex instruction needs to be removed. If you cannot find the setting in your website editor, ask the person who built the site to check the template or plugin.
You can usually check URLs, inspect the page and identify an obvious unwanted setting yourself. Changing robots.txt rules, editing server redirects or altering technical settings across a site is better left to someone who understands how the website is built.
Why do indexing errors return after you fix them?
A status can remain in Search Console after you change the page because Google's report is not always updated immediately. Google needs to crawl the URL again and process the result. A successful live test is useful evidence about the page now, but it does not mean the stored indexing report will change at once.
Once you have corrected a confirmed problem, return to the relevant issue in the Page indexing report and use Validate fix if that option is available. Google will check the affected URLs. Validation can take time, and it may fail if the original problem remains or another issue prevents Google from indexing the pages.
Before requesting validation, check that the page returns the right content, loads without an error and is not blocked by another setting. If you have repaired a redirect, test both the old URL and the destination. If you have removed noindex, inspect the page source or use the live inspection test to confirm that the instruction is gone.
Avoid submitting validation repeatedly without changing anything. A request does not force Google to index a page, and it does not guarantee that the page will appear in search. If the report still shows the same reason, go back to the example URLs and look for a cause you have missed.
What should you do if the report shows too many problems?
Pick one important URL and trace its problem before trying to clean up the whole report. If the homepage and service pages are indexed but dozens of old URLs are excluded, there may be little to do. If the main pages are blocked, missing or returning server errors, start there instead.
Keep a short record of the affected URL, the exact status, what you checked and what you changed. This makes it easier to spot a recurring problem after a plugin update, website redesign or change to the page template.
Indexing is only one part of whether a small business website works well in Google. A page can be indexed and still have weak titles, confusing headings, slow loading or a poor phone layout. FixGuider's website audit checks cover those areas as well as links, local search details and structured data, using screenshots of your actual pages with problems marked and explained.
If you are unsure which issue deserves attention, open the Page indexing report now, select the reason with the affected pages you care about most, and inspect one of those URLs. Write down the exact status and the page address. That gives you a specific problem to fix yourself or pass to your developer, rather than a long list of warnings to chase blindly.