Website owners and SEO specialists often face a critical issue: pages that aren’t indexed on Google Search Console. This can severely impact a website’s visibility and performance on search engine results pages (SERPs). The problem becomes more evident when you see “Not found (404)” errors, indicating that certain pages are unreachable.
There are several reasons why pages might not be indexed or why they return a “Not found (404)” error:
1. Broken Links: Links that lead to non-existent pages can result in 404 errors.
2. Incorrect URL Structure: If the URLs are not correctly formatted or have been changed without proper redirection, Google will be unable to find them.
3. Robots.txt Restrictions: Sometimes, the robots.txt file may block Googlebot from accessing certain pages.
4. Noindex Tags: Pages with a noindex meta tag will not be indexed by Google.
5. Crawl Budget Issues: For larger websites, Googlebot may not crawl all pages due to limitations in crawl budget.
6 Page Quality Issues: Pages that do not meet Google’s quality guidelines may be excluded from the index.
To resolve these issues, follow these steps:
1. Identify and Fix Broken Links
Use tools like Google Search Console, Screaming Frog, or Ahrefs to find and fix broken links on your website. Replace or redirect these links to valid pages.
2. Correct URL Structures
Ensure that all URLs are correctly formatted and consistent. Use 301 redirects to guide Googlebot from old URLs to new ones. For example, if you changed a URL from example.com/old-page to example.com/new-page, set up a 301 redirect to inform Google of the change.
1. Fetch as Google: Use the “URL Inspection” tool in Google Search Console to fetch and render pages. This helps you see how Googlebot views your page and identify potential issues.
2. Submit Sitemap: Ensure your sitemap is up-to-date and submitted to Google Search Console. This helps Google discover and index your pages more efficiently.
3. Fix Coverage Issues: Regularly check the “Coverage” report in Google Search Console for any indexing errors. Address issues like “Submitted URL marked ‘noindex’” or “Submitted URL seems to be a Soft 404.”
Consider a website that sells testing instruments. After a recent redesign, the webmaster notices that several key pages are not being indexed, and the Search Console shows numerous 404 errors.
STEPS TAKEN-
1. Identified Broken Links: Using Screaming Frog, the webmaster found and fixed broken links leading to old product pages.
2. Corrected URL Structures: Implemented 301 redirects from old URLs to new ones.
3. Reviewed Robots.txt: Adjusted the robots.txt file to allow Googlebot to crawl all relevant pages.
4. Removed Noindex Tags: Conducted a thorough audit to remove noindex tags from important pages.
5. Managed Crawl Budget: Prioritized key product and category pages for indexing.
6. Improved Page Quality: Enhanced content quality and ensured the website was mobile-friendly.
After implementing these changes and resubmitting the sitemap to Google Search Console, the pages were indexed successfully, and the 404 errors were resolved.
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