Google’s John Mueller and Martin Splitt discussed how site owners and SEOs approach Search Console (GSC) as the place to find errors to fix and that the better way to use it is to think of it as a place to identify patterns, many of which are normal.
Interpreting Search Console Messages
Martin Splitt called attention to a possible failure on Google’s side to properly communicate how Search Console data should be perceived and used, commenting that many people come to it looking for things that are wrong that need of fixing. What happens is that they see 404 “errors” or pages not indexed and want to fix them when in reality there might not be anything there that needs fixing.
Splitt explained:
“I don’t know if you remember, but recently at a Search Central Live event, there was a question about the indexing report, the coverage report in Search Console where someone’s like, well, there’s this page that I have and it’s indexed, but the search console report shows it’s not indexed.
And why is it wrong, was basically the question.
And I recently saw another example of that with someone on Reddit who thought they screwed up because they have a bunch of non-indexed pages.”
John Mueller agreed, explaining that this is more of a beginners level issue with indexed pages and the idea that pages that aren’t indexed are indicative of a problem that needs solving, which isn’t necessarily the case.
Mueller responded:
“Yeah, I think it’s something that a lot of people, especially in the beginning when they start using Search Console, they run into this kind of thing where they look at the page indexing report and they see, oh, there’s like hundreds of pages that are not indexed. This is an error, clearly on my side, something that I have to fix.
And then they go off and try to do things to understand it or fix it.”
Martin Splitt commented that Google sending emails about it compounds the confusion about page indexing because it unintentionally feeds the idea that something needs fixing.
Splitt continued his thought:
“And I think the mechanism we have for people to acknowledge that they understand what’s happening is this like fix, confirm fixed or mark as fixed or something. And… while generally a great thing, I think in this case, it’s a little… It’s triggering the wrong response or the wrong expectation, I think.”
Mueller responded that the “mark as fixed” interaction may have more to do with using a similar user interface across Search Console.
He said:
“And in some cases, there are things that you can fix. Like if you have a bunch of 404 pages and you realize your server was set up wrong, you can tell us you fixed this issue and we’ll try to fix it.
On the other hand, if something else went wrong in indexing and it’s more like our systems decided we weren’t as curious as you might be, then it’s not something that you necessarily fix yourself, it’s not something purely technical.”
Look For Patterns
Martin Splitt said that another Googler had given him feedback, saying that what’s going on with the data is that there are patterns and that some of the patterns may be unusual and that when that happens it’s a reason to dig deeper to find out what’s going on, saying that it’s a different way to look at data.
He explained:
“It’s an interesting way of looking at it, I think, because it’s not like, is this index, is this not index? It’s a different thought. It’s like, is the site in the index doing what I expect to do?
And I think it can help you to spot things that haven’t happened the way you intend them to happen. So for instance, if you’re migrating and you’re setting up redirects, then
Indexing report shows you, ta-da, a steep rise in redirects. Page with a redirect. It’s not indexed because it’s redirecting somewhere else.
And if you look at it as an inventory, as a monitoring tool only, then you’re like, ah, what’s happening? Why is there pages that are not indexed because they are now redirecting? When in reality, that’s exactly what you want them to do because you just set it up.
As long as that hasn’t happened in the index report, then you know, ah, OK, interesting. We have to wait a little longer because the processing hasn’t completed yet.”
404 “Errors”
Lastly, Mueller and Splitt circled back to the 404 error report. I’ve mentioned before that the reason the 404 server response is referred to as an error is because when a crawler (or a browser) requests a URL that does not exist on the server, the request is an error. That’s the error, not that the site owner has an error on their website. URLs that no longer exist are normal so there’s no kind of negative issue related to that.
However, 404 server response messages in the Google Search Console should be investigated because it could be that there is a problem like a broken link or that a URL changed but the internal links to the old URL weren’t updated to the new URL.
Mueller continued:
“I also think, especially with 404s, that’s something that sometimes throws people off because they’re labeled as an error and it’s almost like your website is returning an error.
And then a lot of people see that and say, well, I have to fix this error.”
Martin Splitt said that many times a 404 response is the right thing, that it’s an “error” that’s expected.
He explained:
“It’s actually a good thing. The problem is that, and then I get the question like, so, but why does Search Console show it as an error?
Because it is an error. It’s just an expected one.”
Takeaways
- A useful way to use Search Console is to think of it as a tool for identifying patterns and trends, not as a checklist of problems to fix.
- Many page not indexed and 404 errors are normal and expected, and do not necessarily mean that something needs fixing.
- The blame for the way SEOs and site owners approach Search Console looking for things to fix is on Google because the user interface and messaging can unintentionally encourage site owners to assume that every reported issue signals that something needs fixing. .
- Understanding the context of Search Console reports helps users identify real technical issues that require investigation.
Listen to Google’s Search Off The Record podcast here:
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