Google Console: Understanding Common SEO Errors and Messages

Google Console: Understanding Common SEO Errors and Messages

By Michael Chen

February 7, 2025 at 07:43 PM

Mobile-first indexing means Google primarily uses your site's mobile version for ranking and indexing. If you received this notification, it's positive - your site is well-optimized for mobile devices.

Mobile usability alerts indicate elements that need optimization like:

  • Clickable elements too close together
  • Text too small to read
  • Content wider than screen

Common Google Search Console messages explained:

Robots.txt and Indexing Issues

  • Robots.txt tells search engines which pages not to crawl
  • Some restricted pages are normal (admin, search, tag pages)
  • You can ignore messages about restricted URLs

Crawling Status Messages

  • "Crawled but not indexed": Normal for checkout/cart pages
  • "Page alternates with canonical": Common for homepages with multiple URLs
  • "Discovered - not indexed": Page found but pending crawl
  • "404 errors": Appear when pages are deleted or URLs changed without redirects

Structured Data and HTML

  • Structured data warnings don't affect indexing
  • HTML improvement suggestions can be ignored if not relevant
  • Sites still qualify for rich snippets

Troubleshooting Steps

  1. For 404 errors: Set up 301/302 redirects
  2. For deceptive behavior warnings:
    • Verify site in Search Console
    • Remove flagged content
    • Request Google review

Redirect Issues

  • HTTP to HTTPS redirects are normal
  • Domain redirects (example.com to www.example.com) are expected
  • Most redirect errors can be ignored

Third-Party Tools Results from tools like SEMrush, MOZ, or AHREFS may not be relevant for CMS-based sites and can be misleading.

Related Articles

Previous Articles