How to Fix Crawl Errors and Improve Google Indexing (2026 Guide)
How to Fix Crawl Errors and Improve Google Indexing (2026 Guide)
You built a great website. You added good content. But Google still isn’t showing your pages in search results.
Sound familiar?
One of the most common and most overlooked reasons for this is crawl errors. Google sends bots (called crawlers) to visit and read your website. If those bots hit errors or can’t access your pages, your content simply does not get indexed. And if it is not indexed, it cannot rank.
The good news? Most crawl errors are fixable. You do not need to be a developer to understand them.
In this guide, we will explain what crawl errors are, why they happen, how to find them, and exactly how to fix them .
1. What Are Crawl Errors? (Simple Explanation)
Imagine Google as a postal worker visiting every house (webpage) on the internet. When the postal worker reaches your house, one of two things can happen:
- The door opens → Google reads your page → your page gets indexed → it can appear in search results
- The door is locked or broken → Google cannot read your page → your page does not get indexed → it cannot rank
Crawl errors are anything that prevents Google’s bots from successfully reading your pages. These errors show up in Google Search Console, and they are a signal that something on your website needs to be fixed.
The Two Main Types of Crawl Errors
There are two categories you need to know:
1. Site-Level Errors These affect your entire website. Google cannot even reach your site. This is serious and needs immediate attention. Common causes: server is down, DNS issues, or robots.txt blocking everything. |
2. URL-Level Errors These affect individual pages. Google can reach your site, but specific pages have problems. Much more common and easier to fix. |
2. Most Common Crawl Errors (And What They Mean)
Let us go through the errors you are most likely to see — and explain them in plain English.
404 Error — Page Not Found
This means Google tried to visit a page, but the page does not exist anymore. Maybe you deleted it, changed its URL, or made a typo in a link.
Example Google visits awebexpert.com/old-blog-post → page was deleted → 404 error appears. |
301 / 302 Redirect Issues
A redirect sends visitors (and Google) from one URL to another. If your redirects form a long chain (A → B → C → D) or loop back on themselves (A → B → A), Google wastes crawl budget and can give up.
Good practice Always redirect old pages directly to their final destination — no chains, no loops. |
Soft 404 Error
This is tricky. The page loads and looks fine to visitors, but the content is basically empty or not useful. Google treats it as a 404, even though the page technically exists.
Example A search results page with no results, or a product page where the product is no longer available. |
Server Error (5xx)
5xx errors mean your server is having a problem. Google tried to visit your page, but your server could not respond properly. If this happens often, Google will crawl your site less frequently.
Blocked by robots.txt
Your robots.txt file tells Google which pages to crawl and which to ignore. If you accidentally block important pages — like your service pages or blog posts — Google will not index them at all.
Warning This is one of the most common mistakes we see. A single wrong line in robots.txt can block your entire site from Google. |
Noindex Tag
A noindex tag tells Google ‘do not include this page in search results.’ Sometimes developers add this during website building and forget to remove it before going live.
3. How to Find Crawl Errors on Your Website
You need two free tools: Google Search Console and (optionally) a crawling tool like Screaming Frog.
Step 1 — Set Up Google Search Console
If you have not already, add your website to Google Search Console (search.google.com/search-console). It is free and it shows you exactly what Google sees on your site.
Step 2 — Check the Coverage Report
In Search Console, go to:
Pages → Index → Coverage Report
You will see four tabs:
- Error — Pages Google tried to crawl but could not. Fix these first.
- Valid with warnings — Pages that are indexed but have issues.
- Valid — Pages that are properly indexed. These are fine.
- Excluded — Pages Google chose not to index. Some are intentional (like login pages), but check for surprises.
Step 3 — Click on Each Error Type
Click on any error category to see a list of URLs affected. You can export this list to fix them one by one.
💡 Pro Tip Sort errors by number of affected URLs and fix the ones affecting the most pages first. That gives you the biggest SEO impact in the shortest time. |
Step 4 — Run a Crawl with Screaming Frog (Optional)
Screaming Frog is a free tool (up to 500 URLs) that crawls your website like Google does. It finds broken links, redirect chains, missing meta tags, and more. Download it at screamingfrog.co.uk.
4. How to Fix Crawl Errors — Step by Step
Now let us get to the actual fixes. Here is what to do for each type of error.
Fix 1 — Fix 404 Errors
You have two options depending on the situation:
Option A: Restore the page. If the content is still relevant, bring it back. Make sure the URL is exactly the same as before.
Option B: Add a 301 redirect. If the page is gone for good, redirect the old URL to the closest relevant page on your site.
On WordPress with Elementor, you can add redirects easily using a free plugin called Redirection or Rank Math SEO. Here is how:
- Install the Redirection plugin from WordPress dashboard → Plugins → Add New
- Go to Tools → Redirection
- Add the old URL in ‘Source URL’ and the new page in ‘Target URL’
- Set redirect type to 301 (permanent)
- Save and test by visiting the old URL
Fix 2 — Fix Redirect Chains and Loops
Use Screaming Frog to identify chains. Then update each redirect to go directly to the final destination.
Wrong: /page-a → /page-b → /page-c (chain)
Right: /page-a → /page-c (direct)
Update your redirects in the Redirection plugin or directly in your .htaccess file (ask your developer if unsure).
Fix 3 — Fix Soft 404 Errors
You have three options:
- Add real, useful content to the page so it has value
- If the page is truly empty or useless, delete it and redirect to a relevant page
- If the page should not exist (like an empty search results page), add a noindex tag to it so Google stops trying to index it
Fix 4 — Fix Server Errors (5xx)
5xx errors are usually hosting-related. Here is what to check:
- Contact your hosting provider — ask if there are server issues or resource limits being hit
- Check if your website has a caching plugin (like WP Rocket or W3 Total Cache) and clear the cache
- If errors happen when lots of people visit at once, your hosting plan may be too small — consider upgrading
Fix 5 — Fix robots.txt Blocking Issues
On WordPress, go to:
Rank Math SEO → General Settings → robots.txt
Or use Yoast SEO → Tools → File Editor.
Look for any lines that say:
Disallow: /
That single line blocks your ENTIRE website. Replace it with specific paths you actually want to block (like /wp-admin/).
⚠️ Important After editing robots.txt, go to Google Search Console → URL Inspection and test your important pages to confirm they are now accessible to Google. |
Fix 6 — Remove Accidental noindex Tags
In WordPress, go to:
Settings → Reading
Make sure the option ‘Discourage search engines from indexing this site’ is NOT checked.
For individual pages, edit the page in Elementor, then check your SEO plugin settings (Rank Math or Yoast) at the bottom of the editor. Make sure ‘Robot Meta’ or ‘Advanced’ is set to Index, Follow.
5. How to Improve Google Indexing (Beyond Fixing Errors)
Fixing crawl errors is step one. Here is what to do next to help Google index your pages faster and more completely.
Submit Your XML Sitemap
A sitemap is a file that lists all your important pages and tells Google where to find them. On WordPress:
- Install Rank Math or Yoast SEO (both free)
- Enable XML sitemap — it is usually at yourdomain.com/sitemap.xml
- Go to Google Search Console → Sitemaps → paste your sitemap URL → Submit
Use the URL Inspection Tool
In Google Search Console, you can ask Google to crawl and index any specific page immediately:
- Go to URL Inspection at the top of Search Console
- Paste the URL of your page
- Click ‘Request Indexing’
This does not guarantee instant indexing, but it speeds up the process significantly.
Improve Your Internal Linking
Google follows links to discover pages. If an important page has no internal links pointing to it, Google may never find it. Make sure every important page is linked from at least one other page on your site.
Improve Page Speed
Slow websites get crawled less frequently. Google has a crawl budget — time it is willing to spend on your site. If pages load slowly, Google crawls fewer of them. Use free tools like Google PageSpeed Insights to check your speed and follow the recommendations.
6. How Long Does It Take for Google to Re-index Fixed Pages?
This is one of the most common questions we hear. The honest answer: it depends.
- Small websites: 1–7 days after submitting through Search Console
- Larger websites: 1–4 weeks
- New websites with little authority: Can take several weeks
After you fix errors, always:
- Request re-indexing via URL Inspection Tool in Search Console
- Resubmit your sitemap
- Monitor the Coverage Report weekly to confirm errors are clearing up
7. How to Prevent Crawl Errors in the Future
Once your site is clean, here is how to keep it that way:
- Run a monthly check on Google Search Console Coverage Report
- Set up email alerts in Search Console — Google will notify you of new issues
- Before deleting any page, always set up a redirect first
- Before launching new website designs or updates, check robots.txt and noindex settings
- Use a broken link checker plugin to catch 404s before Google does
Start Fixing Crawl Errors Today
Crawl errors are one of the most direct reasons why websites fail to rank on Google — and the good news is that most of them are completely fixable without technical knowledge if you know where to look.
To summarise what we covered:
- Crawl errors prevent Google from reading and indexing your pages
- The most common ones are 404s, redirect issues, robots.txt blocks, and noindex tags
- Google Search Console is your free tool to find and monitor all of these
- Most fixes can be done in WordPress using free plugins like Redirection and Rank Math
- After fixing, request re-indexing and monitor your results weekly
If your website has dozens or hundreds of crawl errors, or if you are not sure where to start, working with a technical SEO agency can save you significant time and help you avoid costly mistakes.