Google’s John Mueller and Martin Splitt explained how site owners and SEOs view Search Console (GSC) as the place to find errors to fix and that the best way to use it is to view 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 part to properly communicate how Search Console data should be perceived and used, noting that many people come to it looking for problems that need to be fixed. What happens is they see 404 “errors” or unindexed pages and want to fix them when in reality there may be nothing to fix.
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 said, well, there’s this page that I have and it’s indexed, but the Search Console report shows that it’s not indexed.
And why is it wrong, that was the fundamental question.
And I recently saw another example of this with someone on Reddit who thought they made a mistake because they had a bunch of unindexed pages.
John Mueller agrees, explaining that this is more of a beginner level issue with indexed pages and the idea that pages that are not indexed indicate a problem that needs to be fixed, which is not necessarily the case.
Mueller responded:
“Yeah, I think that’s something that a lot of people, especially in the beginning when they start using Search Console, run into this kind of thing when they look at the page indexing report and see, oh, there are hundreds of pages that aren’t indexed. That’s an error, clearly on my end, something that I need to fix.
And then they go off and try to do things to figure it out or fix it.
Martin Splitt commented that Google sending emails about this adds to the confusion regarding page indexing, as it unintentionally fuels the idea that something needs to be fixed.
Splitt continues his reflection:
“And I think the mechanism we have for people to acknowledge that they understand what’s going on is like fix or confirm as fixed or mark as fixed or something like that. And… while that’s generally a good thing, I think in this case it’s a little… It triggers a wrong response or a wrong expectation, I think.”
Mueller responded that the “mark as fixed” interaction might have more to do with using a similar UI in Search Console.
He said:
“And in some cases there are things you can fix. For example, if you have a bunch of 404 pages and you realize your server was misconfigured, you can tell us you fixed that and we’ll try to fix it.
On the other hand, if something else went wrong during indexing and our systems instead decided that we weren’t as curious as you might be, then that’s not something you necessarily fix yourself, it’s not something purely technical.
Search for models
Martin Splitt said another Googler gave him feedback, saying what was happening with the data was that there were patterns and some patterns could be unusual and when that happened it was a reason to dig deeper to find out what was going on, saying it was a different way of looking at the data.
He explained:
“It’s an interesting way of looking at it, I think, because it’s not like this index, isn’t it an index? It’s a different thought. It’s like is the site in the index doing what I expect it to do?”
And I think it can help you spot things that didn’t happen the way you wanted. So for example if you are migrating and setting up redirects then
The indexing report shows you, ta-da, a big increase in redirects. Page with a redirect. It is not indexed because it redirects elsewhere.
And if you look at it as an inventory, as a monitoring tool only, then you wonder, ah, what’s going on? Why are there pages that are not indexed because they are now redirected? When in reality, that’s exactly what you want them to do because you just set it up.
As long as that didn’t show up in the index report, then you know, ah, OK, interesting. We have to wait a little longer because the processing is not yet finished.
404 “Errors”
Finally, Mueller and Splitt returned to 404 error reporting. I’ve already mentioned that the reason the 404 server response is called an error is because when a bot (or browser) requests a URL that doesn’t exist on the server, the request is an error. This is the error, not that the site owner has an error on their website. URLs that no longer exist are normal, so there are no negative issues related to this.
However, 404 server response messages in Google Search Console should be investigated because there may be an issue such as a broken link or a URL has changed but internal links to the old URL have not been updated to the new URL.
Mueller continued:
“I also think, especially with 404s, it’s something that sometimes turns people off because they’re labeled as an error and it’s almost like your website is throwing an error.
And then a lot of people see that and say, well, I need to fix that mistake.
Martin Splitt said that often a 404 response is the right thing, that it’s an expected “error”.
He explained:
“It’s actually a good thing. The problem is, and then I get asked the question, so, but why is Search Console showing it as an error?”
Because it’s a mistake. It’s just a wait.
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 solve.
- Many unindexed pages and 404 errors are normal and expected, and do not necessarily mean anything needs to be fixed.
- The fault for the way SEOs and site owners approach Search Console looking for issues to fix lies with Google, as the user interface and messaging can unintentionally encourage site owners to assume that every reported issue signals that something needs to be fixed. .
- Understanding the context of Search Console reports helps users identify real technical issues that need investigation.
Listen to Google’s Search Off The Record podcast here:
Featured image by Shutterstock/Prostock-studio
