Google uses a program called Googlebot to crawl and index pages on the internet. If Googlebot encounters an error while trying to crawl a page, it will be recorded in the Crawl Errors section of the Google Search Console. Common errors include 404 (page not found) and 500 (server error) status codes. To fix these errors, you should check for broken links and ensure that your website’s server is configured correctly. If you have recently moved or changed the structure of your website, you may need to create redirects to ensure that visitors and search engines are directed to the correct pages.
Types Of Errors.
There are several types of errors that can be encountered while Google crawls a website. Some common ones include:
- 404 Error: This error occurs when a page is not found on the server. It typically indicates that the page has been deleted or moved, and a proper redirect has not been set up.
- 500 Error: This is a server-side error that indicates that something is wrong with the website’s server. It can be caused by issues such as misconfigured server software or a server overload.
- Redirect Errors: These errors occur when a page redirects to another page in an unexpected or infinite loop. This can happen if the website’s redirects are not set up correctly.
- Soft 404 Error: This error occurs when a page returns a 200 status code but has no useful content. It typically happens when a non-existent page is returned with a template instead of a 404 error page.
- DNS Errors: This error occurs when Googlebot is unable to connect to the website’s server because of DNS resolution issues.
- Timeout Errors: This error occurs when Googlebot is unable to connect to the website’s server because the server took too long to respond.
- Mobile Usability Errors: This error occurs when a website is not optimized for mobile devices, resulting in a poor user experience.
- Structured Data Errors: This error occurs when the structured data is not correctly implemented on a website, causing Google to be unable to understand the content of the page.
Orphan page errors
An orphan page is a webpage that is not linked to by any other pages on a website, making it difficult for users and search engines to find it. These pages are also known as “dead ends” or “deep pages.”
Orphan pages can occur for several reasons:
- The page was created and then forgotten about, and no internal links were added to it.
- The page was moved or deleted, but the old link was not redirected to the new location.
- The page was created as a test, but was never meant to be publicly accessible.
These pages can cause a number of issues for both website visitors and search engines. For visitors, they may not be able to find the content they are looking for and may end up leaving the website. For search engines, orphan pages can negatively impact a website’s overall ranking and visibility.
To fix orphan page errors, you can try to identify and link to them, set up redirects, or delete them if they are no longer needed. It is also a good practice to monitor your website regularly and to fix any broken links or 404 errors as soon as they are identified.
