Search Console errors, fixed on WordPress
Pick the status exactly as Search Console words it. Each page starts with what the status means and whether it needs fixing at all, then a free checker you can run on the URL Search Console listed.
After that: the WordPress settings that usually cause it, the fix in Yoast SEO, Rank Math or your host, and how to get Search Console to recheck.
Using Bing Webmaster Tools too? Bing Webmaster Tools fixes
- Crawled – currently not indexedWorth fixing for real posts; expected for archives and extras.Can RankHive fix it? Partly
- Discovered – currently not indexedGive new posts time; act when posts you care about stay stuck.Can RankHive fix it? Partly
- Duplicate without user-selected canonicalFix it only if Google picked the wrong URL.Can RankHive fix it? Partly
- Alternate page with proper canonical tagLeave it alone, unless a page you want in Google is on the list.Can RankHive fix it? Nothing to fix
- Duplicate, Google chose different canonical than userAct if your choice was the right one; otherwise accept Google’s.Can RankHive fix it? Partly
- Soft 404Worth fixing, but first decide whether the page should exist.Can RankHive fix it? Partly
- Not found (404)Fix the 404s that had traffic or links; leave the rest.Can RankHive fix it? Yes
- Page with redirectUsually leave it; tidy your own links that still use the old address.Can RankHive fix it? Nothing to fix
- Blocked due to access forbidden (403)Fix it if the page should be public; keep Google away if it never should be.Can RankHive fix it? No
- Blocked due to other 4xx issueFix it if the page should be in Google; leave it if the code is deliberate.Can RankHive fix it? No
- Excluded by ‘noindex’ tagKeep it on pages you hid on purpose; remove it from pages you want found.Can RankHive fix it? No
- Blocked by robots.txtFix it only for URLs you want found in Google.Can RankHive fix it? Yes
- Indexed, though blocked by robots.txtAct on it: decide, URL by URL, whether it belongs in Google.Can RankHive fix it? Partly
- Sitemap could not be readFix it if the file is broken; give a new submission a few days.Can RankHive fix it? No
- Either “offers”, “review”, or “aggregateRating” should be specifiedFix it on real product pages; remove the markup everywhere else.Can RankHive fix it? No
- URL is not on GoogleFix it if you want this page in search, after reading the reason.Can RankHive fix it? Partly
- URL Inspection toolNothing to fix: it’s the tool you diagnose and confirm fixes with.Can RankHive fix it? Nothing to fix
A 15-minute weekly look at the Page indexing report
Open Indexing → Pages. Many statuses there are Google doing what you asked, such as skipping a noindexed tag archive or a URL that redirects, so you don’t need to read every one each week. This order catches what matters.
Start with the chart. A sudden drop in indexed pages, or a jump in not-indexed ones, matters more than any single status; note the date it started and what you changed that week. Then sort the Why pages aren’t indexed table by pages and look for reasons that grew. A growing reason whose example URLs share a pattern is a setting; a handful of unrelated URLs is normal churn.
Open one example per growing reason in URL Inspection and click Test live URL. If the live page is fine, the report is catching up with your fix. If it isn’t, the page for that status above tells you where to look.
Statuses without their own page yet
These come up less often on WordPress sites. Each line says what to check first.
| Status | What it means | Where to look on WordPress |
|---|---|---|
| Server error (5xx) | Your server failed when Googlebot asked for the page. | Your host’s error logs, a plugin that crashes on some URLs, or a server that runs out of memory under load. Settings → Crawl stats in Search Console shows when it happened. |
| Redirect error | A redirect loops, runs too long, or ends at a bad address. | Two rules fighting: a redirect plugin and the http→https or www rule at your host, or a WordPress Address and Site Address that disagree. |
| Blocked due to unauthorized request (401) | The page asks for a login or password. | A membership plugin, a password-protected staging copy, or HTTP authentication at your host. Make pages that should rank public to everyone. |
| Blocked by page removal tool | Someone asked Search Console to hide the URL. | Indexing → Removals. A temporary removal lasts about six months; if it was a mistake, cancel the request there. |
| Page indexed without content | Google indexed the URL but couldn’t read anything on it. | Run Test live URL and look at the screenshot. A blank one usually means a firewall, CDN or security plugin served Googlebot something different from visitors. |
When the report itself looks wrong
A URL you fixed still shows the old status. The report reflects Google’s last crawl of each URL, so it lags behind your site. Test the URL live; if the live test is fine, start validation or wait for the recrawl.
The example list stops at 1,000 URLs. That is the report’s cap. To see another sample, add a URL-prefix property for one section, such as https://www.example.com/blog/, which gets its own report.
The numbers don’t match your sitemap. The report covers every URL Google knows about, not only the ones you submitted. Switch the filter above the chart from All known pages to All submitted pages to compare like with like.
Common questions
Do I need to fix every status in the Page indexing report?
No. Fix the statuses that list URLs you want in Google, and errors on URLs your site still links to. A noindexed tag archive, an old URL that redirects, or a page whose canonical points elsewhere is Google following your instructions.
What does Validate fix do?
It asks Search Console to recheck the URLs listed under one status, and shows the validation as started, then passed or failed. It doesn’t guarantee the pages get indexed; it tells you whether the problem is gone from the URLs Google knows about.
Which Search Console errors are most urgent on WordPress?
Anything site-wide first: Excluded by ‘noindex’ tag on your homepage and posts, which is often the Discourage search engines box under Settings → Reading, Blocked by robots.txt on whole sections, and server errors. Then 404s on URLs that used to get traffic. Duplicate and not-yet-indexed statuses can wait for a weekly look.
Is there a free tool that checks all of this for one URL?
Yes. The indexability checker follows a URL’s redirects, tests it against robots.txt the way Googlebot does, reads noindex from the meta tag and the X-Robots-Tag header, compares the canonical, checks your sitemap, and names the Search Console status each problem causes.
Find the fixes your site needs before Search Console does
The free site check reads your public pages for titles, meta descriptions, headings, canonical tags and schema, and shows what needs fixing. If you sign up, RankHive reads your Google Search Console data every week, drafts the fixes, and writes the ones you approve to WordPress.