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How to Prevent Google Search Console Coverage Issues

Introduction

Google Search Console is a free tool that helps website owners track and improve their website's performance in Google Search results. One of the most important features of Search Console is the Coverage report, which shows you how many of your pages have been indexed by Google and any errors or warnings that Google has found.

Coverage issues can prevent your pages from appearing in Google Search results, so it's important to fix them as soon as possible. In this article, we'll show you how to identify and fix the most common coverage issues.

Common Coverage Issues

There are a number of different coverage issues that you may encounter in Search Console. Some of the most common include:

• 404 Not Found: This error occurs when Google tries to crawl a page on your website and it doesn't exist.
• Server Error (5xx): This error occurs when Google tries to crawl a page on your website and it receives a server error.
• Blocked by robots.txt: This error occurs when Google tries to crawl a page on your website and it is blocked by your robots.txt file.
• Submitted URL not found (404): This error occurs when you submit a URL to Google Search Console and it doesn't exist.
• Duplicate without user-selected canonical: This error occurs when Google finds multiple versions of a page on your website without a clear canonical.

How to Fix Coverage Issues

The best way to fix coverage issues is to identify the underlying cause of the issue and then take steps to address it. Here are some tips on how to fix the most common coverage issues:

• 404 Not Found: If you see a 404 Not Found error, it means that the page you're trying to crawl doesn't exist. You can fix this by creating the page or redirecting the URL to another page on your website.
• Server Error (5xx): If you see a Server Error (5xx) error, it means that there is a problem with your server. You can fix this by contacting your hosting provider and asking them to resolve the issue.
• Blocked by robots.txt: If you see a Blocked by robots.txt error, it means that Google is unable to crawl a page on your website because it is blocked by your robots.txt file. You can fix this by editing your robots.txt file and allowing Google to crawl the page.
• Submitted URL not found (404): If you see a Submitted URL not found (404) error, it means that the URL you submitted to Google Search Console doesn't exist. You can fix this by creating the page or redirecting the URL to another page on your website.
• Duplicate without user-selected canonical: If you see a Duplicate without user-selected canonical error, it means that Google has found multiple versions of a page on your website without a clear canonical. You can fix this by adding a canonical tag to the pages that you want to be the primary version.

Conclusion

Coverage issues can prevent your pages from appearing in Google Search results, so it's important to fix them as soon as possible. By following the tips in this article, you can identify and fix the most common coverage issues and improve your website's performance in Google Search.