How to Fix Crawl Errors in Google Search Console: A Step-by-Step Guide

Why Crawl Errors Matter (And Why You Should Fix Them Now)

If Google cannot crawl your pages, those pages will never appear in search results. It is that simple. Crawl errors in Google Search Console signal that Googlebot tried to access a URL on your site and something went wrong. Left unresolved, these errors can snowball into lost traffic, poor indexing, and lower rankings.

The good news? Most crawl errors are straightforward to diagnose and fix, even if you have zero coding experience. This guide will walk you through every common crawl error type, show you exactly where to find them in Google Search Console, and give you actionable fixes you can implement today.

What Are Crawl Errors in Google Search Console?

Crawl errors occur when Googlebot attempts to reach a page on your website but fails. Google Search Console (GSC) reports these errors so you can identify and resolve them before they hurt your site’s visibility.

There are two broad categories:

• Site-level errors – Problems that prevent Google from accessing your entire website (DNS errors, server connectivity issues, robots.txt fetch failures).
• URL-level errors – Problems with specific pages (404 Not Found, soft 404s, redirect errors, server errors on individual URLs).

Step 1: Find Your Crawl Errors in Google Search Console

Before you can fix anything, you need to know what is broken. Here is how to locate crawl error data inside GSC:

1. Log in to Google Search Console.
2. Select your property (website).
3. In the left sidebar, click Indexing and then Pages.
4. Look at the section labeled Why pages aren’t indexed. This is where Google lists every reason it could not index your URLs.
5. For server-level crawl data, go to Settings (gear icon at the bottom of the sidebar) and click Crawl stats to see host-level details.

Pay close attention to any status that shows a red or yellow indicator. Those are the issues that need your attention first.

Step 2: Understand the Error Types

The table below summarizes the most common crawl errors, what they mean, and their typical causes.

Error Type	What It Means	Common Cause
404 (Not Found)	The page does not exist at the requested URL.	Deleted page, changed URL slug, typo in internal link.
Soft 404	The page loads but has little or no useful content, so Google treats it as a 404.	Empty pages, thin content, search result pages with zero results.
Server Error (5xx)	Your server failed to respond or returned an error.	Server overload, misconfigured hosting, plugin conflicts, database errors.
Redirect Error	A redirect chain is too long, loops, or is misconfigured.	Redirect loops, chains of more than 3 hops, redirecting to a page that also redirects.
Blocked by robots.txt	Your robots.txt file is telling Google not to crawl the URL.	Overly restrictive disallow rules, leftover staging site rules.
DNS Error	Google could not resolve your domain name.	DNS misconfiguration, expired domain, DNS provider downtime.

Step 3: Fix 404 (Not Found) Errors

404 errors are by far the most common crawl issue. Here is how to handle them:

A. Decide if the page should exist

Not every 404 is a problem. Ask yourself:

• Was this page intentionally deleted? If so, and no one links to it or needs it, a 404 is perfectly fine. Google will eventually drop it from its index.
• Was this page moved to a new URL? Then you need a redirect.
• Is this a URL that never should have existed (typo, spam referral)? You can safely ignore it.

B. Set up 301 redirects for moved pages

If the content now lives at a different URL, create a 301 (permanent) redirect from the old URL to the new one.

In WordPress, you can do this easily:

1. Install a free plugin like Redirection or Rank Math SEO (both have redirect managers).
2. Enter the old URL as the source.
3. Enter the new URL as the target.
4. Save. Done.

Without WordPress, add a line to your .htaccess file (Apache) or your server config (Nginx):

Redirect 301 /old-page-slug /new-page-slug

C. Recreate the page if it was deleted by accident

If the page was removed unintentionally, restore it from a backup or republish it at the original URL.

D. Fix broken internal links

Use a tool like Screaming Frog (free for up to 500 URLs) or the Broken Link Checker plugin to find every internal link pointing to the 404 URL. Update those links to point to the correct destination.

Step 4: Fix Soft 404 Errors

A soft 404 means the server returns a 200 (OK) status code, but the page content is essentially empty or unhelpful. Google flags this because it expects either real content or a proper 404 response.

How to fix soft 404s:

• Add meaningful content to the page if it should exist.
• Return a true 404 status code if the page has no value. In WordPress, simply deleting the page or post will automatically return a 404.
• Redirect the URL with a 301 to a relevant page that does have content.
• Check dynamic pages like search results or filtered product pages that may render with zero results. Block these with robots.txt or add a noindex meta tag.

Step 5: Fix Server Errors (5xx)

Server errors are more urgent than 404s because they can indicate your whole site (or large sections of it) is unreachable.

Quick troubleshooting checklist:

1. Check if the error is ongoing. Visit the URL yourself. If it loads fine now, the error may have been temporary (server spike, maintenance window).
2. Review your hosting dashboard. Look for resource limits (CPU, memory, bandwidth) being exceeded.
3. Check server logs. Your hosting control panel (cPanel, Plesk, or equivalent) usually has an error log section. Look for PHP fatal errors, database connection failures, or timeout messages.
4. Disable recently added plugins or themes (WordPress). A faulty plugin is one of the most common causes of 500 errors.
5. Increase PHP memory limit. Add this line to your wp-config.php file: define('WP_MEMORY_LIMIT', '256M');
6. Contact your hosting provider. If you cannot identify the cause, your host’s support team can check server-side logs you may not have access to.

Preventing server errors going forward

• Use a caching plugin (like WP Super Cache or LiteSpeed Cache) to reduce server load.
• Consider upgrading your hosting plan if you are on shared hosting and your traffic has grown.
• Set up uptime monitoring with a free tool like UptimeRobot so you know immediately when your server goes down.

Step 6: Fix Redirect Errors

Redirect errors happen when Googlebot follows a redirect but ends up in a loop or hits too many hops before reaching the final page.

Common redirect problems and their fixes:

Problem	Example	Fix
Redirect loop	Page A redirects to Page B, and Page B redirects back to Page A.	Remove one of the conflicting redirects so there is a single, clear destination.
Long redirect chain	Page A -> Page B -> Page C -> Page D (3+ hops).	Update the redirect so Page A goes directly to Page D.
Redirect to a 404 page	Page A redirects to Page B, but Page B no longer exists.	Update the redirect target to a live, relevant page.
HTTP to HTTPS loop	HTTP version redirects to HTTPS, but HTTPS redirects back to HTTP.	Check your .htaccess or server config and your CMS settings. Make sure both point to HTTPS consistently.

Pro tip: Use a redirect checker tool (search for “redirect checker” online) to trace the full redirect path of any URL. This makes it easy to spot loops and chains.

Step 7: Fix Robots.txt Blocking Issues

If Google reports that a URL was “blocked by robots.txt,” it means your robots.txt file contains a rule that prevents Googlebot from accessing it.

1. Go to yourdomain.com/robots.txt in your browser and review the rules.
2. In Google Search Console, use the URL Inspection tool to test the blocked URL and confirm the block.
3. Edit your robots.txt file and remove or modify the Disallow rule that is blocking the page you want indexed.
4. If you migrated from a staging environment, double-check that you did not carry over a blanket Disallow: / rule that blocks the entire site.

Important: After editing robots.txt, go back to GSC and request re-crawling for the affected URLs using the URL Inspection tool.

Step 8: Fix DNS Errors

DNS errors mean Google could not resolve your domain name at all. This is serious because it affects your entire site, not just one page.

• Verify your domain registration is active and not expired.
• Check your DNS records with your domain registrar (GoDaddy, Namecheap, Cloudflare, etc.) to make sure your A record and CNAME records are correct.
• If you recently changed hosting providers, confirm that you updated your nameservers and that DNS propagation is complete (this can take up to 48 hours).
• Test your DNS with a free tool like DNS Checker to see if your domain resolves correctly from multiple locations worldwide.

Step 9: Validate Your Fixes in Google Search Console

After you have applied your fixes, you need to tell Google to re-check the URLs:

1. Go to Indexing > Pages in GSC.
2. Click on the specific error type you fixed (e.g., “Not found (404)”).
3. Click the Validate Fix button.
4. Google will begin re-crawling the affected URLs over the next few days.
5. You will receive an email notification when validation is complete, telling you whether the issues are resolved or if some remain.

You can also use the URL Inspection tool to request indexing for individual URLs if you want faster results on high-priority pages.

Step 10: Prevent Future Crawl Errors

Fixing current errors is only half the battle. Here is how to keep crawl errors from piling up again:

Maintain a clean XML sitemap

• Only include URLs that return a 200 status code.
• Remove deleted pages, redirected URLs, and noindexed pages from your sitemap.
• If you use WordPress, plugins like Yoast SEO or Rank Math generate and update your sitemap automatically.

Strengthen your internal linking

• Make sure important pages are linked from other indexed pages on your site.
• Audit internal links regularly (at least quarterly) to catch broken links early.

Set up monitoring

• Check Google Search Console at least once a week.
• Enable email notifications in GSC so you are alerted to new critical issues.
• Run a monthly crawl of your site using Screaming Frog or a similar tool to catch errors before Google does.

Use a proper URL change strategy

• Whenever you change a URL slug, immediately set up a 301 redirect from the old URL to the new one.
• Update all internal links to point to the new URL (redirects work, but direct links are better for performance and crawl budget).

Bonus: Understanding Crawl Budget and Why It Matters

Google allocates a certain amount of resources to crawl each website. This is informally called your crawl budget. If your site has thousands of crawl errors, Google wastes crawl budget on broken URLs instead of discovering and indexing your valuable content.

By keeping crawl errors low, you ensure that Googlebot spends its time on pages that actually matter for your rankings and traffic.

Frequently Asked Questions

How long does it take for Google to re-crawl fixed pages?

After you validate a fix in Google Search Console, Google typically re-crawls the affected URLs within a few days to two weeks. High-authority sites may see faster re-crawling. You can speed things up for individual pages using the URL Inspection tool’s “Request Indexing” feature.

Are 404 errors bad for SEO?

Not always. If a page was intentionally deleted and no other pages link to it, a 404 is perfectly normal and will not hurt your rankings. However, if important pages return 404s, or if many internal and external links point to 404 URLs, that can negatively impact your site’s SEO and user experience.

What is the difference between a 404 and a soft 404?

A true 404 returns a “Not Found” HTTP status code, which correctly tells search engines the page does not exist. A soft 404 returns a 200 (OK) status code, but the page content is empty or nearly useless. Google treats soft 404s as errors because the server says the page is fine, but the content says otherwise.

Can I ignore crawl errors for URLs I never created?

Yes. Sometimes bots, spam referrals, or third-party sites link to URLs that never existed on your site. If you confirm the URL was never a real page and has no valuable backlinks, you can safely ignore the error. It will eventually disappear from your GSC reports.

Should I use 301 or 302 redirects to fix crawl errors?

Use a 301 redirect (permanent) when the old URL will never come back. This passes link equity to the new URL. Use a 302 redirect (temporary) only if the original URL will return in the future. For most crawl error fixes, 301 is the correct choice.

How often should I check Google Search Console for crawl errors?

At minimum, check once a week. If you are actively making changes to your site (publishing new content, redesigning pages, migrating hosts), check daily until things stabilize. Enabling GSC email notifications ensures you never miss a critical issue.

Do crawl errors affect my entire site’s rankings?

A handful of 404 errors will not tank your rankings. However, widespread server errors, redirect loops, or a misconfigured robots.txt file can have a significant negative impact. The key is to prioritize fixing site-level errors and errors on your most important pages first.