A Guide to Using Google’s Index Coverage Reports Correctly

As a webmaster or SEO specialist, you’re likely familiar with the importance of ensuring your website is properly crawled and indexed by search engines like Google. One valuable tool at your disposal is Google’s Index Coverage Report, which provides insights into how well your site is being indexed and crawled. In this article, we’ll delve into the world of Index Coverage Reports and explore how to use them correctly.

What are Index Coverage Reports?

Index Coverage Reports are a feature in Google Search Console that shows you the coverage percentage of your website’s pages that have been successfully crawled and indexed by Google. These reports give you an at-a-glance understanding of which areas of your site may be experiencing crawling or indexing issues, helping you identify potential problems.

What Do Index Coverage Reports Show?

When you access Index Coverage Reports in Search Console, you’ll see a summary page with several key metrics:

• Coverage percentage: The overall percentage of pages on your website that have been successfully crawled and indexed by Google.
• Crawl errors: A breakdown of the types of crawling errors encountered, such as 4xx (Client) errors or 5xx (Server) errors.
• Indexing issues: A list of specific indexing problems detected on your site.

Understanding Crawl Errors

Crawl errors occur when Google’s crawlers encounter issues while attempting to crawl and index your website’s pages. These can be categorized into two types:

4xx (Client) Errors

These are client-side errors, which indicate that the problem lies with your website’s configuration or content. Examples include:

• Not Found: A page is missing or does not exist.
• Access Denied: A page requires authentication but the user is unauthorized.

To fix 4xx errors, review your website’s URL structure and ensure all necessary pages are properly linked and accessible.

5xx (Server) Errors

These are server-side errors, which indicate that the issue lies with Google’s crawling infrastructure. Examples include:

• Timeout: The crawler took too long to process a request.
• Connection Issues: There was an issue establishing a connection between the crawler and your website.

To fix 5xx errors, check your website’s server configuration and ensure it can handle high volumes of traffic.

Understanding Indexing Issues

Indexing issues occur when Google is unable to successfully index a page. These can be categorized into two types:

Mobile-friendly: The webpage is not mobile-friendly or does not provide a suitable mobile user experience.

• To fix mobile-friendliness issues, review your website’s design and ensure it provides an optimal viewing experience on smaller screens.

Structured data: There are errors in the structured data (e.g., schema.org markup) used by Google to understand the content of your page.

• To fix structured data issues, review your website’s markup and ensure it is correctly implemented and formatted.

What Do You Do with Index Coverage Reports?

So what do you do with these valuable insights? Here are some steps to take:

1. Review coverage percentage: Check if your site’s overall coverage percentage is satisfactory (ideally above 90%).
2. Analyze crawl errors: Investigate the types of crawl errors encountered and fix them based on their categorization.
3. Address indexing issues: Fix any specific indexing problems identified by reviewing mobile-friendliness, structured data, or other related issues.

By following these steps and regularly reviewing Index Coverage Reports, you’ll be able to ensure your website is properly crawled and indexed by Google, ultimately improving its visibility in search results and online presence.

Bonus Tips

• Run the reports on a regular basis (e.g., weekly or bi-weekly) to monitor changes and trends.
• Set up notifications for crawl errors and indexing issues to receive alerts when problems arise.
• Use other Search Console features like Sitemap submissions, URL inspection tools, and mobile usability insights to further enhance your website’s visibility and user experience.