how to fix crawl errors in technical seo

Fixing crawl errors in technical SEO means finding why Googlebot cannot access or index certain URLs, then cleaning up links, directives, and server issues so every important page is easily reachable. The process starts in Google Search Console, then continues with a full crawl and targeted fixes.

1. Find Crawl Errors
   • Open Google Search Console → go to the “Pages” (Index) and “Crawl stats” reports to see why pages aren’t indexed and where crawl problems occur.
   • Export error types such as 404, server errors (5xx), redirect errors, blocked by robots.txt, and soft 404s to build a prioritized fix list.
   • Run a site crawl with tools like Screaming Frog or similar to uncover broken internal links and mismatches between your site and sitemap.
2. Fix 404 and Soft 404 Errors
   • For important deleted or moved pages, set 301 redirects to the most relevant live URL; for truly useless URLs, let them return a proper 404 or 410 and remove internal links pointing to them.
   • Update internal links, menus, and sitemaps so they no longer reference dead URLs, then resubmit the sitemap in GSC.
   • For soft 404s (thin or near-empty pages that return 200), either improve the content or change them to real 404/410 if they have no value.
3. Resolve Server (5xx) and Connectivity Issues
   • Investigate 5xx errors (500, 502, 503) with your hosting provider or dev team, checking logs for spikes during Googlebot visits.
   • Optimize server resources, caching, and configuration so the site stays stable under crawl load, and use 503 only for temporary maintenance with a fast recovery.
   • After fixes, use URL Inspection in GSC to test affected URLs and request re-crawling.
4. Clean Up Redirect Errors and Chains
   • Identify redirect loops, long chains (e.g., A → B → C → D), and incorrect status codes with your crawler and GSC reports.
   • Replace chains with a single 301 from the original URL to the final destination, and fix any redirects that point to 404 or non-canonical URLs.
   • Update internal links to point directly to the final URL so Googlebot and users avoid unnecessary hops.
5. Fix Robots.txt, Noindex, and Blocked Resources
   • Review robots.txt to ensure you are not blocking important content or critical assets like CSS and JS needed for rendering.
   • Remove disallow rules that block valuable sections, and instead control low-value URLs with noindex or canonical tags where appropriate.
   • Check GSC “Blocked resources” and “Pages not indexed” reasons to uncover URLs blocked by robots.txt or noindex that should actually be indexable.
6. Clean and Maintain XML Sitemaps
   • Ensure sitemaps only contain canonical, 200-status URLs; remove 3xx, 4xx, and noindex URLs from sitemap files.
   • Regenerate sitemaps automatically when content changes and submit them in GSC, then monitor the sitemap status and coverage over time.
   • Use separate sitemaps (e.g., for blog, products, categories) on large sites to make debugging easier.
7. Request Recrawls and Monitor Ongoing Health
   • For key fixed URLs, use the URL Inspection tool’s “Request indexing” option; for bulk changes, rely on updated sitemaps and natural recrawl cycles.
   • Check GSC’s crawl stats and “Pages” report regularly to ensure error counts trend down and new issues are caught early.
   • Set a recurring technical SEO audit (monthly or quarterly) to catch broken links, new 404s, server issues, and misconfigurations before they impact traffic.