Google Says My Site Has Errors. Should I Panic?
You opened Google Search Console and saw a number you did not want to see: errors. Maybe it is 3. Maybe it is 300. Either way, a red notification from Google about your website feels like getting a letter from the IRS.
Take a breath. Most GSC errors are either informational, minor, or already resolved. Very few represent emergencies. Here is how to read the error reports without panicking.
Quick Navigation
- Where to Find Errors in GSC
- Indexing Errors Explained
- Core Web Vitals Issues
- Security and Manual Actions
- Which Errors to Fix First
- Frequently Asked Questions
Where to Find Errors in GSC
GSC reports errors in several sections:
Indexing > Pages — Shows which pages Google has indexed and which it has excluded, with reasons. This is where most "errors" live.
Experience > Core Web Vitals — Shows performance issues affecting user experience. Categorized as Good, Needs Improvement, or Poor.
Experience > Page Experience — Combines Core Web Vitals, HTTPS status, and mobile usability into an overall grade.
Security & Manual Actions — The only section that warrants genuine concern. Manual actions mean Google has penalized your site for violating its guidelines.
Indexing Errors Explained
The Indexing > Pages report is where most business owners see alarming numbers. Here is what the common statuses mean:
"Crawled — currently not indexed"
Severity: Medium
Google crawled the page but decided not to add it to its index. This means your page exists but Google does not think it is good enough to show in search results.
Common causes:
- Thin content (not enough unique, useful text)
- Duplicate or near-duplicate content
- Low-quality pages that do not serve a search purpose
What to do: Read our complete guide to fixing this issue. In short: improve the content, add unique value, and make sure the page serves a purpose that no other page on your site already serves.
"Discovered — currently not indexed"
Severity: Low
Google knows the URL exists (found it in your sitemap or through a link) but has not crawled it yet. This is a queue issue, not a quality issue.
What to do: Wait. If the page has been in this status for over a month, check that it has internal links pointing to it and consider requesting indexing through the URL Inspection tool.
"Excluded by noindex tag"
Severity: None (usually intentional)
You or your CMS added a noindex tag to this page, telling Google not to index it. This is usually correct for pages like admin screens, thank-you pages, or tag archives.
What to do: Only a problem if you accidentally noindexed an important page. Check the URL — if it should be indexed, remove the noindex tag.
"Blocked by robots.txt"
Severity: Depends
Your robots.txt file tells Google not to crawl this URL. If it is blocking CSS/JS files or important content pages, that is a problem. If it is blocking admin or private pages, that is correct.
What to do: Check what is being blocked. If important pages are listed, update your robots.txt to allow them.
"Page with redirect"
Severity: Low
Google found a URL that redirects to another URL. This is normal for URL changes, domain migrations, or trailing slash normalization.
What to do: Nothing, unless you have excessive redirect chains (A → B → C → D). Single redirects are fine.
"Not found (404)"
Severity: Low to Medium
Google tried to access a URL that no longer exists. If these are old URLs that you intentionally removed, this is expected. If they are URLs that should work, something is broken.
What to do: Check if the URLs are pages you deleted (fine — ignore) or pages that should exist (fix them). For deleted pages that had traffic, consider adding redirects to the closest relevant page.
Core Web Vitals Issues
The Core Web Vitals report groups your pages into three categories:
| Rating | What It Means |
|---|---|
| Good | Pages pass all three Core Web Vitals metrics |
| Needs Improvement | At least one metric is in the yellow zone |
| Poor | At least one metric fails |
Should you panic? No. Core Web Vitals are one of many ranking signals and serve as a tiebreaker, not a primary factor. Pages in "Needs Improvement" rarely suffer meaningful ranking penalties. Pages rated "Poor" should be fixed, but on your own timeline — this is not an emergency.
Where to start: Focus on your highest-traffic pages first. A slow homepage matters more than a slow privacy policy page.
Security and Manual Actions
This is the one section where you should take immediate action.
Security Issues
If GSC reports security issues, your site may have been hacked or injected with malware. This is rare for sites on managed platforms (WordPress.com, Squarespace, Shopify) but can happen on self-hosted WordPress sites or custom builds.
What to do: Take this seriously. Review the specific security issue reported, clean your site, and request a review from Google.
Manual Actions
A manual action means a human reviewer at Google determined your site violates Google's guidelines. Reasons include:
- Unnatural links (bought links, link schemes)
- Thin content with no added value
- Cloaking or sneaky redirects
- Spammy structured data (schema markup that misrepresents content)
What to do: Read the specific manual action, fix the violation, and submit a reconsideration request through GSC. Manual actions can significantly impact your rankings until resolved.
The good news: Most small business sites never receive manual actions. If the Security & Manual Actions section shows "No issues detected," you are fine.
Which Errors to Fix First
Not all errors are equal. Prioritize in this order:
1. Security issues and manual actions — Fix immediately.
2. Important pages that are not indexed — If a key service page or high-value blog post shows "Crawled — currently not indexed," fix the content.
3. 404 errors on pages that should exist — Fix broken URLs or add redirects.
4. Core Web Vitals issues on high-traffic pages — Improve performance where it has the most impact.
5. Everything else — Low-priority excluded pages, redirect notices, and informational statuses can wait or be ignored entirely.
For a guided walkthrough of identifying and prioritizing your site's issues, ask Brass-SEO "Are there any problems with my site?" It cross-references your GSC data with indexing status and page performance to show what actually needs attention.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are GSC errors the same as Google penalties?
No. Most errors in GSC are informational — they tell you what Google found during crawling. They are not penalties. The only section that represents actual penalties is Security & Manual Actions. Everything else is diagnostic data, not punishment.
Should I try to get every error count to zero?
No. Some "errors" are expected and correct. Noindexed pages, redirects, and excluded utility pages are all normal. Focus on fixing errors that affect pages you care about. A site with 50 "excluded" pages and zero indexing problems on important pages is healthy.
How often should I check GSC for errors?
Monthly is sufficient for most small businesses. GSC sends email alerts for critical issues (security problems, significant indexing drops), so you will be notified of emergencies between check-ins. Add a GSC review to your monthly SEO routine.
My error count increased suddenly. Is something wrong?
Not necessarily. If Google crawled more pages than usual (common after submitting a sitemap or publishing new content), the error count may increase simply because Google looked at more URLs. Check whether the errors are on new pages (normal) or existing pages that were previously fine (investigate).
Can I hire someone to fix all my GSC errors?
You can, but make sure they understand which errors matter. A developer who "fixes" all 404 errors by creating blank pages at those URLs has not solved anything — they have created thin content. Similarly, someone who removes all noindex tags to reduce the "excluded" count may accidentally index pages that should be hidden. Prioritize correctly before spending money on fixes.