What Is a Crawl Error?
A crawl error is a problem that stops a search engine crawler from accessing or reading a web page. The problem may come from a broken link, server response, blocked resource, or incorrect robots.txt rule. Crawl errors can prevent search engines from finding page content and updating their search results.
Quick Facts About Crawl Error
Category
Technical SEO issue
Used for
Finding access and crawling problems
Common confusion
A crawl error is not always a ranking penalty
Also called
Crawling Error
Often discussed with
Technical SEO
Key Takeaways About Crawl Error
- Crawl errors affect access, not necessarily the page's quality.
- A blocked page may never enter a search engine's index.
- Crawl errors are not the same as ranking penalties.
How Crawl Error Works
A crawl error occurs when a search engine crawler requests a page but cannot access or process it properly. The server may return an error response, or a site rule may block the request. A broken internal link can also send the crawler to a page that no longer exists.
Related glossary terms: Crawl Budget, Index Coverage, Robots.txt.
SEO tools group crawl errors by cause and affected URL. Common groups include server errors, blocked pages, redirect problems, and missing pages. A review checks the reported URL, the server response, and links that point to it. Robots.txt rules and redirect chains can also explain why a crawler cannot reach the intended content.
Expert Note
When we review crawl errors, we check the affected URL, its server response, and the links leading to it. We then separate real access problems from reports caused by intentional blocks, deleted pages, or suitable redirects. Our team records the cause before recommending a technical SEO change.
Crawl Error in Practice: A Real-World Example
A Brisbane service website may link to a page that was removed during a redesign. The crawler follows the link, receives a missing-page response, and records a crawl error until the link or destination is corrected.
Related Services
Related Terms
Crawl Budget
Crawl Budget is the attention and resources a search engine assigns to visiting pages on a…
Index Coverage
Index Coverage is a diagnostic view that shows which website pages a search engine has added…
Robots.txt
Robots.txt is a plain text file that gives search engine crawlers instructions about which website URLs…
Redirect Chain
Redirect Chain is a sequence of URL redirects where one redirect sends a visitor or search…
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