Indexability
Whether search engines may index a page, canonicals and structured data.
The canonical URL points to another domain
Section titled “The canonical URL points to another domain”indexability.canonical.external · Review signal (Needs review) · Severity: High
Why it matters. An external canonical can transfer indexing signals away from the audited page and remove it from search results.
How to fix. Use an internal canonical URL unless the page is intentionally represented by another domain.
The page has no canonical URL
Section titled “The page has no canonical URL”indexability.canonical.missing · Review signal (Needs review) · Severity: High
Why it matters. Without a canonical URL, search engines have less guidance when choosing between duplicate or parameterized versions of a page.
How to fix. Set a canonical URL for public pages and confirm it points to the preferred URL.
The canonical URL points to another page
Section titled “The canonical URL points to another page”indexability.canonical.not_self · Review signal (Needs review) · Severity: Medium
Why it matters. A non-self canonical can consolidate this page into another URL and remove its independent indexing signals.
How to fix. Confirm that the alternate canonical target is intentional; public canonical pages should usually self-reference.
Google reports an error in a rich result
Section titled “Google reports an error in a rich result”indexability.google_rich_result.error · Issue · Severity: Medium
Why it matters. Google describes its indexed version, not the live page. Stored request property, fetch time and crawl time keep that distinction visible.
How to fix. Review the captured evidence and its measurement scope, then verify the intended behavior.
Google reports a warning in a rich result
Section titled “Google reports a warning in a rich result”indexability.google_rich_result.warning · Review signal (Needs review) · Severity: Info
Why it matters. Google describes its indexed version, not the live page. Stored request property, fetch time and crawl time keep that distinction visible.
How to fix. Review the captured evidence and its measurement scope, then verify the intended behavior.
A public page is marked noindex
Section titled “A public page is marked noindex”indexability.page.noindex · Issue · Severity: High
Why it matters. A noindex directive can remove an otherwise public page from search results, including pages intended to attract or inform visitors.
How to fix. Remove noindex from public pages that should appear in search, or confirm that exclusion is intentional.
Article structured data may be incomplete
Section titled “Article structured data may be incomplete”indexability.structured_data.article_incomplete · Review signal (Needs review) · Severity: Info
Why it matters. Review the captured JSON-LD declaration. Local structural checks do not establish Google eligibility or full semantic validity.
How to fix. Review the captured evidence and the documented measurement limitations; verify any change using the same source.
An empty CMS field may affect structured data
Section titled “An empty CMS field may affect structured data”indexability.structured_data.cms_field_empty · Review signal (Needs review) · Severity: Info
Why it matters. Field candidates are a review heuristic, not proof of live CMS-to-schema bindings. Unknown schema, item identity or template context is unavailable; generic websites are not applicable.
How to fix. Review the actual source and measurement limitations before changing the website.
Structured data may lack a CMS mapping
Section titled “Structured data may lack a CMS mapping”indexability.structured_data.cms_field_mapping_review · Review signal (Needs review) · Severity: Info
Why it matters. Field candidates are a review heuristic, not proof of live CMS-to-schema bindings. Unknown schema, item identity or template context is unavailable; generic websites are not applicable.
How to fix. Review the actual source and measurement limitations before changing the website.
FAQ structured data may be incomplete
Section titled “FAQ structured data may be incomplete”indexability.structured_data.faq_incomplete · Review signal (Needs review) · Severity: Info
Why it matters. Review the captured JSON-LD declaration. Local structural checks do not establish Google eligibility or full semantic validity.
How to fix. Review the captured evidence and the documented measurement limitations; verify any change using the same source.
Structured data declares an invalid context
Section titled “Structured data declares an invalid context”indexability.structured_data.invalid_context · Issue · Severity: Medium
Why it matters. Review the captured JSON-LD declaration. Local structural checks do not establish Google eligibility or full semantic validity.
How to fix. Review the captured evidence and the documented measurement limitations; verify any change using the same source.
Structured data contains invalid JSON-LD
Section titled “Structured data contains invalid JSON-LD”indexability.structured_data.invalid_json · Issue · Severity: Medium
Why it matters. Invalid JSON-LD cannot be parsed reliably, so search engines may ignore the entire structured-data block.
How to fix. Fix the JSON-LD syntax and validate the published structured-data block.
The page may need structured data
Section titled “The page may need structured data”indexability.structured_data.missing_review · Review signal (Needs review) · Severity: Set per finding
Why it matters. Some page types may benefit from structured data, but adding the wrong schema can be more misleading than omitting it and therefore needs review.
How to fix. Review whether structured data is appropriate for the page type before adding a schema.
A structured data item may lack a type
Section titled “A structured data item may lack a type”indexability.structured_data.missing_type · Review signal (Needs review) · Severity: Info
Why it matters. Review the captured JSON-LD declaration. Local structural checks do not establish Google eligibility or full semantic validity.
How to fix. Review the captured evidence and the documented measurement limitations; verify any change using the same source.
Product structured data may be incomplete
Section titled “Product structured data may be incomplete”indexability.structured_data.product_incomplete · Review signal (Needs review) · Severity: Info
Why it matters. Review the captured JSON-LD declaration. Local structural checks do not establish Google eligibility or full semantic validity.
How to fix. Review the captured evidence and the documented measurement limitations; verify any change using the same source.
Video structured data needs a review
Section titled “Video structured data needs a review”indexability.structured_data.video_creator_interaction_statistic · Review signal (Needs review) · Severity: Info
Why it matters. Google reads who made a video and how people interacted with it from these properties. A value it does not document may be ignored.
How to fix. Give creator or author a Person or Organization with a name, and use interactionStatistic with a documented interactionType and a whole-number userInteractionCount.