What this check inspects
When a Search Console property is connected, Shipwork runs a URL inspection for the page and a 28-day search analytics query and sitemap list for the property. From the inspection it reads the verdict, the coverage state, the robots.txt state, the indexing state, the last crawl time, the Google-chosen canonical, the user canonical and the page fetch state. From analytics it reads the top ten queries with clicks, impressions, click-through rate and position, and the totals. From the sitemap list it reads up to five sitemaps with their warning and error counts, and the last downloaded time.
What a failure means
A verdict other than PASS is an error: Google reports the URL as excluded, and the coverage state says why. Google choosing a different canonical from the one on the page is a warning, as is a URL Google has not crawled for more than sixty days. A connected property with no query data in twenty-eight days is a warning, since the site is getting no impressions. Sitemap errors are an error and sitemap warnings are a warning. With no Search Console configured, or no property connected for the host, the check reports that plainly rather than guessing.
How to fix it
- Work the coverage state on any URL Google did not index, which names the exact reason such as crawled but not indexed or discovered but not indexed.
- Align the page canonical with the one Google chose, or correct the page so Google stops choosing a different address.
- Request indexing for a URL Google has not crawled for two months, and check that it is not blocked.
- Fix the sitemap errors Search Console reports, then resubmit the sitemap.
A typical failure, worked through
The setupA store connects Search Console read-only. The account shows an indexed home page and a set of product URLs that Google reports as crawled but not indexed, with no query data across the property.
What the check reportsThe check reports the negative verdict for the product URLs with the coverage state, the absence of query data in twenty-eight days as a warning, and two errors in the sitemap Google holds.
The pointThis is the one check that reads the Google side rather than guessing it, which is why its findings are the ones to trust over an inference from outside.