Wordpress SEO Expert

Improve your Google ranking with 24-year experienced SEO professional Peter Mahoney

  • SEO Overhaul
  • SEO Campaign
  • WP Support
  • Blog
    • SEO Emails
  • Praise

New Coverage issue detected for site 5xx

September 15, 2020 by Peter Mahoney

I’ve had the below email from Google.
Is this something you need to fix in Search console or my devs?

I have recently moved our sites to WPEngine, hopefully that hasn’t caused any problems 🙂

A server error (most like ‘500’) simply means the server isn’t working properly. Not that it’s down, but rather it’s got issues processing the site or page.

For example if PHP isn’t working, or there’s some code in the site that’s not functioning. Normally it means some kind of code on the site breaking things.

More often than not if you see it it’s going to apply to the whole site, so because the site is working I suspect it was a temporary hosting issue.

Actually strike that!

I had a look further, and it was only one page that returned the 5xx error, and it’s not actually a page! It’s your WordPress theme files directory; we don’t want that indexed anyway. Google shouldn’t be trying to scan it anyhow, so I’m marked the issue as ‘fixed’ in Search Console.

(In short, it’s not a problem they can’t load it, but I’ve asked it to be cleared from Search Console just to stop you getting any other messages about it.)

Peter Mahoney
WordPress SEO Expert

Filed Under: SEO Emails

Get FREE Wordpress SEO tips!

I send regular newsletters with WordPress SEO expert-level tips. Sign up to get them, along with my FREE e-book “Ongoing SEO Success”.

Did I mention they’re free!

Subscribe for free

Praise

I have over 2,500 5-star feedback reviews (and I’ve never received less than the full five.)

Here’s just one example, from Mike who runs Costello Entertainments:

Migration, Hosting, SEO and Speed Work on our new website all completed quickly and efficiently and Peter was most helpful in fixing an issue with a Popover on the site as well. If you’re thinking about asking Peter to do a job for you or hesitating, JUST DO IT! – He knows programming and the internet inside out, he’ll get the job done for you professionally, with a smile. I wish I could call a plumber or a tradesman to do the jobs I can’t do myself with the same level of confidence.
Read a lot more.

Recent Blogs

  • Thanks WordPress SEO expert for all your work.
    I feel like you are my guy for all my SEO. I did want to ask you if I need to get someone to write my Blog ...
  • Can the description show the Product Short Description
    Hi Peter SEO Expert :), Hope you’re doing well and having a good summer. Had this message from a client ...
  • Don’t just search for yourself!
    This is actually a stock answer I send people pretty often. I’m regularly asked about the difference ...
  • SEO doesn’t shouldn’t your site’s front-end
    On my SEO Emails section (where I share helpful responses to commonly asked queries) I recently shared a not ...

Legal

  • Terms and conditions
  • Privacy policy
  • Disclaimer

Also read

  • Payment information

RSS

Peter Mahoney, WordPress SEO expert blog

Recent Posts

  • Thanks WordPress SEO expert for all your work.
  • Can the description show the Product Short Description
  • Don’t just search for yourself!
  • SEO doesn’t shouldn’t your site’s front-end
  • Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS) for SEO & Speed

© Copyright 2023 Wordpress SEO Expert · All Rights Reserved · Site by Peter Mahoney