Google Search Console Warning Emails

An email from Google? Don’t panic.

An email saying your website has “errors” or “critical issues” can sound worrying. But it does not automatically mean your website is broken or people cannot find your business.

Many of these messages concern small improvements, optional information, or normal changes to your website.

Why Google sends these emails

Google regularly checks websites to decide what to include in its search results. Its reporting service, Google Search Console, sends automatic emails about things it finds.

These emails do not always make clear whether something is important to your business. They can also describe a problem from an earlier visit that has already gone away.

Missing event details are usually a small matter

Google may ask for more information about an event, such as:

• A photograph, called an “image.”
• The name of a performer.
• A link to the organizer’s website.
• Ticket or admission details, called “offers.”

These details help Google create a more informative event listing. They are recommended extras, and some may not apply to your event.

For example, an event may have no ticket. You do not need to invent one to remove a warning.

You may see the term “structured data” in these emails. This simply means information your website gives Google behind the scenes. A warning about these optional details does not mean your event page has disappeared from Google. Google’s event guidance

“Critical” does not always mean your website is in trouble

Google sometimes shows events and videos with extra pictures or details in its search results.

A problem described as “critical” may prevent that special display. Your page may still appear as a normal search result with a title and a link.

The word sounds serious, but it is important to check what it refers to. A problem with an extra feature is different from a problem that stops people finding your page. Google’s explanation of these warnings

Video warnings can be harmless

A video can play perfectly well on your website even if Google says it has not included it in video search.

For example, a video included in an article may not qualify for Google’s video listings because watching the video is not the page’s main purpose.

People can still read the article and watch the video. The article itself may still appear in ordinary search results. Google’s video guidance

Other messages you might receive

“Page with redirect” means visitors are being forwarded.

An old website address sends visitors to another page, like a forwarding address when you move. If visitors reach the correct page, this is usually expected.

“Not found” or “404” means a page is missing.

If you deliberately removed the page, this can be normal. It needs checking if the page should still be there. A correctly removed page does not, by itself, harm the rest of your website. Google’s advice about missing pages

“Soft 404” means Google thought a page looked empty or missing.

Most of the time we see this message, the page loads normally when we check it. It can turn out to be a false alarm or a temporary problem that has already passed.

A working page today does not tell us exactly what Google saw earlier, so an important page should still be checked.

“Server error” or “5xx” means the website could not answer Google’s request.

There may have been a brief interruption that is already over. If it keeps happening, your website manager or agency should investigate. Repeated failures can stop visitors reaching pages and affect their appearance in Google. Google’s explanation of these errors

“Excluded by ‘noindex’ tag” means the page tells Google not to list it.

Your website can include an instruction asking Google to leave a page out of search results. This instruction is called “noindex.”

It is often intentional. For example, an ad landing page and a  thank-you page shown after someone fills in a form usually does not need to appear on Google.

The page can still work normally for visitors. Google is simply following the instruction.

If it is a page you want people to find through Google, ask your website manager to check whether that instruction belongs there.

What you need to do

You do not need to understand the technical wording or start making changes yourself. Forward the email to whoever looks after your website and ask:

“Does this affect our visitors or people finding us on Google? Does anything need fixing?”

Many warnings need little or no action. Some deserve a closer look. The email is a reason to check, not a reason to panic.