Review errors reported in the Search Console

Google Search Console is where Google tells you, directly, what's wrong with your site. Before going live and every month after, the Coverage, Core Web Vitals, and Mobile Usability reports are where you start.

The Coverage report is the most important for a pre-launch check. It shows the indexing status of all known URLs, organized into four groups: Error, Valid with warning, Valid, and Excluded. At launch, your goal is zero Errors and a clear understanding of why any URLs sit in the Excluded category.

The most common errors at launch: "Submitted URL has crawl issue" (Googlebot can't reach the page), "Redirect error" (a redirect pointing to another redirect or a 404), and "Server error (5xx)" (a page returning an error response). Each error in the report has documentation explaining the likely cause — read it before guessing at a fix.

The Excluded category is where most confusion happens. "Noindex" exclusions are intentional — pages you've told Google to ignore. "Crawled but not indexed" means Google visited the page but decided not to include it in results, usually because the content is too thin or too similar to another page. "Discovered but not indexed" means Google found the URL but hasn't crawled it yet — normal for new sites and pages deep in your structure.

For Core Web Vitals: at launch, many Webflow sites don't have enough real-user data for a score. GSC requires a minimum traffic threshold. That's expected — the report populates as traffic builds. Once it does, it shows which pages are "Poor," "Needs improvement," or "Good" based on actual user data, not lab simulations.

The monthly review loop: after each content update or site change, check the Coverage report for new errors. A new "Redirect error" usually means a slug changed without a corresponding 301. A new "Crawled but not indexed" entry often means a CMS page was published with too little content. These are cheap to fix right after they appear and expensive to diagnose three months later when your traffic is already down.

Log into GSC at least once a month. Treat it as your starting point for every SEO decision — it's the most direct feedback loop you have for how Google actually sees your site.