Understanding SEO Health

The SEO Manager provides several indicators of website search health. Here's what they mean and when to take action.

Sitemap Health Indicators

Green Status (Healthy)

The sitemap is being processed correctly by Google with no critical issues. This is the ideal state. No immediate action needed, but continue monitoring monthly.

Yellow Status (Warnings)

Google processed the sitemap but found minor issues. These won't prevent indexing but should be addressed when time allows. Common warnings include:

• Some URLs redirecting to other pages
• Pages excluded due to low quality
• Duplicate content detected
• Missing metadata on some pages

Review the specific warnings and decide which to address based on the pages involved.

Red Status (Errors)

Critical issues are preventing Google from processing the sitemap correctly. Address these as soon as possible:

• Sitemap file not accessible (404 error)
• Malformed XML that can't be parsed
• Large numbers of blocked URLs
• Server errors preventing access

Check the error details and work with a web developer if needed to resolve technical issues.

URL Indexing Status

Indexed (Green)

The page is successfully indexed and can appear in search results. This is the goal for all important content. No action needed.

Discovered (Yellow)

Google found the page but hasn't indexed it yet. This is common for:

• Recently published content (give it 1-2 weeks)
• Sites with limited crawl budget
• Pages Google considers lower priority

If important pages stay in "Discovered" status for more than a month, consider improving their content quality, adding internal links, or promoting them to signal their importance.

Excluded (Yellow/Gray)

Google deliberately chose not to index this page. Common reasons:

Error (Red)

Problems preventing indexing that require immediate attention:

Priority and Change Frequency

The sitemap includes hints to Google about page importance:

Priority Scale (0.0 - 1.0)

• 1.0: Most important pages (typically homepage)
• 0.8: Major service pages and key content
• 0.5: Regular blog posts and secondary pages
• 0.3: Archive pages and less critical content

These are suggestions to Google, not commands. Google uses many factors beyond priority to determine crawling and ranking.

Change Frequency

Indicates how often the page is updated:

• Daily: Blog homepage or news sections
• Weekly: Active blogs with regular posts
• Monthly: Service pages updated periodically
• Yearly: Static content rarely changed

Set realistic frequencies. Marking everything as "daily" when updates happen monthly can reduce trust with Google.

Content Breakdown

The sitemap content should reflect the actual website:

Mostly web pages: Normal for therapy practice websites. Most content is text-based service pages and blog posts.

Some images: If images are included in the sitemap, make sure they're high-quality and properly optimized with alt text.

Few or no videos: Normal unless video content is actively created. Don't worry if this is zero.

Zero news items: Expected for practice websites. This is primarily for news publications.

When to Take Action

Immediate Action Needed

• Red error badges on important pages
• Sudden drops in indexed URLs
• Sitemap returning 404 errors
• Important pages showing "Blocked by robots.txt"

Address This Week

• Yellow warnings on key service pages
• "Discovered" status on new content after 2 weeks
• Mobile usability issues
• Duplicate content issues

Monitor and Review

• "Discovered" status on recently published content
• Minor warnings on low-priority pages
• Slow crawl rates
• Lower-priority duplicate content

No Action Needed

• Green indexed status across all important pages
• "Excluded" status on intentional noindex pages
• Recent last crawled dates
• Healthy content breakdown matching the site

Monthly Health Check

Set a reminder to review the SEO Manager once a month:

1. Check the Search Console dashboard for any alerts or issues
2. Review index coverage to ensure important pages are indexed
3. Monitor performance trends in KopplaHQ's SEO Manager
4. Address any errors or warnings promptly
5. Resubmit sitemaps after major content updates
6. Check for new red error badges
7. Review yellow warnings on important pages
8. Verify new content is getting indexed within 2 weeks
9. Confirm the most important pages show "Indexed" status
10. Address any persistent issues

This 10-15 minute monthly check catches most issues before they impact search visibility.

Best Practices

Prioritize important pages: Focus on inspecting the homepage, main service pages, and cornerstone blog posts rather than every page on the site.

Check after publishing: Inspect new content 2-3 days after publishing to verify Google has discovered it.

Investigate errors immediately: Red error badges indicate real problems. Click through to understand and fix the issue.

Monitor mobile usability: Most visitors find therapists on mobile devices. Pay attention to mobile usability warnings.

Don't panic about "Discovered": It's normal for Google to discover pages before indexing them. Give it a week or two unless it's a critical page.

Check regularly: Review sitemaps monthly to catch issues before they impact visibility.

Act on errors quickly: Red error badges indicate problems that prevent Google from indexing content. Address these as soon as possible.

Don't over-resubmit: Resubmitting the same sitemap multiple times won't speed up indexing. Once every few weeks after major updates is sufficient.

Keep sitemaps current: Ensure the sitemap automatically updates when new content is published. Most website platforms handle this automatically.

Monitor after launches: After launching new service pages or blog content, check that they appear in the sitemap and resubmit if needed.