Page returns 5xx

Why it matters

A server error usually hits more than one page and costs visitors immediately. When it keeps happening, Google slows down its crawling to protect your server, so new content is picked up later.

How Snaglist checks it

Snaglist records the status code of every page it fetches. Every page that answers with 500 to 599 is listed. Snaglist fetches one page at a time with a pause in between, so the error is not caused by the crawl itself.

Common causes

• A plugin or theme update with a PHP error
• The memory limit or execution time of the server is too low
• A database that does not respond in time
• A firewall or security plugin that blocks the request with a 503

How to fix it

1. Open the error log of the server for the time of the crawl.
2. Load the page yourself and check whether the error comes back.
3. Roll back the most recent plugin or theme update if the error started after it.
4. Ask your host to raise memory or time limits if the log points there.
5. Start a new crawl to confirm the pages answer with 200 again.