Diagnosing "Soft 404" vs "Crawled - not indexed": different fixes

Diagnosing "Soft 404" vs "Crawled - not indexed": different fixes

Both mean Google won't index, but the tool you reach for differs because the cause differs.

"Soft 404" = Google thinks the page is effectively empty/error-like (often a render problem or genuinely thin). Reach for the Rich Results Test / live render to see what Googlebot actually got, often a failed JS fetch or empty state.

"Crawled - currently not indexed" = Google saw real content but judged it not worth indexing. No render tool fixes that; it's a content-quality/duplication call, so you reach for a content audit and internal links.

Pros of separating them: you stop wasting render-debugging time on a content problem and vice versa.
Cons: GSC's labels are fuzzy and overlap.

Best for render tools: Soft 404s (technical/empty).
Best for content + linking work: "Crawled - not indexed" (quality). Don't throw IndexNow/Request Indexing at a quality problem, it won't stick. 4.5/5 once you split them.