Google Search Console Block

[BoostMyBiz]

Am new to SEO.

My clients site was completed using Yoast premium and then used Google search console to initiate the crawl.

Initially setup an http:// property and all seemed good.  Then i removed that under search console an created an https:// did the render and it appears google has put a block and placed their own robots.txt file which basically has rendered the site useless.

Feedback most appreciated.

[LoganRay]

Hi David,

I've got a few questions before I can provide any advice.

1. Is the site using HTTPS everywhere?
2. Why shut down the HTTP Search Console profile? You should always have all four versions of your domain setup in SC - http/https and www/non-www.
3. Have you done a site:domain.com search in Google to verify indexation?

[BoostMyBiz]

Hi Logan;

Thanks for reply...

the site is -- https://albertaautosales.com

1. Yes the HTTPS has been setup correctly and is active with no issues on all pages.

2. Yes I realize now that i could have left the http profile.  It actually had a complete status and was ranking my key word phrases (also setup a campaign in Moz).   I did activate it again however now shows blank pages even though the status is complete.

3. not sure if I get your question 3.  Prior to removing and setting up the https profile the site was fine and the google ranking process was occuring...

I have created a help ticket for Google under the Search Console but no idea how prompt they are on responding.  Site is simply down just showing some images.  From what i can see Google blocked it by applying a very restrictive robots.txt file... but not sure as I am new to this.

Appreciate

[LoganRay]

Responses to the first 3 questions:

1. HTTPS is in place, but a redirect is not in place to push HTTP to HTTPS
2. Ok good, keep all Search Console profile intact, it's a good way to identify problems specifically as they relate to HTTP and HTTPS indexing (you don't want both to show)
3. This search, site:albertaautosales.com. As you can see when you click that link, you've only got a few URLs indexed, 2 for the homepage, with and without HTTPS.

Now that I have the domain, I see a few problems.

1. You have no internal linking - Screaming Frog will not go beyond the homepage. Upon further inspection, the only internal link I saw on the homepage was to a dead URL
2. Google isn't creating a robots.txt file for you, there's just nothing for them to crawl as a result of my previous point.
3. I cannot view your source code, if I can't see it, chances are Google can't either.

If this currently live version of the site is placeholder for development, I'd recommend putting the old site back out there and working on the new site in a development environment.

[BoostMyBiz]

Ok looks like I have work to do so will focus on these things now...

I was trying to create a rather flat layout with the pages as there are only a few; however; I do have a "services" page and will put the internal links between home page and services and then incorporate that page into the process.

I believe that it could be a wise investment for me at this stage to step back and get Yoast further involved and do a "Gold Review" on the site... this should fill in the gaps and raise my SEO knowledge.

Really appreciate the feedback...

[LoganRay]

No problem, good luck! Moz has plenty of great resources to help you along the way. Be sure to check out the beginners guide to SEO.

[BoostMyBiz]

what is interesting is that i can see that all the individual pages are good in terms of displaying in the browser correctly except the "home" page.