Understanding Unusual Redirects in Google Search Console: Should You Be Concerned?

If you’ve recently delved into your Google Search Console analytics and noticed a series of strange redirects appearing under the “Excluded by ‘noindex’” section, you’re not alone. Many website owners encounter these anomalies and wonder whether they signify a security threat or are just benign crawler activity.

What Are These Redirects?

In the Page Indexing section of Google Search Console, the “Excluded by ‘noindex’” category typically indicates pages that are intentionally marked to be excluded from search engine indexing. However, sometimes, the report shows irregular redirects or suspicious URLs that can raise eyebrows.

Visually, these might appear as redirects leading to unfamiliar or seemingly malicious sites, which can understandably cause concern about potential malware infections or hacking attempts.

Should You Be Worried?

The short answer is: not necessarily. These redirects are often caused by bots scanning your website, particularly targeting sensitive areas like the WordPress admin login page. Malicious actors often run automated scripts to probe sites for vulnerabilities or to attempt unauthorized access.

In many cases, what you’re seeing is standard bot activity looking for weak points or unprotected endpoints. Sometimes, the redirect patterns are the result of WordPress plugins or themes that handle URLs in unusual ways, or remnants of security scans.

What You Can Do

1. Check Your Site for Malware:
   Run a comprehensive security scan using reputable WordPress security plugins such as WordFence, Sucuri Security, or iThemes Security. These tools can detect and help clean any malicious code or malware infections.

2. Review Your Server Logs:
   Examine your server logs to identify unusual or frequent requests to sensitive URLs. This can give you insights into whether these redirects are part of targeted scanning or actual attack attempts.

3. Ensure Your Website Is Up-to-Date:
   Keep WordPress?” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener noreferrer”>WordPress, themes, and plugins updated to patch known vulnerabilities that malicious actors often exploit.

4. Implement Security Best Practices:
   Use strong, unique passwords for admin accounts, enable two-factor authentication, and restrict access to your wp-admin area using IP whitelisting if possible.

5. Monitor Google Search Console Regularly:
   Keep an eye on your Search Console for any suspicious activity or crawl errors. Address any issues promptly.

Conclusion

In most cases, odd redirects observed in Google Search Console are attributable to bots or automated scans rather than genuine malware infections. Nonetheless, it’s crucial to maintain your website’s