🔍 What Does a 'Failed' Audit Mean?
When an on-page audit returns a Failed status, it means Search Atlas was unable to crawl or analyse the target URL successfully. This is almost always caused by an issue on the website side rather than a platform bug. The steps below walk you through the most common causes and how to fix each one.
⚙️ Step 1 — Check That the URL Is Correct
A simple typo is the most common reason an audit fails. Before investigating further, verify the following:
- The URL includes the correct protocol: https:// or http://
- There are no trailing spaces or hidden characters
- The page actually exists — paste the URL into a browser and confirm it loads
- You are targeting a specific page URL, not just a root domain (e.g. https://oakknollranch.com/about/ rather than oakknollranch.com)
🚧 Step 2 — Confirm the Page Is Publicly Accessible
Search Atlas crawls pages the same way a search engine bot would. If the page is restricted, the audit will fail. Check for these blockers:
- Password protection: The page or the whole site is behind a login, staging lock, or maintenance mode
- Robots.txt blocking: Your robots.txt file may be disallowing crawlers. Visit https://yourdomain.com/robots.txt and look for Disallow: / or rules that block all user agents
- Noindex / nofollow headers: Some server configurations block access at the HTTP header level
- Geo-restrictions or firewall rules: The server may be blocking requests from IP addresses outside a specific region
If any of these apply, temporarily lift the restriction, re-run the audit, and then restore your settings.
📡 Step 3 — Check the Page's HTTP Status Code
The page must return a 200 OK response for the audit to complete. Use a free HTTP status checker tool and enter your URL. Common problem codes include:
- 301 / 302: The URL redirects to another page — use the final destination URL instead
- 403 Forbidden: The server is actively blocking outside access
- 404 Not Found: The page no longer exists or the URL has changed
- 500 / 503: The server is experiencing errors — wait a few minutes and try again
⏱️ Step 4 — Wait and Retry
Occasionally, a page may time out during the crawl due to slow server response times or temporary downtime. If you have checked all of the above and found no issues, wait a few minutes and then navigate to the On-Page Audit section of the platform to locate the failed audit and run it again.
If the audit continues to fail after confirming the URL is correct, the page is publicly accessible, and the server is returning a 200 status, please reach out to support for further investigation.
If you need further assistance, open the chat widget in the bottom-right corner of the platform and type human teammate to be connected with a member of our team.