Crystal Ball checks covered

CRAWL_MODE_SITEMAP, CRAWL_MODE_ORGANIC, page discovery options

Guide detail

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Practical explanations and page-specific steps. Recommended for most readers.

What the flag means

This is less of an error and more of a choice. A sitemap crawl starts from URLs listed in your sitemap. An organic crawl starts from a page, usually the homepage, and follows internal links it can discover.

The two modes answer different questions. A sitemap crawl asks, "Which canonical public URLs does the site declare?" An organic crawl asks, "Which pages can a crawler reach through ordinary internal links?" Comparing the results can expose stale sitemap entries or hard-to-discover pages.

Common causes

Differences appear when sitemaps include old URLs, pages are missing from navigation, links are JavaScript-only, redirects are listed in the sitemap, or important pages are published but not internally linked.

What to check next

Check whether the issue appears on one page or every page using the same template. Review recent content, theme, plugin, deployment, and server changes, then compare the live output with a known-good page.

How to fix it

Confirm the warning first and make a backup before editing the live site. If the change involves templates, code, DNS, redirects, or server settings, switch to Intermediate or ask for help before proceeding.

  • Custom HTML/static: Use sitemap crawl when you have a clean sitemap of canonical URLs. Use organic crawl when you want to test discoverability through normal internal links.
  • WordPress: Compare the SEO plugin sitemap against what the crawler finds through menus, body links, category pages, and footer links. Orphaned pages often show up here.
  • Shopify: Use sitemap crawl for published products, collections, pages, and blogs. Use organic crawl to test whether important collections and pages are actually linked from the storefront.
  • Wix: Use the sitemap for a known published-page list, then use organic crawl to check whether menus, buttons, and page links make those pages discoverable.
  • Webflow: Use the Webflow sitemap for the intended public URL list. Use organic crawl to test navigation, CMS links, collection pages, and footer structure.

Need help?

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