Fixing Indexing and Crawl Issues on Framer for B2C SaaS Sites

Framer's visual development environment creates specific indexing challenges that don't exist with traditional website builders. B2C SaaS companies face particularly high stakes here because product pages, feature comparisons, and pricing content need to rank to support acquisition. Before diving into Framer-specific fixes, understanding how SEO works in 2025 provides essential context for why indexation matters. Here's how to systematically diagnose and resolve the most common indexing problems.

Diagnosing the Root Cause

Start with Google Search Console's Pages report (Indexing > Pages) to identify which URLs are excluded and why. The error messages tell you exactly what's blocking indexation, but the underlying causes often require deeper investigation.

Common Framer-Specific Issues for B2C SaaS

Noindex tags left from development - Framer pages default to noindex during development. Teams often publish to production without checking the box to show pages in search engines. This affects product pages, feature documentation, and comparison content that should be your highest-priority indexed pages.

Solution: Go to each page's settings and verify "show this page in search engines" is checked. For B2C SaaS sites with dozens of feature pages, this becomes tedious but necessary. After enabling indexing, submit URLs via the URL Inspection tool in GSC rather than waiting for Google's next crawl.

Password protection blocking crawlers (401 errors) - If you're using Framer's built-in password protection for staging or beta features, those pages return 401 unauthorized responses to Google's crawlers. This is expected behavior for protected content, but teams sometimes forget they left protection enabled on pages they meant to publish.

Solution: Audit your password-protected pages. For B2C SaaS, you might legitimately protect early access content or customer portals, but public product pages should never be behind authentication. Remove password protection from any pages you want indexed, then request indexing in GSC.

Staging subdomain contaminating search results - Your Framer staging environment (yoursite.framer.app or yoursite.framer.website) can get indexed alongside your production domain, splitting your SEO authority and confusing potential customers who land on half-finished pages. This splitting doesn't just affect rankings—it complicates tracking organic conversions versus traffic attribution across your acquisition funnel.

Solution: Enable Protected Staging in Project Settings > Versions & Staging. This requires authentication to access staging, which automatically blocks search engines. If Google already indexed staging URLs, add the staging subdomain as a property in GSC, verify it, then submit a removal request for all URLs with that prefix. This typically processes within 24-48 hours, though full deindexing can take 2-4 weeks.

Overlay content invisible to crawlers - Framer's overlay system improves performance and enables smooth animations, but content inside overlays doesn't exist on initial page load. Google's crawlers don't see it, which means navigation menus, modal content, or product details in overlays won't contribute to rankings.

This particularly affects B2C SaaS sites that use overlays for feature comparisons, pricing tables, or product demos. If your only link to a feature page exists in an overlay menu, that page becomes an orphan with no crawlable path to it.

Solution: Move critical content out of overlays. For navigation links, duplicate them in your footer or add them to a standard HTML sitemap. When adding navigation links to footers, ensure they use SEO-friendly URL structures to maximize crawlability and ranking potential. For product information, ensure the core details exist in the main page content rather than exclusively in overlays or modals.

Sitemap "could not fetch" errors - This error message is misleading. When you submit a sitemap to Google, you often see "Couldn't fetch" or "Sitemap could not be read" in GSC. This usually means Google hasn't processed your sitemap yet, not that there's an actual error.

Google processes sitemaps on a "best effort" basis with a substantial backlog. Your sitemap might wait weeks or months before Google fetches it. This doesn't prevent indexing—Google can still discover and index your pages through internal links and external backlinks.

Solution: Verify your sitemap is accessible by visiting yourdomain.com/sitemap.xml in a browser. Framer generates this automatically, so it should work. Then submit it in GSC (Sitemaps section, enter "sitemap.xml"). If you continue seeing "Couldn't fetch" without additional error details, it's likely just waiting in queue. Focus on strong internal linking instead of relying solely on the sitemap.

B2C SaaS-Specific Indexing Priorities

For B2C SaaS sites, not all pages deserve equal indexing urgency. Beyond these Framer-specific issues, B2C SaaS companies often struggle with common SEO mistakes that compound indexing problems. Understanding these broader patterns helps contextualize indexing challenges. Prioritize pages in this order:

1. Product and Feature Pages

These capture high-intent searches from potential customers comparing solutions. Verify each is indexable, has unique content, and includes clear value propositions.

2. Pricing Pages

B2C buyers research pricing extensively. Ensure your pricing page is indexed and includes schema markup for pricing data to help AI search engines extract and display pricing information accurately. Don't hide critical information in overlays.

3. Comparison Pages

"Your product vs Competitor" pages capture bottom-funnel traffic. These need to be indexed, but watch for duplicate content issues if you create multiple similar comparison pages.

4. Help Documentation

B2C customers research how to use products before buying. Index your help docs, but use canonical tags to prevent thin or duplicate content issues if you have many similar articles.

5. Blog Content

Support your topic authority, but don't let blog posts cannibalize priority for product pages. If you have hundreds of blog posts and limited crawl budget, consider strategic noindexing of low-traffic older content.

Fixing "Discovered - Currently Not Indexed"

This status means Google knows about your page but hasn't crawled it yet. For B2C SaaS sites with limited crawl budget (Google won't crawl every page on every site), this often affects lower-priority content.

If only a handful of pages show this status, wait a few days—it often resolves naturally. If it affects many pages or high-priority content, the issue is usually weak internal linking or low perceived value.

Solutions:

1. Strengthen internal linking from high-authority pages to affected pages

2. Add the pages to your main navigation or prominent footer sections

3. Create content hubs that link to related product or feature pages

4. Generate external links to important pages (via partnerships, PR, or content marketing)

Fixing "Crawled - Currently Not Indexed"

This is more problematic. Google crawled the page but deliberately chose not to index it, often due to content quality issues, duplicate content, or algorithmic penalties.

For B2C SaaS sites, this frequently affects:

• Thin feature pages with minimal unique content

• Duplicate product descriptions across multiple pages

• Auto-generated pages with templated content

• Pages with content predominantly duplicated from competitors

Solutions:

1. Expand thin content with unique value propositions, use cases, and customer examples

2. Differentiate duplicate pages or consolidate them via canonical tags

3. Add unique, helpful content that competitors don't have (original research, specific implementation guidance, customer stories)

4. Check for partial algorithmic issues (you can use GSC's Manual Actions report to check for full penalties)

Systematic Approach for Teams

Rather than fixing issues reactively, implement a monitoring system:

1. Weekly GSC Audits

Check the Pages report for new exclusions. Many indexing issues happen when team members make changes without checking SEO implications.

2. Pre-Launch Checklist

Before publishing new pages, verify:

• Noindex disabled

• No password protection

• Sitemap accessibility

• Internal linking in place

• Content not exclusively in overlays

3. Staging Hygiene

Keep Protected Staging enabled and educate team members never to share staging URLs publicly (where they might get linked and indexed).

4. Crawl Budget Optimization

For larger B2C SaaS sites (500+ pages), prioritize your most important pages through internal linking architecture. For comprehensive crawl budget management, our guide on the 4 pillars of SEO covers technical SEO fundamentals including internal linking architecture. Don't waste crawl budget on redundant pages.

Revenue Impact and Next Steps

The revenue impact of fixing indexing issues is direct. A single high-intent product page that moves from "not indexed" to ranking in position 3-7 can generate meaningful recurring revenue for B2C SaaS companies. Treat indexation as a prerequisite for ranking, and ranking as a prerequisite for revenue.

Once indexing issues are resolved, focus on proven strategies to increase organic traffic in 2025 and convert that visibility into revenue. While solving today's indexing challenges, prepare for AI search optimization as generative AI platforms reshape how customers discover B2C SaaS products.

FAQs

1. Why isn't my Framer site appearing in Google search results?

Check Page Settings for "show this page in search engines" checkbox. Framer pages default to noindex during development. Enable indexing, then submit URLs via Google Search Console's URL Inspection tool.

2. What does "Discovered - Currently Not Indexed" mean in Google Search Console?

Google knows your page exists but hasn't crawled it yet. Strengthen internal linking from high-authority pages and add links in navigation or footer to accelerate indexing.

3. How do I fix the "Sitemap could not fetch" error in Framer?

This usually indicates Google's processing backlog, not an actual error. Verify your sitemap loads at yourdomain.com/sitemap.xml. If accessible, wait—Google processes sitemaps on best-effort basis.

4. Can Google crawl content inside Framer overlays and modals?

No. Overlay content doesn't exist on initial page load, making it invisible to crawlers. Move critical navigation links, product details, and feature information outside overlays for indexability.

5. How do I prevent my Framer staging site from appearing in search results?

Enable Protected Staging in Project Settings → Versions & Staging. For already-indexed staging URLs, verify staging property in GSC and submit removal request for the subdomain prefix.

6. Why does Google Search Console show "Crawled - Currently Not Indexed" for my pages?

Google crawled but deliberately excluded your page due to thin content, duplicate information, or low perceived value. Expand content with unique value propositions, customer examples, and differentiated information.