I found out that when I checked the Google Webmaster panel, incorrect pages were appearing in search results for my website mysite.com. These pages started with my domain name, but were not actually located on my site since there is no /somedirectory/ directory present.
This issue made me wonder if it was a problem with DNS or hosting.
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There are two possible reasons for the error mentioned here. Firstly, it could be because the domain name record is directing to one IP address, while another IP address is specified in the Apache configuration file. In this case, the user should check the VirtualHost section of apache.conf (e.g., /etc/apache2/apache2.conf) and ensure that the domain IP address matches the A record.
Restarting the apache web server can be done using the commands below:
systemctl restart apache2 - Debian OS/Ubuntu
systemctl restart httpd - Centos OS
If you are using the ISPmanager panel, check the IP address of the website under the Sites section - Site Settings button - IP address field, and make sure it matches the delegated domain address.
The second possible reason could be that the domain name was not created on the web server. In this case, the user should go to the ISPmanager control panel and create a domain with the correct IP address.
For Nginx web server users, the error may also occur due to mismatched IP addresses in the configuration file and DNS record for the domain. To fix this, the user should check if the desired IP address is registered in the server section of nginx.conf (e.g., /etc/nginx/nginx.conf) in the listen line. Once done, restarting the Nginx web server can be done using the command given below:
service nginx restart
For those using both Apache+Nginx web servers, it is important to check the configuration files of both servers for any inconsistencies as described above.
There are a few possible reasons for this issue. One of the common causes is that there might be a problem with your website's sitemap. If your sitemap includes URLs that don't actually exist on your domain, search engines will try to crawl those pages and index them. You should check your sitemap.xml file and ensure it only contains valid URLs.
Another reason could be outdated links or external sites linking to old or broken URLs that point to your domain. Search engines might pick those up too. You might want to perform a backlinks check to see if there are sites pointing to those non-existent directories.
Additionally, look into your robots.txt file to make sure it's not blocking important sections of your site or misconfigured in any way. Sometimes, if a search engine cannot access a certain directory or pages due to a misconfiguration, it may lead to unexpected behaviors.
If you have access to Google Search Console, you can check for any crawl errors and see reports on how Google is indexing your site. If there are any erroneous pages indexed, you may request removal of those pages directly through the Search Console.
Consider implementing 301 redirects for pages that may have been moved or removed. This can help guide users and search engines to the correct content on your site.
I recommend thoroughly examining your sitemap, external links, robots.txt file, and using tools like Google Search Console to monitor the indexing of your site. By taking these steps, you should be able to resolve the issue with incorrect pages appearing in search results.