How do you control and improve your website's crawlability?

It’s helpful to remember robots.txt is used for controlling crawling of pages but not noindexing them. It happens sometimes that pages blocked by robots.txt are linked to by another page, crawled by a search engine, and indexed. In such cases (listed in Google Search Console as “indexed though blocked by robots.txt”), a page may show in SERPs with information missing, like from the title link or snippet, because the content wasn’t crawled. Also, if a page has a noindex, it must be crawlable (not blocked in robots.txt) for the tag to be read. For complex robots.txt set ups, especially with multiple rules for crawlers, a tester helps verify pages are blocked or allowed as intended. As mentioned, beware blocking resources that can break UX.

Improving website crawlability involves: - Sitemaps: Enhance search engine efficiency by detailing pages, videos, and file relationships. - Page Loading Speed: Faster speeds allow quicker access for search bots. - Internal Linking/Structure: Organized structure with proper links aids in understanding page hierarchy. - Robots.txt Files: Direct bots on which areas to avoid. - Canonicalization: Address duplicate content by indicating the preferred page version. - Site Auditing: Regular checks for broken links, redirect issues enhance crawlability. - URL Structures: Clear, readable URLs aid user experience and bot understanding. Continuously update these practices to align with evolving SEO and search engine algorithms.

Improve Your Website Crawlability in 7 Steps: 1. Disallow all the unimportant pages in the robots.txt file. 2. Add all the important pages in XML-Sitemap and submit them in in Search Console. Note: Don't add the below pages to your XML-Sitemap Redirection Pages 404/ Dead Pages Pages with in-proper canonical tag Duplicate Pages 3. Create HTML Sitemap and link it in the footer. 4. Improve your website site structure and link all the important pages in the top menu. 5. Decrease the crawl depth of important pages. Your important pages should be accessible within 2-3 clicks. 6. Improve internal linking of the website pages. 7. Publish content regularly.

Robots.txt tells search engines which pages NOT to crawl. This saves your crawl budget for important pages. It's like a map with "no trespassing" signs. You want search engines to explore your best stuff, not the extra pages. Blocking low-value pages like logins or drafts helps them find your best stuff faster.

Many CMS already offer, by default, a robots.txt. Unfortunately, they should be adjusted because you want admin folders and critical parts to be manageable; moreover, always consider the crawl contingent. Reducing the robots.txt to relevant content sections and image folders can help improve the search relevance for certain topics. Also, at the end of the robots.txt, add the URLs to your sitemap.xml to lead directly to pages that shall be crawled.

One issue I always check for in site crawls (like an Ahrefs or Semrush site audit), are unlinked pages — known as “orphan pages,” but personally I’m trying to say unlinked. ;) These pages exist on the website but aren’t reachable via internal links. Unlinked pages can still be indexed for search if they’re discoverable in other ways, like in an XML sitemap or from an external backlink. But such unlinked pages hurt site structure by interrupting the flow of PageRank between related pages and stranding users without a way to navigate to them from other content. I’ve seen cases where pages were unlinked intentionally trying to prevent discoverability by users, but if that’s the goal, the page should also have a noindex tag or be unpublished.

One of the most common issues i see is on WordPress sites that use some sort of SEO plugin. These plugin help create sitemap but usually they are not that well optimized and include alot of unwanted pages such as tags, custom fields, and for e-commerce website variation of products aswell. It's ok if your site is small but for a large website these unwanted pages in the sitemap can increase the crawl budget. Keeping the sitemap structured can help improve the sites crawl speed.

Controlling and improving your website's crawlability starts with optimizing your site structure. Arrange your pages in a logical hierarchy, making it easy for both visitors and search engines to navigate. Use clear and concise URLs that reflect the content of each page. Create a sitemap to provide a roadmap for search engine crawlers, helping them discover and index your pages efficiently. Eliminate unnecessary redirects and broken links that could hinder the crawling process. Regularly update and organize your content, ensuring it remains relevant and valuable. By fine-tuning your site structure, you enhance the overall crawlability, making it more accessible and appealing to search engines.

Crawlers are bots used to scan the website inorder to understand what this website is about. Here are some Facts and Tips about Crawlers: ?? Each search engine have their own Crawler bots, and thats why SEO varies from browser to another. ?? The inner workings of a web crawler are often closely guarded secrets, with search engines fiercely protecting their algorithms. ?? While primarily used by search engines, web crawlers also serve various purposes, such as data mining, price comparison, and academic research. ?? Use semantic HTML structure for better crawling process. ?? Use semantic naming for routes directory structure. Good Ex: /blogs/10-facts-about-seo.html Bad Ex: /blogs/1279829710/index.html

The most common mistake I have analysed in most of the websites is they have a lot of 'orphan pages' Which means they are not linked from anywhere in your website. Remember, google crawls your site like a web. Jumps from one page to another through the internal links. Make sure to plan the structure of your website in a way that relevant pages are linked back and forth.

The faster the page, the faster Google can crawl through the website as a whole. This means your SEO efforts will provide results quicker (organic $, organic traffic, visibility like rankings). This mainly applies to big sites with millions of pages. Keep in mind that there are still hundreds of other factors that are considered for ranking, organic relevance, and crawling.

Sites can be accessed by crawlers without site maps, so the single most important SEO tactic that should be prioritized is improving page load time as it's a direct ranking factor on both desktop and mobile and contributes to ux and as a result, conversion. This can be done by: ?? compressing image file sizes (lots of free tools available for this) ?? eliminating poor quality plug-ins ?? reducing unnecessary code from web pages ?? ensuring page content, images, and scripts can load independently of one another. ?? confirming your content delivery network is caching a cached version of your site on servers in different locations. ?? optimizing the critical rendering path for the above-the-fold region of a page to appear in browser.

Improving your site speed significantly impacts crawlability and overall user experience, consequently influencing search engine rankings. Faster-loading websites are more favorable to search engines as they provide a better user experience. Optimize images by compressing file sizes without compromising quality. Minify CSS, JavaScript, and HTML files to reduce their size, enabling quicker page rendering. Utilize browser caching to store elements of your website locally on users' devices, reducing load times for returning visitors.

The faster your website, the easier the Crawling. More time Waiting = More Crawl Budget ?? Make your speed Cheetah Fast - It's like giving Googlebot a turbo boost to see your awesome work! This gives it more time to discover and index your important content.

Page Speed has a significant impact on the usability of a website, especially on mobile devices. Websites that are overloaded with huge pictures and scripts can cause a very long load time, causing visitors to abort the visit and leaving a bad user experience. Search Engines want to deliver a good user experience, otherwise people would not use their search. Therefore, optimizing the page speed as part of technical SEO can lead to fast ranking results for websites that currently have a poor page speed score.

Broken links are often one of the first items I encounter in the crawl of an older site that hasn’t had much SEO maintenance, but they can also happen in the course of everyday changes to a site, like if a page URL is updated without a redirect. Once I have a list of broken links, I prioritize addressing them based on the importance of the pages involved, either to improve the UX of key pages or correct opportunities to point contextual links to them. In many cases, broken link destinations can be redirected as well to a suitable alternative page, which can improve the UX of pages with broken links until you can replace them. I often find the practice of fixing broken links on older pages is also a chance to make other on-page improvements.

Routinely crawl and monitor the internal links on your site. This helps identify both technical and content issues that can keep your site in top-shape for ranking.

Ahrefs is an excellent tool for site audits, especially for identifying and resolving broken links and redirect issues. It efficiently crawls the site, highlighting 404 errors and redirect problems and issues with pagespeed and the way to solve the issue.

The most ignored part by most SEOs - Fixing broken links and redirects. Why should you even have a link of a page on your website which is no more? ????♂? Whyy do you still have it in your sitemap? Why the old page that you redirected to a new page, and both are in your sitemap? Fix these little issues, and see the difference! You must not have any broken link on your website, that wastes the crawler's time and resource.

Although the effect for ranking might be low, 404 errors are an user experience issue. Sometimes pages are outdated and removed within the CMS, causing the 404 error if the URL is still used. In such cases, it is better to create redirects to newer pages with similar or updated content. If 404 pages are still listed in search results, check if they are still in the sitemap.xml, and if so, erase them. Using the search console to commit the new sitemap will take some time till pages that do not exist anymore won′t appear in the search results.

The keyword you've used 3 months ago and the topic you wrote about last week may not be relevant anymore. Regularly: ?do keyword research ?check in with users and website visitors ?check out your Analytics, GSC, and other profiles to see what's new ?monitor competitors (to do better, of course) ?find industry trends These will help keep your content fresh and relevant at all times.

I generally believe the most helpful content for the needs of the audience, particularly on their buyer’s journey, should be the focus, whether it’s new or existing. Content shouldn’t necessarily be updated just for the sake of it, but if a page can be made more helpful with fresher or more in-depth information or a changed layout informed by new user feedback, those are solid reasons for refreshing. Say your existing content already covers the most helpful topics, but there’s room for improvement, concentrating on updates makes sense. But if there are gaps in helpful topics, new content may a priority, keeping in mind to prune as needed for overall site quality. Content strategy may be 50-50 of new vs. updates, but it depends on the goal.

It is also important to follow Best SEO practices while writing content. Make sure you have optimized headings, meta descriptions, keyword density, etc. Try to write unique and helpful content so that Google can index and rank it quickly. The most important thing is to update your content, it's helps for both indexing and rankings.

Content freshness can help your content gain visibility in search. Repurpose, reuse, refresh, or redirect any old content. As part of your content strategy, include an "update schedule" to routinely add new info and update any advice, statistics, or expert opinions.

Elevate your site's appeal to users and search engines by regularly updating your content—the heart of your SEO strategy. Craft a content calendar for consistency, outlining topics and deadlines. Frequent updates improve relevance, ensuring a 434% increase in indexed pages. Review and enhance existing content with fresh info and new keywords. Trim unnecessary content, as sites updating content experience a 2.4x increase in lead generation. Google Analytics offers insights to track and refine your content strategy, optimizing user engagement and search visibility.

Use tools like Google Search Console to see your crawl stats and errors. Fix any errors quickly to keep Googlebot happy and crawling. This way, you're saving your precious crawl budget for the "Cream" parts of your website!

Monitor your server logs. By analyzing these logs, you can pinpoint exactly which URLs are resulting in errors like 404s and 500s when Google tries to access them. I recommend using a log analyzer tool to parse through your raw logs and highlight the crawl errors. Some good free options are GoAccess, AWStats, or Parse.ly. Once you identify the problematic URLs, you can start investigating why they are erroring and prevent Google from being able to crawl them. By staying on top of your crawl errors in server logs and addressing them quickly, you ensure maximum crawlability and indexation.

Welcome to the world of website etiquette, where Google is the guest. As the host, your site needs to adhere to this simple protocol: ?? Orderliness: Ensure quick loading, mobile-friendliness, clean navigation & no broken pages or unnecessary redirects. ?? Fresh and Original Content: Serve Google with originality, ensuring that content is not plagiarized. Keep it unique, non-repetitive & genuinely useful. ?? Entertainment with Purpose: Entertain with relevant internal links. Use robots.txt to block irrelevant links. Introduce reputable external links, creating a network of credibility. By following this protocol, you're setting the stage for Google to become a frequent visitor, drawn in by the allure of your digital hospitality. ?? ??

Submitting your XML sitemap to Google search console benefits website indexability and boosts SEO. The XML sitemap which is a list of your website's URLs when submitted to Google, tells the search engine what content is available on your site on what pages. The sitemap assists the crawlers in faster indexation. Especially large websites, frequently changing websites, weak internal linking websites gain by submitting their XML sitemap to google search.

Use sitemaps and make sure there are no pages with a noindex or nofollow tag, or directives in the robots.txt file that prevent crawlers from accessing other pages within your site. Make sure you have proper sitewide canonicalization. Pay attention to your internal linking strategy, it should be properly implemented to help users and bots make sense of your site. Also, avoid orphaned pages, 404 links, and server problems.

Certain programming languages are not as decipherable by search engine bots -- namely JavaScript. Ensure that all vital information (e.g., headings, copy, and links) is ultimately loaded as HTML in the DOM.

Make your content relevant, true and 100% authentic. Failure in this process will make Google crawler unhappy with your site. Make sure to add some information about yourself to humanize you site. Never ever spam your site with majority of AI content, otherwise you will face pile of problems in indexing & crawling.