Google’s Mixed Signals: Does Googlebot Actually “Follow” Links?

In a recent episode of Google’s Search Off The Record podcast, Gary Illyes revealed that Googlebot doesn’t “follow” links in real-time as commonly believed. Instead, it collects links for later processing, contradicting Google’s official documentation.

Key Points:

• Link Collection vs. Following: Googlebot gathers links initially and revisits them later, rather than sequentially following them.
• Podcast Insight: Illyes discussed this discrepancy on the Search Off The Record podcast, challenging the widespread assumption about Googlebot’s real-time link navigation.
• Documentation Discrepancy: Google’s official documents imply that the bot navigates the web by following links as they appear, which conflicts with Illyes’ explanation.

Contradictory Information Illyes expressed frustration with the inconsistency between Google’s documentation and actual crawler behavior, stating:

“It’s my pet peeve. On our site, we keep saying Googlebot is following links, but no, it’s not following links. It’s collecting links, and then it goes back to those links.”

What The Documents Say- Google’s documentation describes crawlers as tools that automatically discover and scan websites by following links from one page to another. This suggests a real-time link-following process, creating a disconnect with Illyes' explanation.

Implications for SEO:

• Crawl Budget: If Googlebot collects links first, it could alter how we perceive crawl budgets, possibly making the initial collection phase less demanding.
• Site Architecture: The need for Googlebot to “find” deep pages through clicks might be less crucial, affecting our approach to internal linking and site depth.
• Crawl Frequency: This might explain variances in crawl frequency across pages, regardless of their site hierarchy.

This insight reveals that Googlebot’s behavior might be more intricate than previously thought. While it doesn’t negate existing SEO practices, it underscores the importance of understanding the evolving nature of Google’s crawling processes.

#seo #links #google #googlebots #acewebexperts #digitalmarketing #crawling