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What is crawling in SEO?
A web crawler is a software program that follows all the links on a page and follows them to new pages, continuing this process until there are no new links or pages left to crawl.
Web crawlers are known by different names: robots, spiders, search engine bots or just “bots” for short. They are called robots because they are assigned one job, going from one link to another and capturing information from each page. There is not an actual robot here. Google’s web crawler is named Googlebot.
When bots visit your website (any page), they follow other linked pages.
Crawling in SEO is the process by which search engines such as Google, Bing, and Yahoo systematically explore and analyse websites through automated bots called crawlers or spiders. It is the first step in discovering and indexing web content by search engines and ultimately determines how and where web pages appear in search engine results pages (SERPs).
How crawling works
When web crawlers find websites, they copy each site’s meta tags, which provide metadata information about the site and the keywords on it. This data helps search engines determine how a page will appear in search results.
1. Initiation:
Crawlers begin by visiting well-known web pages (such as the homepage or sitemap). From there, they follow internal links and external links to find new content.
2. Following Links:
As crawlers traverse through a website, they follow hyperlinks to other pages, creating a network map of the website. This helps search engines understand the structure and hierarchy of the site.
3. Reading and Analyzing:
Crawlers read the content of each page, including text, images, and metadata (like title tags, meta descriptions, and alt text).
4. Indexing (Post-Crawling Process):
After crawling, relevant content is indexed (stored in the search engine’s database). Indexed pages are then evaluated and ranked for search queries.
Your page can be crawled but not indexed. Web crawling bot is selective. It won’t store everything they have seen in the index for search. There is a way to find out how many pages of your website are indexed by Google – input “site: your domain” and search on Google.
Importance of crawling in SEO:
Content Discovery: Crawling ensures search engines find new or updated pages on your site.
SEO Rankings: If a page isn’t crawled, it won’t be indexed, and thus won’t appear in search results.
Link Equity: Crawlers analyze internal linking structures, distributing link equity (SEO value) across your site.
Site Performance: Regular crawling helps search engines detect site issues (like broken links) and evaluate site health.
Factors Affecting Crawling:
1. Robots.txt File:
This file directs crawlers on which pages to crawl or avoid. Misconfigurations can block important pages.
2. Sitemaps:
XML sitemaps provide a roadmap of your website, helping crawlers efficiently discover and prioritize pages.
3. Internal Linking:
Good internal linking ensures crawlers find all important pages. Orphan pages (pages without links) are hard for crawlers to discover.
4. Site Speed:
Fast-loading pages encourage more thorough crawling, while slow sites may cause crawlers to abandon the process.
5. Duplicate Content:
Crawlers may skip duplicate content, affecting crawl efficiency. Use canonical tags to point to the preferred version.
6. URL Structure:
Clean, simple URL structures are easier to crawl and understand.
Best Practices for SEO Crawling:
- Submit a Sitemap to Google Search Console.
- Optimize Internal Linking to ensure deep pages are accessible.
- Use Robots.txt carefully to avoid accidentally blocking essential content.
- Fix Broken Links and redirect dead URLs.
- Update Content Regularly to prompt recrawling and indexing.
- Enhance Site Speed to improve crawl efficiency.
- Mobile Optimization ensures better crawling for mobile-first indexing.
Tools to Monitor and Control Crawling:
- Google Search Console (Submit sitemaps, inspect URLs)
- Screaming Frog (SEO site audits)
- Ahrefs / SEMrush (Site crawling reports)
- Robots.txt Tester (Google tool to check robots.txt directives)
In short, crawling is the gateway to visibility in search engines. By optimizing your site for efficient crawling, you improve the chances of higher rankings and better organic traffic.