As SEO professionals, we know the first thing that comes to mind when ranking a website. It’s crawlability.
So, in this blog post, we’ll define and explain crawlability, Indexability, and the difference between them. We’ll also discuss crawlable links, five factors that affect crawlability, and what makes a link easier to crawl. After this, we’ll wrap up the post with frequently asked questions (FAQs).
So, let’s get started
What Is Crawlability?
Crawlability determines how easily search engines can discover, interpret and index a website’s content. It is essential for optimizing your online visibility as it allows search engine bots to locate, read and store all elements of any page – from text to images or videos.
What Is Indexability?
Indexability refers to a search engine finding and crawling all the content on a website, ensuring they are correctly indexed in Google’s database. The more crawlable your website is, the easier it is for a search engine to find and index your content.
What Are Crawlable Links?
Crawlable links have been added to a page that search engines can follow and index. They are essential because they allow search engine bots to discover and understand a website’s content.
However, there are two types of crawlers: Desktop and Mobile crawlers. The mobile crawler will crawl the website as if it were a mobile device while the Desktop Crawler will crawl the website as if it were a user on a desktop.
In both cases, Google ensures that the content is optimized for a good user experience.
Five Things That Effect Crawlability
Redirects
Crawl errors are usually caused by incorrect redirection of search engine bots to the wrong page or when a misconfigured redirect chain prevents them from accessing web pages.
Redirects can be one of the leading reasons for such issues, so it is essential to ensure they are correctly configured to avoid any problems.
Site Structure
Sites with a complex structure can be difficult for search engine bots to crawl. A site should be organized so that it is easy to navigate and makes sense to the crawler.
Furthermore, a responsive design will ensure that your website is updated with all the latest changes and can be accessed from any device.
Server Errors
Server errors can also cause crawlability issues, as they can prevent search engine bots from crawling your website. However, here are the most common server errors to look out for:
- DNS errors
- Access denied errors
- HTTP status code errors
- Website downtime due to server overload
- Incorrect URL syntax.
So, whatever might be the issues, It is essential to fix them as soon as possible so they do not interfere with crawlability.
Unsupported Scripts
It’s critical to understand which scripts are compatible and which aren’t before including them on your website, as unsupported scripts can hinder search engine bots from indexing and crawling appropriately.
For instance, crawlers cannot follow forms, so it is necessary for this sort of thing to be taken care of properly since a lack thereof could cause crawlability issues.
Bad Internal Linking structure
A wrong internal linking structure will affect crawlability, making it harder for the crawler to access certain pages on your website. A good internal link structure should lead the crawler to where you want them to go without taking too many steps or having too much repetition.
Now that we know what makes the crawlability process difficult, let’s find out what makes the crawlability of links easier.
What Makes Links Easier To Crawl?
Create a Sitemap
A sitemap is a must if you want to ensure that search engine bots accurately and swiftly crawl your website. By including links to all the pages on your site on it, the bots can immediately identify where they need to start indexing content.
There are two types of sitemaps – HTML and XML Sitemap- equally important for achieving optimum performance results with SEO optimization efforts.
Increase Internal linking
We Always ensure that the internal linking structure of your website is well-structured and organized. This helps search engine bots crawl quickly from one page to another, As well as users, which helps with indexing and ranking.
Increase External Linking
These links help to demonstrate the high quality of your website’s content. They can also be used to direct search engine bots to be relevant and high-quality pages off of your site.
High-quality external links can increase crawlability, showing that your website has good content and is worth crawling.
Regularly Add Fresh Content
Adding new and relevant content to your website can help boost crawlability. Google’s Search engine bots like it when they have something new to crawl, showing that the website is up to date and being maintained.
Therefore, regularly adding fresh content increases the chances of crawling and helps you keep your website updated and relevant.
Avoid Duplicating content
Google is smart enough to detect duplicate content, which can be a massive problem for your website. It’s essential to avoid this with the major search engines, as it can result in a penalty or an overall decrease in rankings.
Duplicate content affects crawlability and can hurt your SEO efforts, as search engines constantly look for original and unique content when crawling websites. Avoid duplication to keep your crawlable links and website in good standing.
Tools For Crawlability
It’s essential to use the right tools for crawlability. While there are several free and paid options available, here are some of the most popular ones that you should consider:
Google Search Console
Google provides a valuable tool for monitoring and resolving any crawl ability-related issues, allowing you to check your website’s indexing status and overall crawlability. With this powerful resource, it is simple to ensure that all of your web pages are easily accessible and indexed
This highly effective tool crawls your website and helps you pinpoint any possible problems hampering the crawling process. It provides a comprehensive breakdown of web crawling, indexing issues, broken links and other errors. Even more features come with the paid version!
FAQs
Q1. What Is A Crawl Budget?
A. Craw Budget is the time a search engine bot spends crawling your website on each visit. It’s important to remember that search engine bots have a limited time to crawl your website, so optimizing the crawlable links to get the most out of their visits is essential.
Q2. Should I Use Nofollow Links?
A. Nofollow links can be beneficial in certain circumstances, such as when you’re linking to a page you don’t want indexed or if the page is of poor quality. However, as a general rule, it’s best to use dofollow links, as this will help to boost crawlability.
Q3. How Often Should I Update My Website?
A. It is essential to regularly update your website, as this helps with both crawlability and boosts your SEO efforts. Updating your website as often as possible with new and relevant content is recommended.
Final Thoughts
Now as you know the importance of crawlability, you can take the necessary steps to ensure that your website is optimized and crawlable. The more crawlable links are on your website, the better it will be crawled and indexed in search engine result pages.
Still if your site is facing any issues in crawling, feel free to leave your questions in the comment section. We will be happy to answer you.
Thanks for reading 🙂
