Google Crawler: A Key to Successful SEO
If you're working with SEO, you might be familiar with terms such as crawlers, index and landing pages, among others. What does Google index indicate for ranking pages, and what role does the crawler play?
Before we dive any deeper, let's understand in simple terms.
What is Google Crawler?
The Google Crawler (also called the search engine bot or the spider) is a program that is used by Google and other search engines to crawl the Web.
In simple words, it crawls from one page to another on the web. Every search engine has its own set of crawlers. Google currently has 15 different crawlers; however, the main crawler is called Googlebot. It completes both the tasks of crawling and indexing.
How Does Google Crawler Function?
There is no central registry of URLs maintained by Google (or any other search engine) which is updated whenever a new page is created. This indicates that Google is not alerted to every new page. It has to find them on the web.
Once Googlebot identifies a new page, it renders (visualises) the page. These details are stored in the search engine's database.
Factors that Influence Crawler's Behaviour
Googlebot's behaviour might seem chaotic; however, such is not the case. Sophisticated algorithms help crawlers navigate through web traffic. Many believe sharing the content or information on the site is enough. However, one needs to work efficiently to ensure getting discovered by the crawler.
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Interlinks and Backlinks
Googlebot will periodically check your main pages if it already knows your website. That’s why you should link to the latest pages on the authoritative pages of your website.
You can improve your homepage, with a block that would feature the latest news or posts. This would help Googlebot to identify the new page more quickly.
Google will crawl your page faster if it is linked to some credible and popular external page. Hence, backlinking will help you enhance your reach.
Click Depth
Click depth refers to how many clicks or steps the crawler needs to take to reach a page. Ideally, it should take three clicks to reach a homepage. However, if your website requires more than three clicks, it will be an unpleasant user experience.
Sitemap
Although it is not guaranteed that Google will use a sitemap, having one can guide Google. It can make crawling and indexing easy for Googlebot as it also indicates if the latest pages are added to the website.
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When Will the Page Come Up in the Search?
Your page will not appear in search immediately after you make the website live. Googlebot will need some time to find the page. In some cases, it might take up to 6 months for Google to discover your page.
The crawl budget is the number of resources Google disburses on crawling your website. The more resources Googlebot optimises to crawl your website, the slower it will appear in the results.
Crawl budget allocation is based on the following factors:
Website Popularity. The more prevalent a website is, the more crawling points Google is keen to spend on its crawling.
Update Rate. The more frequently you update your pages, the more crawling aids your website will get.
The Number of Pages. The more pages you have, the larger your crawling budget will be.
Server Capacity to Handle Crawling. Your hosting servers must be capable of responding to crawlers’ requests on time.
Things to Keep in Mind
Include user-friendly URLs
Avoid content duplication on the website.
To conclude, Googlebot works with sophisticated algorithms; however, you must ensure that your website is easy to navigate. Follow the standards of SEO and effectively optimise the website with Google.
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