Crawling and Indexing
One of the common questions in the SEO community is how often to crawl websites and the time it takes for the new content to index and appear in the search results. Well, crawling and indexing vary depending on different factors, with the average crawl time anywhere from 3 days to 4 weeks. Over 200 elements are used by the Google algorithm in ranking websites. Googlebots collect these factors from each site during the Google Crawl process and consider them when filed in Google’s index.
It is common knowledge that the quicker the sites are crawled and indexed, the faster they are served to users in organic search. Therefore, optimising sites for frequent crawling is advised. With the ever-growing tendencies of the web, web crawlers are used by Google to discover and find each website’s data and have it appropriately filed in the library. When Google has indexed your site, it is added to the rankings for the words in your content.
As a website owner, crawling rates are important in helping you make better and more informed decisions. The exact formula for Google’s algorithm may need clarification, but improving crawlability and frequent indexing correlate with enhanced organic searching.
How Crawling Works
Google uses the information on your website to determine where content is relevant and how it is useful to its users. So, finding out what pages exist on the web is one of the first steps. There is a central filing system for all the online web pages, but Google has its own index and is constantly searching for new pages to add to it. This uncovering of new pages is what is referred to as crawling.
While some pages have been crawled previously and known to Google, new pages may not be easily acknowledged and will be discovered in the following two ways;
- Google following a link from a known page to a new page
- Where the owner submits a list of pages for crawling
After Google has discovered a page, it will attempt to understand its content, analyse the images catalogued and videos studied, and get to know the intentions of the pages and their relevance in a process referred to as indexing.
How Frequently Does Google Crawl Websites?
The general knowledge is that the crawling of URLs occurs at different rates. Crawling and indexing can happen overnight for some websites, while others, particularly small or newly established sites, can wait months to index.
Your site’s popularity, crawlability, and structure are some factors that influence how and when your site is crawled. Older websites mainly have established domain authority, several backlinks, and a strong foundation of quality content. As such, they are likely to be crawled more often than new ones.
How Can You Get Google to Crawl Your Website?
Crawlers encounter many new pages and sites daily. Hence, every page can’t be crawled. For this reason, Google uses its tools wisely to determine which pages to crawl and which can wait. If your page has errors and a negative user experience, bots will be less inclined to crawl. Where Google bots cannot access, read, or find relevance in your content, crawlability and usability are usually compromised.
Research indicates that while there is no exact formula for website indexing, consistency can boost your crawl rate. Hence, adjusting your website accordingly encourages Google to crawl your site more often. Here are some things to do to improve your crawlability rate:
1. Check for errors and usability problems:
Ensure that you use the search console, check for problems in usability or connectivity and fix them to improve the crawlability of your pages.
2. Update your website regularly:
When you update your website regularly, Google understands this as a signal that your site is still active and allows bots to learn more about it. An extensive, well-linked sitemap with fresh content encourages bots to interact with new pages and crawl them more frequently for new information.
3. Earn links:
Google usually follows sites with inbound links from a known site to a new site and collects further information. Inbound links indicate to Google the authority your site and content have, hence a vote of confidence from one site to another.
4. Technical SEO:
Ensure that you take care of the technical aspects of your content to improve the crawlability of your site. You can make crawling easier when you write clear and concise titles, use short URLs, and improve your page speed.
Conclusion
Overall, website crawling and indexing are critical for search engines to organise and retrieve information from the vast web. They enable search engines to provide accurate and relevant search results while benefiting website owners by increasing their visibility, attracting traffic, and supporting SEO Adelaide efforts.
