Understanding SEO Fundamentals: What is Crawlability?

Are you striving to outperform your competitors in the digital realm?

In that case, having a foundational grasp of technical SEO is imperative.

Naturally, crafting exceptional and pertinent content for your website is vital.

Recapping the Role of a Crawler

Like the formidable Google, a search engine comprises three essential components: a crawler, an index, and an algorithm.

The crawler is the initial link in this chain. It tirelessly traverses the web, ceaselessly following hyperlinks.

This process is a perpetual, 24/7 endeavor. When a crawler encounters a website, it captures the HTML version and deposits it into an immense index database.

This index undergoes regular updates when the crawler revisits your website and encounters a new or revised version. The frequency of these visits depends on Google's assessment of your website's importance and the frequency of alterations you make.

Fun tidbit: A crawler uses various names, including robot, bot, or spider. Google's crawler is often known as Googlebot.

Diving Deeper into Crawlability

Crawlability concerns the extent to which Google can navigate and explore your website. Significantly, you can obstruct crawlers on your site. When you block a website or a specific page, you inform Google's crawler: "Do not venture here." Consequently, your site or page will typically be omitted from search results.

So, how does one go about blocking crawlers? Several factors can impede Google from crawling (or indexing) your website:

Robots.txt File

If your robots.txt file bars the crawler's path, Google will refrain from visiting your website or the specified web page.

HTTP Header

Before the crawl, the crawler scrutinizes your page's HTTP header containing a status code. If this code indicates that the page does not exist, Google will bypass the crawl.

Robots Meta Tag

On specific pages, the robots meta tag can discourage search engines from indexing them. While Google will still crawl these pages, it will not include them in its index.

Keen to Explore Crawlability Further?

While crawlability constitutes a fundamental aspect of technical SEO, it may appear intricate to many. However, grasping the concept is pivotal. Unintentional blocking of crawlers can hinder your site from achieving high rankings on Google. Therefore, if you are committed to SEO success, crawlability should be significant in your strategy.