The unnecessary resources consumed by bots when crawling unimportant or duplicate content.
Why Crawling Overhead Matters
Crawl overhead is a crucial part of a website’s technical health. A search engine’s crawler has a finite amount of time and resources to crawl a site. If a large percentage of this budget is spent on crawling irrelevant or low-quality pages, your most important pages like your homepage, product pages, or cornerstone content may not be crawled or re-crawled as often as they should be. This can lead to a long delay in indexing new content and a failure to re-index important updates to existing pages. A well-optimized website is one that uses its crawl budget efficiently, ensuring that all its important pages are rendered and indexed.
Across Different CMS Platforms
The management of crawling overhead is a technical SEO strategy that can be applied to any CMS.
WordPress
WordPress users can easily manage their crawling overhead by using a good SEO plugin like Yoast SEO or Rank Math. These plugins can help you to set a page to “noindex” or to manage your sitemap, which is a great way to tell a search crawler which pages to ignore.
Shopify
In Shopify, effectively managing crawling overhead is vital for any e-commerce store. The platform offers robust SEO tools that allow you to optimize your titles, meta descriptions, and on-page content efficiently.
Wix
Wix has a streamlined, user-friendly system, but you can still optimize for crawling overhead. The platform’s built-in SEO tools make it easy to manage your titles, meta descriptions, and on-page content.
Webflow
Webflow gives you granular control over your website’s design and code, which is perfect for a sophisticated SEO strategy. You can use it to create a perfectly structured page that is optimized for a specific keyword or set of keywords.
Custom CMS
With a custom CMS, you have the most control but also the most responsibility. You can build a system that automatically tracks and analyzes your SEO performance and provides your content creators with data-driven insights.
Across Different Industries
The way you use crawling overhead will depend on your industry and your goals.
E-commerce
E-commerce sites often have thousands of pages, so a a large number of duplicate URLs can be a major problem. It is crucial to use a canonical tag to ensure that all your product and category pages are properly indexed and that link authority is passed correctly.
Local Businesses
Local businesses can use a normalized URL to manage a change of address or a change in services. This is the most reliable way to ensure that your local search rankings are not harmed.
SaaS Companies
SaaS companies can use a normalized URL to manage a change in their pricing or features page. This is the most effective way to ensure that your marketing pages are properly indexed and that link authority is passed correctly.
Blogs
Blogs often have a large number of pages, so a a large number of duplicate URLs can be a major problem. It is crucial to use a canonical tag to ensure that all your articles are properly indexed and that link authority is passed correctly.
Dos and Don’ts of Crawling Overhead
- Use a clear, hierarchical site structure: A logical site structure makes it easy for search crawlers to find and index your content.
- Use a canonical tag: This is the gold standard for SEO. It is a clear, unambiguous signal to a search engine that a page has a preferred URL.
- Use a 301 redirect for a permanent move: This is the most effective way to pass link authority from an old page to a new one.
- Avoid a deep, messy site structure: A lack of a clear structure can lead to a lower indexation rate and a loss of organic traffic.
- Avoid a JavaScript-only menu for your core content: This is the number one mistake and can lead to a significant portion of your content being invisible to search engines.
- Avoid blocking search engines from crawling your JavaScript files: A search engine needs to access your JavaScript to properly render the page.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
- Failing to use a clear, hierarchical site structure: This can confuse a search engine and a user.
- Ignoring a user’s intent: A keyword should be used with a user’s intent in mind.
- Focusing on short-tail keywords alone: Long-tail keywords are often easier to rank for and can be a great source of organic traffic.
FAQs
How does crawling overhead affect a website’s crawl budget?
Crawling overhead affects your crawl budget because a search engine has a finite amount of time and resources to crawl your site. If a search engine crawler spends too much time on low-value pages, it may not get to your most important content.
What is the difference between crawling overhead and crawl budget?
Crawl budget refers to the number of pages a search engine will crawl in a given period. Crawling overhead is the time and resources that a search engine’s crawler spends on tasks that do not directly involve crawling new, unique content. Crawling overhead can lead to a lower crawl budget.
How can I reduce my website’s crawl overhead?
You can reduce your website’s crawl overhead by identifying and fixing issues like duplicate content, broken links, and redirect chains. You should also use a robots.txt file to tell a search crawler which pages to ignore.
What is the difference between a 301 redirect and a 302 redirect?
A 301 redirect is a clear, unambiguous signal to a search engine that a page has moved permanently. A 302 redirect is a good way to tell search engines that a page has moved temporarily.
Can a website with a low crawl budget still rank?
Yes, a website with a low crawl budget can still rank. The key is to create high-quality, in-depth content that is relevant to a user’s search intent.
