7 ways to improve SEO crawl budget. How to get sitelinks in Google Search?

In today’s highly competitive digital landscape, optimizing your website’s crawl budget is essential for maximizing visibility in search results and attracting organic traffic. A well-managed crawl budget ensures that search engine bots efficiently crawl and index your site’s most important pages, leading to improved search engine rankings and increased chances of getting sitelinks in Google Search. In this comprehensive guide, we will explore seven effective ways to improve your crawl budget and discuss the best practices for securing sitelinks in Google Search results. By following these strategies, you can significantly enhance your website’s performance, drive more traffic, and boost user engagement. So, let’s dive in and discover how to optimize your site’s crawl budget and reap the benefits of prominent sitelinks in Google Search.

Optimize Site Structure and Internal Linking

A well-structured site enables search engine bots to crawl and index your pages more efficiently. Organize your content in a hierarchical manner with clear categories and subcategories. This not only improves the user experience but also helps search engines understand your site’s architecture and prioritize pages for indexing. Here are some key points to consider when optimizing your site structure:

Plan your site hierarchy before creating content. This will help you maintain a logical structure that is easy for both users and search engines to navigate.

Use descriptive and concise titles for your categories and subcategories. This helps search engines better understand the context of your pages and makes it easier for users to find relevant content.

Limit the number of main categories and ensure that each category has a sufficient number of subcategories or pages. This prevents your site from becoming too cluttered and difficult to navigate.

Use breadcrumbs to help users navigate your site and show search engines the hierarchy of your pages. This can also increase the likelihood of sitelinks appearing in search results.

Develop a strong internal linking strategy that connects related pages and helps spread link equity across your site. This can improve your site’s overall SEO performance and increase the chances of your pages being crawled and indexed.

Keep Your XML Sitemap Update

An XML sitemap is a roadmap for search engine bots to crawl your website. It lists all the important pages on your site and provides metadata, such as the last modification date and priority, which helps search engines determine which pages to crawl and index. Ensuring that your sitemap is up to date can significantly improve your crawl budget by providing clear directions for bots to follow. Here’s how to keep your XML sitemap updated:

Regularly audit your site for new, updated, or removed content. Whenever you add or remove a page, update your sitemap accordingly.

Exclude low-quality or duplicate content from your sitemap. Including such pages can waste your crawl budget and lead to search engines crawling less important pages.

Prioritize high-quality and frequently updated content in your sitemap by assigning higher priority values. This can help search engines focus on crawling and indexing your most valuable pages.

Submit your updated sitemap to Google Search Console regularly, especially after major site updates or changes. This ensures that Google is aware of your sitemap and can use it to guide its crawlers.

Break down large sitemaps into smaller ones if your site has a significant number of pages. This makes it easier for search engines to process them and can lead to more efficient crawling and indexing. Ensure that your sitemap index file accurately references all the individual sitemaps.

By optimizing your site structure and internal linking, and keeping your XML sitemap updated, you can significantly improve your crawl budget. This will help search engines discover and index your content more effectively, ultimately improving your site’s visibility and performance in search results.

Improve Page Loading Speed

Slow-loading pages can negatively impact your crawl budget as search engine bots may abandon them before completing the crawl. To improve page loading speed, consider implementing the following optimizations, with examples from the SEO industry:

Optimize images and videos: Compress images and use the right file format (e.g., WebP or JPEG) to reduce file sizes without sacrificing quality. For instance, Moz, an SEO software company, recommends using tools like ImageOptim, TinyPNG, or Kraken.io to optimize images.

Enable browser caching: By caching static resources, you can reduce the number of requests made to your server, thus improving page load times. Yoast, a leading SEO plugin developer, suggests leveraging browser caching by setting appropriate cache-control headers for different file types.

Use a content delivery network (CDN): CDNs can help distribute your content across multiple servers around the world, reducing latency and improving page load times for users. Leading SEO agency, Ahrefs, has mentioned the benefits of using CDNs like Cloudflare or Amazon CloudFront to optimize website performance.

Minify HTML, CSS, and JavaScript files: Minification removes unnecessary characters and spaces from your code, reducing file sizes and improving load times. Google’s PageSpeed Insights, a popular website performance tool, recommends using minification tools like UglifyJS for JavaScript and CSSNano for CSS.

Consider using server-side rendering (SSR) or pre-rendering for dynamic content: SSR and pre-rendering can help improve page load times by generating static HTML pages for dynamic content. For example, popular JavaScript framework React provides server-side rendering options, which have been widely discussed by SEO experts, including those at Moz and Yoast.

Fix Crawl Errors and Broken Links

Crawl errors, such as 404 pages or server errors, can waste your crawl budget by directing search engine bots to non-existent pages. Regularly check Google Search Console for crawl errors and fix them promptly. Additionally, use tools like Screaming Frog or DeepCrawl to identify and repair broken internal and external links. Here’s how to handle crawl errors and broken links more effectively:

Identify and fix server errors: Server errors, such as 500 Internal Server Error or 503 Service Unavailable, can prevent search engine bots from crawling and indexing your site. Monitor your server logs and use Google Search Console to detect server errors and fix them as soon as possible. Top SEO agencies, like Search Engine Watch and Search Engine Journal, have discussed the importance of addressing server errors to maintain optimal website performance.

Consolidate thin or low-quality content: If your website has multiple pages with thin or low-quality content, consider consolidating them into a single, comprehensive page. This can help reduce crawl errors and improve your site’s overall content quality. For example, prominent SEO expert Brian Dean of Backlinko recommends using the “skyscraper technique” to create in-depth, high-quality content that outperforms competing pages.

Regularly audit your site for crawl errors and broken links: Conduct periodic site audits using tools like Screaming Frog, Sitebulb, or DeepCrawl to identify and fix crawl errors and broken links. SEO professionals, including those at Moz and Ahrefs, have emphasized the importance of regular site audits to maintain website health and improve crawl budget.

Eliminate Duplicate Content

Duplicate content can confuse search engine bots and consume your crawl budget unnecessarily. To address this issue, consider the following strategies:

Use canonical tags: Canonical tags inform search engines which version of a page is the original or preferred one, helping prevent duplicate content issues. For example, SEO expert Rand Fishkin, formerly of Moz, has discussed the importance of using canonical tags to consolidate link equity and improve search engine rankings.

Implement 301 redirects: If you have multiple URLs for the same content, use 301 redirects to point all variations to the preferred version. This helps consolidate link equity and prevent search engines from indexing duplicate content. Leading SEO software company SEMrush has provided guides on properly implementing 301 redirects to resolve duplicate content issues.

Leverage the “noindex” tag: Use the “noindex” meta tag for low-value pages, such as thank you pages or user profile pages, to prevent them from being indexed and consuming your crawl budget. Leading SEO plugin developer Yoast has discussed the appropriate use of “noindex” tags to manage crawl budget and improve overall site performance.

Optimize Mobile Responsiveness

With mobile-first indexing, Google prioritizes the mobile version of your website when determining crawl budget. Ensure that your site is mobile-responsive by implementing the following optimizations:

Use responsive design: Responsive design allows your website to adapt its layout to different screen sizes and devices, providing an optimal user experience. Prominent SEO expert Neil Patel has discussed the importance of responsive design in improving search engine rankings and user engagement.

Optimize images for mobile devices: Compress images and use the right file format to reduce file sizes for faster loading on mobile devices. In addition, consider using responsive images with the “srcset” attribute to provide the most appropriate image size based on the user’s device. Leading SEO agency, Stone Temple, has provided a comprehensive guide on optimizing images for mobile devices.

Employ mobile-friendly navigation: Ensure your site’s navigation is easy to use on mobile devices by using clear, concise labels and implementing touch-friendly elements, such as large buttons and dropdown menus. Renowned SEO expert, Barry Schwartz of Search Engine Roundtable, has emphasized the significance of mobile-friendly navigation for both user experience and search engine performance.

Minimize pop-ups and intrusive interstitials: Google penalizes websites that use intrusive pop-ups or interstitials on mobile devices, as they can disrupt the user experience. Instead, opt for less intrusive alternatives, such as banners or slide-in forms. Search Engine Journal, a leading SEO publication, has covered Google’s guidelines on mobile pop-ups and interstitials to ensure better user experience and avoid ranking penalties.

Test your site for mobile-friendliness: Use Google’s Mobile-Friendly Test tool to check if your site meets mobile responsiveness criteria. The test provides recommendations on areas of improvement to enhance your site’s performance on mobile devices. SEO professionals, like those at Moz and Ahrefs, have recommended regular mobile-friendliness testing to maintain optimal website performance.

By eliminating duplicate content, optimizing mobile responsiveness, and addressing crawl errors and broken links, you can significantly improve your crawl budget and the overall performance of your website. This will ultimately lead to better visibility and rankings in search results, driving more organic traffic to your site and enhancing user engagement.

Monitor and Control Crawl Rate

Monitoring and controlling your site’s crawl rate is essential for optimizing your crawl budget and ensuring efficient indexing by search engines. Here are some steps to effectively monitor and control your crawl rate:

Analyze your server logs: Regularly review your server logs to identify the frequency and depth of search engine bot visits. This can help you determine if your site is being crawled too often or not often enough. SEO professionals, including those at DeepCrawl and Botify, have stressed the importance of server log analysis for understanding search engine crawling behavior.

Use Google Search Console: Google Search Console provides valuable insights into your site’s crawl rate, crawl errors, and the number of pages indexed. Regularly monitoring these metrics can help you identify issues affecting your crawl budget and make necessary adjustments. Top SEO experts, such as Brian Dean of Backlinko and Neil Patel, have shared comprehensive guides on using Google Search Console to monitor and optimize crawl rates.

Adjust crawl rate settings: In some cases, you may need to limit the rate at which Googlebot crawls your site, especially if your server resources are limited or your site experiences traffic spikes. You can use the “Crawl Rate” setting in Google Search Console to request a custom crawl rate. However, it’s important to note that Google may not always adhere to your requested rate. Search Engine Watch, a leading SEO publication, has provided detailed information on adjusting crawl rate settings in Google Search Console.

Optimize site performance: Improving your site’s performance, such as page loading speed and server response time, can have a positive impact on your crawl rate. As search engine bots can crawl your site more efficiently, they are likely to allocate a larger crawl budget to your site. SEO experts at Moz and Ahrefs have published guides on optimizing site performance for better crawl rates and overall search engine rankings.

Monitor changes and impacts: After implementing any changes to your site’s structure, performance, or crawl rate settings, monitor the impact on your crawl budget and search engine rankings. This will help you determine if your adjustments are effective and identify areas for further improvement. Renowned SEO agencies, like Siege Media and Distilled, recommend regular monitoring and analysis to maintain optimal crawl rates and maximize search engine performance.

By closely monitoring and controlling your crawl rate, you can ensure that search engine bots crawl and index your site efficiently, leading to better visibility and performance in search results. This, in turn, can drive more organic traffic to your site and improve overall user engagement.

In summary, optimizing your crawl budget is crucial for ensuring efficient indexing by search engines and improving your site’s visibility in search results.

To improve your crawl budget, consider the following recommendations:

1.       Optimize your site structure and internal linking for easy navigation and better understanding by search engine bots.

2.       Keep your XML sitemap updated with accurate information about your site’s pages to guide search engine crawlers.

3.       Improve page loading speed by optimizing images, enabling browser caching, using a CDN, and minifying code.

4.       Fix crawl errors and broken links by addressing server errors, redirecting broken URLs, and creating custom 404 pages.

5.       Eliminate duplicate content using canonical tags, 301 redirects, and “noindex” meta tags.

6.       Optimize your site’s mobile responsiveness with responsive design, mobile-friendly navigation, and minimal intrusive pop-ups or interstitials.

7.       Monitor and control your crawl rate using server log analysis, Google Search Console, and adjusting crawl rate settings.

By implementing these strategies, you can significantly improve your crawl budget, leading to better search engine performance and increased organic traffic to your site. Regular monitoring and adjustments will help you maintain optimal crawl rates and maximize your website’s visibility in search results.