Crawling is the process where search engine bots, also called spiders, scan websites to discover new or updated pages. These crawlers follow links and sitemaps to collect information about each page so it can later be stored in the search engine index.
Quick Overview of Crawling
| Aspect | Details |
|---|---|
| Definition | Process of bots scanning websites to find pages |
| Agents | Search engine crawlers like Googlebot |
| Purpose | To discover and understand new or updated content |
| Method | Following links and XML sitemaps |
| Next Step | Indexing |
How Crawling Works (With Example)
Crawling is the first step in how search engines work. Bots like Googlebot move from one page to another by following internal and external links. They also read XML sitemaps that webmasters submit to guide them.
For example, if Scholar247 publishes a new article on “What is Organic Traffic?”, Googlebot will eventually crawl that page by following links from the sitemap or related pages. Once discovered, the page is analyzed and prepared for indexing.
Crawling is important because if a page is not crawled, it can never appear in search results.
FAQs on Crawling
1. What is the role of a crawler?
A crawler scans web pages and gathers information to help search engines decide what to index.
2. How can I improve crawling of my site?
By submitting a sitemap, fixing broken links, and using proper internal linking.
3. Can crawling be blocked?
Yes, by using robots.txt or meta tags like noindex.