“Crawling” is a term used in the context of search engines, particularly by Google, to refer to the process of discovering and indexing web pages. Googlebot, Google’s web crawling bot, is responsible for visiting web pages, reading their content, and adding them to Google’s index so that they can appear in search results.
The Crawling Process in Steps
- Discovery: Googlebot starts by visiting a few web pages that it already knows about. These pages might be from previous crawl sessions or popular websites. On these pages, Googlebot finds links to other pages.
- Following Links: Googlebot follows the links on these pages to discover new ones. It moves from one page to another, following the interconnected web of links on the internet. This is why having a well-structured website with clear internal linking is important; it helps Googlebot navigate and find all the important content on your site.
- Reading Content: As Googlebot visits each page, it reads the content, including text, images, and other media. It also processes any HTML markup and metadata. This information helps Google understand what the page is about, what keywords it’s relevant for, and how it should be indexed.
- Indexing: After reading the content, Googlebot adds the page’s information to Google’s index. The index is a massive database that stores information about all the web pages Google has discovered. This index is what Google uses to deliver search results when users perform searches.
- Ranking: Once a page is indexed, it’s eligible to appear in search results for relevant queries. Google’s ranking algorithms determine the order in which pages are displayed on the search engine results page based on various factors, including the content’s relevance, quality, user experience, and the authority of the website.
It’s important to note that not all web pages are crawled or indexed. Googlebot has limitations on the number of pages it can crawl on a website and how often it can visit. Therefore, it’s essential to have a clear and organized website structure, utilize sitemaps, and focus on creating high-quality and relevant content to ensure that your important pages are crawled and indexed effectively.
In summary, “Google crawl” refers to the process by which Googlebot explores the internet, visits web pages, reads their content, and adds them to its index for potential inclusion in search results.