Ensuring that search engines can efficiently crawl and index your website is a crucial part of SEO success. At teclan, we take a strategic approach to optimising crawl depth and indexing, making sure that important pages are prioritised while avoiding wasted crawl budgets on unnecessary content.
Understanding Crawl Depth & Indexing
- Crawl depth refers to how many clicks it takes to reach a page from the homepage. The deeper a page is buried in a website’s structure, the harder it is for search engines to find and index it.
- Indexing is the process by which search engines add pages to their database. If a page isn’t indexed, it won’t appear in search results, no matter how well it is optimised.
A well-structured site should have key pages accessible within three clicks to ensure they are crawled and indexed efficiently.
Optimising Crawl Depth & Indexing
A combination of site structure improvements, internal linking, and technical SEO strategies to make sure search engines can efficiently discover, crawl, and rank our clients’ web pages.
1. Improving Site Architecture
A flat and logical site structure makes it easier for both users and search engines to navigate.
Our approach includes:
- Keeping important pages within three clicks from the homepage.
- Use clear and concise navigation menus.
- Implementing breadcrumb navigation to help search engines understand the site hierarchy.
2. Strengthening Internal Linking
Internal links guide search engines to important pages and distribute authority across the site:
- Add contextual internal links within relevant content.
- Link to high-priority pages from frequently crawled pages.
- Identify and fix orphaned pages (pages without internal links).
3. Managing Indexing with Robots.txt & Meta Tags
Not every page on a website needs to be indexed. To control which pages search engines crawl:
- Use robots.txt to block unnecessary pages (e.g., login pages, admin areas).
- Add noindex tags to low-value pages (e.g., thank-you pages, duplicate content).
- Implement canonical tags to prevent duplicate content issues.
4. Optimising XML Sitemaps & Crawl Budget
A well-maintained XML sitemap ensures search engines can find and prioritise the right pages:
- Regularly update and submit XML sitemaps in Google Search Console.
- Exclude unnecessary pages from sitemaps to focus the crawl budget on valuable content.
- Monitor crawl errors & indexing issues and fix them proactively.
5. Regular Indexation Audits & Content Pruning
To keep a website’s index clean and relevant:
- Conduct regular audits to find outdated or low-performing pages.
- Remove or consolidate redundant content to improve overall site quality.
- Refresh older pages with updated content and internal links.
The Impact: Faster Indexing, Better Rankings
By optimising crawl depth and indexing, teclan ensures that search engines can efficiently find and rank the most important pages on a website.
The results?
- Improved search engine rankings for key pages.
- Faster page discovery for new or updated content.
- Better user experience with a well-structured website.
Want to optimise your website’s crawl efficiency and boost your SEO? Get in touch with teclan today!
