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What does crawl-delay mean in robots.txt?
The crawl-delay directive in a robots.txt file is used to specify the amount of time a search engine crawler or bot should wait between successive requests to your website. This delay helps to control the crawling rate and prevent your website from being overwhelmed by excessive requests from crawlers, which could potentially slow down or crash your server.
The crawl-delay value is specified in seconds and is typically used with a specific user-agent. Here’s an example of how to set a crawl-delay of 10 seconds for Googlebot:
User-agent: Googlebot
Crawl-delay: 10
In this example, the crawl-delay directive tells Googlebot to wait for 10 seconds between requests to your site. Keep in mind that not all search engines interpret or follow the crawl-delay directive, and some may have their own mechanisms for controlling crawl rate.
It’s important to be cautious when setting a crawl-delay, as setting it too high may result in your website being crawled less frequently, which could negatively impact your site’s visibility and indexing in search results. In most cases, you should only use the crawl-delay directive if you’re experiencing server load issues due to search engine crawlers.
What does crawl-delay: 10 mean in robots.txt?
In a robots.txt file, Crawl-delay: 10 is a directive that tells search engine crawlers or bots to wait for 10 seconds between successive requests to your website. This is used to control the crawling rate and prevent your website from being overwhelmed by excessive requests from crawlers, which could potentially slow down or crash your server.
How to get Google to recrawl my website?
To get Google to recrawl your website, you can follow these steps:
Submit your sitemap to Google Search Console: If you haven’t already, submit your website’s XML sitemap to Google Search Console. This helps Google discover your website’s structure and pages more easily.
Request indexing for individual pages: In Google Search Console, you can request indexing for individual pages if you’ve made significant changes or added new content:
Log in to your Google Search Console account.
Select the appropriate property (website) from the dropdown menu.
In the left-hand sidebar, click on “URL inspection.”
Enter the URL of the page you want Google to recrawl in the search bar and press Enter.
Once the URL inspection is complete, click on “Request Indexing.” Google will add the URL to its crawl queue.
Note that this method should be used sparingly for important pages or significant updates, as Google has a limit on the number of indexing requests you can make.
Update your sitemap: Whenever you make significant changes to your website, update your XML sitemap to reflect the new content or changes. Most SEO plugins or sitemap generators will automatically update your sitemap as you add or remove content.
Build high-quality backlinks: Earning high-quality backlinks from authoritative websites can encourage Googlebot to recrawl your site more frequently. Create valuable content that other websites will want to link to and engage in outreach or guest posting to build backlinks.
Share your content on social media: Sharing your website’s content on social media platforms can increase its visibility and potentially attract Googlebot to recrawl your site.
Please note that Googlebot prioritizes crawling based on factors like website authority, content quality, and update frequency. While the above steps can encourage Google to recrawl your site, it’s ultimately up to Google’s algorithms to determine how often your website is crawled and indexed.
Isaac Adams-Hands is the SEO Director at SEO North, a company that provides Search Engine Optimization services. As an SEO Professional, Isaac has considerable expertise in On-page SEO, Off-page SEO, and Technical SEO, which gives him a leg up against the competition.
