Google Updates Crawl Budget Best Practices via @sejournal, @MattGSouthern

Google has updated its crawl budget guidelines, stressing the need to maintain consistent link structures between the mobile and desktop versions of websites. The post Google Updates Crawl Budget Best Practices appeared first on Search Engine Journal.

Nov 1, 2024 - 21:03

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Google Updates Crawl Budget Best Practices via @sejournal, @MattGSouthern

Google has updated its crawl budget guidelines, stressing the need to maintain consistent link structures between mobile and desktop websites.

Large websites must ensure mobile versions contain all desktop links or risk slower page discovery. The update mainly impacts sites with over 10,000 pages or those experiencing indexing issues. Link structure consistency across mobile and desktop is now a Google-recommended best practice for crawl budget optimization.

Google Updates Crawl Budget Best Practices

Google has updated its Search Central documentation with new best practices for large websites that maintain separate mobile and desktop versions.

This update specifically addresses link parity issues that may affect crawl efficiency.

Context

Crawl budget refers to the number of pages Google will crawl and index on a website within a given timeframe.

This resource allocation is important for SEO, as it determines how quickly Google discovers, crawls, and indexes new or updated content.

For large websites, efficient use of crawl budget can mean the difference between discovering new pages quickly or languishing in obscurity for weeks.

Key Changes

Google now explicitly recommends that large websites provide the same links on their mobile version as on their desktop version.

This practice helps prevent delays in the discovery of new pages.

The update highlights the importance of having consistent link structures.

Impact

This update primarily affects:

Sites with one million+ pages that update content weekly Medium-sized sites (10,000+ pages) with daily content changes Websites with significant portions of URLs marked as “Discovered – currently not indexed” in Search Console

The new guidelines reflect Google’s focus on mobile-first indexing and efficient crawling practices.

Google notes that having fewer links on mobile versions can greatly hinder the discovery of new pages, which may negatively affect a site’s visibility in search results.

Recommendations

To ensure optimal crawling efficiency, you should:

Audit your website’s mobile and desktop link structures Update sitemaps to include all important URLs Verify that critical navigation paths are accessible on mobile versions Monitor crawl stats for potential discovery issues

Consider this update a reminder that crawl budget optimization remains a top consideration for large websites.

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SEJ STAFF Matt G. Southern Senior News Writer at Search Engine Journal

Matt G. Southern, Senior News Writer, has been with Search Engine Journal since 2013. With a bachelor’s degree in communications, ...