What is Google crawling and indexing?

Most internet users are roughly familiar with the work of Google and its associated search engine.

The intricacies and techniques behind the scenes, however, are rather unknown.

This includes, above all, crawling and indexing.

Source: Google

This article explains what these terms mean and why they are so important to you.

What is behind crawling and indexing?

Crawling and indexing are measures that Google uses to catalog websites on the internet.

Source: Google

Basically, Google searches the entire internet.

Accordingly, the data that Google collects is extensive.

Crawling is the basis for Google's search index.

In this document, the search engine operator records the most important information about the websites that the crawler has searched.

Billions of websites are now listed in this index.

According to Google, the index is now over 100,000,000 gigabytes in size.

Source: Google

How do crawling and indexing work?

During crawling, Google analyzes the content of a website.

In this process, the company looks for specific factors that Google considers crucial.

These include keywords and the recency of the page.

Google uses two types of crawlers.

These are a computer crawler and a mobile crawler.

The computer crawler simulates a normal desktop PC.

The mobile crawler accesses the website in the way a user would see it on a smartphone.

Both proceed systematically and open all accessible pages of a URL, just as a user would in a browser.

Google enters the information collected from a website into its index.

This indexing process is based on keywords.

Google's search engine then accesses the index.

It is therefore the basis for the search results when you search for a specific term using Google.

What are the goals of crawling and indexing?

For Google, crawling and indexing are methods to recognize the content of websites.

Based on the information that Google collects, the company creates results for search queries.

Google delivers the results on the SERPs based on the collected data.

Through complete automation and the use of algorithms, Google is able to catalog the entire internet.

This has long been impossible to do manually.

What is the significance of these Google techniques?

Crawling and indexing are important for you as a website operator.

The results of this process determine whether users find your content via Google or not.

This also affects the position where your website appears in the SERPs.

It is therefore in the interest of every website owner that Google has unimpeded access to their site.

How can you use crawling and indexing to your advantage?

Those who know and understand Google's algorithms can use crawling and indexing for their own purposes.

This takes place within the framework of Search Engine optimization.

Those who optimize their website for crawling have a better chance of landing among the top positions on Google's SERPs.

This, in turn, leads to more traffic, more interactions with users, and increased sales for your online shop.

With the right methods and an understanding of Google's algorithm, you can increase the reach of your website.

Those who specifically prepare their website for Google crawling benefit from these advantages:

• Google captures all desired content
• Faster indexing of the website for search results
• better placement on Google's SERPs
• Positioning of news, videos, or images on the relevant Google search pages

Preparing your website optimally for crawling and indexing

Although crawling and indexing are automated processes that Google performs directly, you have the ability to influence them.

To achieve optimal results, it is important to have the necessary experience in this area.

This gives every website operator the opportunity to influence Google's indexing process.

This works through content management.

This allows you to determine which pages Google indexes and how.

A distinction is made here between a passive approach and a proactive management approach.

What does a sitemap have to do with crawling and indexing?

The Sitemap This is one of the active measures you can take to influence Google's crawling.

A sitemap is comparable to a city map.

It provides information about the structure of the website and how the individual pages are linked together.

The sitemap is a standardized file that Google uses to get an overview of the website.

The sitemap is simply placed in the main directory of the website.

It contains various pieces of information about the website's content.

These include:

• Links to the subpages
• Further information in news articles, such as title and date of publication.
• For images, the topic, the type of image file, and the license terms are important.
• For videos, the category, an age rating, and the video's runtime are specified.

This data makes it easier for Google to index your website.

Furthermore, a more precise collection of information is possible.

This applies particularly to videos, images, and news.

Google then lists it in detail on the corresponding SERPs.

Some CMS systems are able to create such an XML sitemap themselves.

Examples include WordPress and Blogger.

For other sites, you have to create the sitemaps yourself.

Alternatively, we can take over from MIC Group will gladly do this for you.

The role of Google Search Console for crawling and indexing

As an additional step to placing the sitemap in the main directory, the use of Google Search Console is recommended.

For the Search Engine optimization Their use is necessary anyway.

There you will find many other helpful and necessary functions.

When you add new content to your website, it will not initially appear in Google's search results.

First, Google's crawler must find and index this content.

With the passive approach, an unknown amount of time passes before the crawler visits your website.

However, if you update your sitemap and forward it to Google, the new content will be indexed immediately.

This means they also appear more quickly in Google's SERPs.

This is particularly important for articles about current events.

Follow these five steps to update your sitemap via Google Search Console:

• Open Google Search Console or first create an account
• Open the "Property" item in the left-hand menu.
• Navigate to «Index > Sitemaps»
• Enter the name of the updated sitemap
• Send