Tracking site crawling errors is crucial for maintaining the health and visibility of your website on search engines. Here are some detailed steps to help you effectively track and address site crawling errors:
1. Use Google Search Console
Google Search Console is a free tool provided by Google that allows you to monitor your website’s performance in Google search results. You can access a dedicated section for crawl errors, which provides detailed information on URLs that could not be crawled by Googlebot.
2. Analyze Crawl Error Types
There are two main types of crawl errors: site errors and URL errors. Site errors indicate issues that affect the entire site, such as server connectivity problems, while URL errors point to specific pages with crawl issues, such as 404 errors or server timeouts.
3. Fix Crawl Errors
Once you have identified crawl errors, take appropriate measures to fix them. This may involve redirecting broken URLs, fixing server issues, updating robots.txt file, or resolving duplicate content problems.
4. Monitor Regularly
Make it a habit to check for crawl errors regularly to ensure that your website is free from any issues that may hinder search engine crawlers. Set up email alerts for critical crawl errors to stay informed in real-time.
5. Use Third-Party Tools
In addition to Google Search Console, consider using third-party SEO tools like Screaming Frog or Moz Pro to conduct in-depth site audits and identify crawl errors that may have been overlooked.