Crawlability refers to how easily search engine bots (and AI system crawlers) can access, navigate, and index the content on your website. Good crawlability is essential for content discovery.
Factors affecting crawlability:
- Robots.txt configuration
- XML sitemap accuracy
- Internal linking structure
- JavaScript rendering
- Server response times
- URL accessibility
- Redirect chains
Crawlability for AI systems:
- AI crawlers need access to build knowledge
- Blocked content won't be cited by AI
- Fast, accessible sites get crawled more thoroughly
- Clear structure helps AI understand content
Common crawlability issues:
- Blocked by robots.txt
- JavaScript-dependent content
- Infinite URL parameters
- Slow server responses
- Broken internal links
- Orphan pages with no links
Ensuring crawlability means both search engines and AI systems can discover and understand your content.