How Long For Google to Crawl Site?

Whether you built a brand-new website or you’re updating an older one, waiting for Google to crawl and index your carefully crafted content can be frustrating. I understand that feeling.

You publish something you’re proud of and then wait for Google’s crawlers to find it faster. The good news is that there are steps you can take to speed up the process, especially by tracking down and fixing those “orphan pages” and refining your internal link structure.

In this guide, I will cover:

• What web crawling is and why Google does it.
• How orphan pages occur and the ways they can hold your site back.
• Key points, including internal linking, that help Google crawl your site faster.
• Two real-life examples: one site with strong internal linking and another that suffers from a disorganized structure, leading to slow crawling.
• Practical steps you can apply to help your pages get noticed quickly.

Feel free to jump to the FAQ at the end if you want quick answers, but I promise that reading through the guide is helpful.

Why Crawling Matters and Why Google Does It

What is Crawling?

“Crawling” is the process by which Google (and other search engines) systematically search for new and updated content across the web. Google’s dedicated software, commonly known as “Google bot,” moves from link to link, collecting information from each page to build a vast index – much like a librarian gathering books to record in a catalog.

Why Does Google Crawl Pages?

1. Content Discovery Google wants to provide relevant answers to people’s questions. For that, it needs to know what web pages are available. Crawling is how Google finds new or recently updated pages.
2. Keeping Information Up to Date By crawling regularly, Google aims to ensure that the results reflect current, accurate information. Pages that are no longer valid may be removed or updated, so users don’t receive outdated details.
3. Building the Index The index is essentially Google’s enormous memory of web pages. Crawling keeps that memory current. Without crawling, new sites or fresh content would never appear in search results.

Simply put, if you want your website to show up in Google’s search results, it needs to be crawled and indexed. Slow or infrequent crawling might mean waiting weeks for your pages to appear, or worse, some pages might never be seen.

Factors That Help Google Crawl Your Site Successfully

Based on my experience, certain core aspects dictate how easily Google can access, understand, and include your content in search results.

Strong Internal Linking: Internal links act as signposts. When your key pages are linked from your homepage or main hub pages, Googlebot can move easily through your site. It’s the difference between a well-lit corridor and a confusing maze.

XML Sitemaps: Sitemaps are machine-readable lists of your URLs. Submitting one to Google Search Console makes sure important pages aren’t overlooked, especially on larger or more complex sites.

Site Architecture: A clear and logical structure – a hierarchy that moves from broad categories to specific pages – makes it easier for both users and crawlers. Keeping pages within a few clicks from the homepage generally speeds up discovery.

Regular Content Updates: Websites that frequently refresh with new, relevant material tend to be crawled more often. Google sees these sites as active and worth revisiting.

Site Speed and Performance: Although other factors count, how fast your site loads can affect how efficiently Googlebot moves through your pages. The quicker your site responds, the more pages Google-bot can process in a single session.

Minimal Technical Obstacles: Broken links, misconfigured robots.txt, or recurrent server errors can delay or block crawlers. If Googlebot frequently encounters issues, it may not return as often.

Orphan Pages and The Hidden Problem

Definition and Overview

An orphan page is a page on your site that isn’t linked internally from anywhere else in your content. Think of it like a lone wolf: it exists, but visitors and crawlers cannot reach it through the site’s normal navigation.

There are two common reasons for their existence:

• New Pages: A page is created but isn’t linked from the current content.
• Site Updates: A change in navigation or structure can break old links, leaving some pages isolated.

Why Orphan Pages Hurt

• Reduced Crawl Efficiency: Without internal links pointing to them, these pages are often missed by crawlers. If Google doesn’t find them, they don’t get included in the index.
• Wasted Content: Great content may go unseen if it isn’t connected within your site.
• User Experience: Many sites hide quality content simply because it isn’t properly linked. This leaves both visitors and Google without a clear path to that material.

Orphan Pages vs. Dead-End Pages

To clarify, orphan pages have no internal links coming in, whereas “dead-end” pages might have some inbound links but no links leading further into your site. Both are problematic, but orphan pages are usually more harmful because they remain completely undiscovered within your site.

Examples of The Good and the Bad

Example 1: SwiftPaws

• Overview: SwiftPaws is a theoretical online pet supplies store with a clear internal navigation system. They link all categories from the homepage and ensure new products are referenced in related blog posts.
• Crawl Frequency: With a well-organized navigation and a regularly updated XML sitemap, Google tends to revisit them often. New product pages show up in search results in just a few days.
• Site Speed: They optimize images and keep scripts to a minimum, resulting in consistently fast loading times. This efficiency encourages frequent crawling.

Example 2: OldTown News

• Overview: OldTown News is a fictional local newspaper site. Once strong a decade ago, it never updated its linking structure. Many older articles have no internal links at all.
• Crawl Frequency: Because of multiple dead or poorly linked pages, Google rarely spends time recrawling the site, and some new articles remain unindexed for weeks.
• Site Speed: The site suffers from uncompressed images, slow hosting, and outdated scripts. This leads to poor user experiences and a crawler that often times out.

From these two extremes, you can see that careful planning in site structure and speed optimization has a clear impact on how effectively Google finds and indexes your pages.

How to Find Orphan Pages

The first step to fixing an orphan page is identifying it. Here are four useful methods:

1. Use a Crawler: Tools like Screaming Frog or Sitebulb let you scan your domain. Compare the crawler’s list of discovered URLs to your sitemap or analytics data. Any URLs missing from the crawler’s list might be orphan pages.
2. Review Analytics: In Google Analytics or similar tools, look for pages that receive traffic but aren’t part of your usual navigation. If a page isn’t discovered by the crawler yet gets visits, it might be orphaned or severely under-linked.
3. Search Console Check: Google Search Console’s Coverage report (under “Pages”) sometimes lists pages that appear in the index but aren’t found during a full site crawl. These could be orphan pages.
4. Compare with Your Sitemap: If your published sitemap includes pages that never show up in a complete crawl, that’s an indicator that those pages lack internal links.

A helpful tip is to maintain a table comparing “Pages found in crawl” versus “Pages in analytics” versus “Pages in sitemap.” This can quickly highlight any orphan pages.

Here’s an example table illustrating the idea:

( “Possibly” indicates that further investigation is needed due to factors like a redirect or a new link discovery.)

Strategies to Fix and Prevent Orphan Pages

Integrate Orphans into Internal Linking

• Find suitable anchor text within existing pages. For example, if you have an orphan page about “Baking Vegan Desserts,” add a link to it in your related “Vegan Recipes” or “Cooking Tips” posts.
• Consider linking to it from multiple relevant pages if it carries valuable content.

Improve Navigation

• For larger sites, updating the main menu or category structure can automatically include new content.
• A “Recent Articles” or “What’s New” section can also help ensure that every new page is easily accessible.

Update or Remove Outdated Content

• If an orphan page is no longer relevant, unpublish it or set up a 301 redirect to a more appropriate page. This is important for old promotions or outdated announcements.

Use CMS Tools or Plugins

• Many content management systems, like WordPress, offer plugins that add new posts to category pages or recommended reading sections automatically. This minimizes the possibility of orphan pages forming.

Regular Audits

• Run site crawls on a regular basis. Monitor your analytics to catch any orphan pages early on.

Improve Internal Link Depth

• Aim for every important page on your site to be reachable within about three clicks from the homepage. This not only prevents orphan pages but also improves the overall user experience.
• Consider using automated internal linking, you can get this with tools like SEO.AI.

Frequently Asked Questions

Here is the most common questions about site crawling.

How do I know which orphan pages are worth keeping?

Review them based on their relevance, traffic, and distinct value. If a page still offers useful information, connect it with internal links. If it no longer fits your current objectives, consider removing or redirecting it.

Can a page have a few internal links and still be considered orphaned?

An orphan page is defined as one with no links from within your site. However, if a page only has a single link tucked away in an old post, it might function almost like an orphan because it receives little attention.

Does a page have to be brand new to be orphaned?

Not at all. Pages can become orphaned over time if the site structure changes or if older internal links are removed or broken. It’s even possible to have orphan pages from several years ago.

Can orphan pages ever help SEO?

Usually not. In rare cases, if there’s a private landing page you don’t want to appear in search results, you might deliberately avoid linking to it. In that situation, it’s essential to add a “noindex” tag so search engines do not get confused.

Does fixing orphan pages directly affect site speed?

While improving orphan pages may reduce overall site complexity, the direct impact on speed is minor. However, cleaning up outdated sections, like old PDFs or high-resolution images, can lead to better load times.

Is cleaning up orphan pages a one-time task or an ongoing process?

It should be ongoing. Whenever you add new content or make changes to your site, double-check for orphan pages. Regular audits will help keep your site well connected.