Let’s face it, when you invest time, energy, and resources into your website, you want to know it’s being noticed, especially by Google. Whether you’re a blogger, an e-commerce business, or any other type of website owner, understanding Google’s crawling behavior on your site isn’t just an SEO footnote—it’s critical.

Why? Because it directly influences how your website ranks in search results. This guide aims to be your go-to resource for understanding how to check if Google is crawling your site, why it’s important, and what actions you should take if you find that it’s not.

We’ll dive into the technical aspects without jargon, provide real-world examples, and give you actionable advice you can use right away.

How to Quickly Confirm Google Crawling

Sometimes you just need a quick answer. If that’s you, Google Search Console is your friend. Specifically, its URL Inspection Tool can immediately tell you the last time Google crawled a certain URL, any crawling issues, and whether the page is indexed. If you’re eager for a deep dive, though, continue reading. We’re about to explore more ways, including manual methods, to make sure you’re entirely confident in your data.

Google Crawling: An Essential Primer

Imagine Google as a librarian who’s always scanning new books and updates to existing ones. In this analogy, your website is like a book, and Googlebot is the librarian’s assistant who skims through your site to update the catalog. This process—known as crawling—helps Google understand the content and structure of your site.

Why is this so crucial? Without crawling, Google won’t know that your pages exist, much less what’s on them. This means your hard work goes unnoticed in Google’s index, and you miss out on organic search traffic.

Now, what can prevent Googlebot from crawling your site? Maybe you’ve accidentally blocked the bot in your robots.txt file, or perhaps essential pages are hidden behind a password-protected area. Googlebot also has to cope with technical issues like server errors or poor connectivity, which can interrupt the crawling process.

Proven Ways to Verify Google’s Crawling Activity

Google Search Console: The Gold Standard

Google Search Console (GSC) is not just a tool; it’s a goldmine of information about how Google interacts with your website. To get started:

  1. Log in to your GSC account.
  2. Go to the “URL Inspection” section in the left-hand menu.
  3. Type in the URL you’re curious about.
  4. The ensuing dashboard will tell you the date of the last crawl, any errors Googlebot encountered, and whether the page is indexed or not.
Not indexed
Indexed

Why is this method so reliable? Because you’re getting information directly from the source: Google itself.

Log File Analysis: The Tech-Savvy Method

Cloudways access log

For those comfortable with a bit more technical legwork, log file analysis can be incredibly illuminating. Here’s how:

  1. Get your log files from your hosting service or in-house tech team.
  2. Use software like Excel or specialized log file analyzers to process the data.
  3. Filter the logs to isolate Googlebot activity.

This method isn’t for everyone, given its technical nature, but it offers the benefit of seeing exactly what Googlebot does when it visits your site.

Utilizing Third-Party Tools: An Additional Lens

Suppose you want another layer of assurance. In that case, third-party tools like Semrush Log File Analyzer can be beneficial, offering different viewpoints on crawling activity.

  1. Import your log files into the tool.
  2. The software will interpret the data, showing you when Googlebot last visited and how frequently it does so.

The Site: Query in Google: Quick but Less Reliable

Lastly, a quick Google search can provide a rough idea. Type site:yourwebsite.com into Google’s search bar. If your site appears in the search results, it indicates some level of crawling and indexing by Google.

However, this method isn’t as reliable as the others because it only shows what’s already been indexed, not what Google has recently crawled.

Use site:yourwebsiteurl
You can verify the cached page and when it was last cached
You can check the date and time it was cached by Google

Troubleshooting: What If Google Isn’t Crawling?

If you find that Google hasn’t been paying attention to your site, don’t despair. Here are some steps to follow:

  1. Use Google Search Console’s URL Inspection Tool to “Request Indexing” for a specific URL.
  2. Ensure your sitemap is updated and submitted via Google Search Console.
  3. Craft quality, link-worthy content that others would naturally want to link to, which invites more frequent crawling.

Final Thoughts and Additional Resources

You’ve just taken a comprehensive journey through the world of Google crawling. You know why it’s vital, how to confirm it, and what steps to take if things aren’t going as planned.

Armed with this information, you’re well-equipped to make data-driven decisions that can positively impact your website’s performance in search rankings. For those looking to dive even deeper, here’s a list of further reading and tools that can broaden your understanding.