Best Practices for Managing Googlebot’s Crawl Rate
Google recently issued a warning against using 4xx HTTP status codes, except for 429, as a means of rate limiting Googlebot’s crawl rate. As per the post, using these HTTP status codes can harm a website’s search engine ranking, and it’s suggested that website owners use other methods instead.
Google has issued a recommendation for website owners to avoid using 4xx HTTP status codes, with the exception of 429, for controlling Googlebot's crawl rate. These status codes, typically signaling client-side errors like "not found" or "forbidden," can negatively impact a site's search engine ranking if misused. Instead, Google suggests employing alternative methods for managing crawl rates, as these errors are primarily meant to indicate incorrect client requests rather than server issues. The 429 status code is an exception because it specifically denotes too many requests, which can be a valid response to rate limiting.Tips for Managing Googlebot Crawl Rate
- Utilize Google Search Console: Adjust crawl rate settings directly through Google Search Console for a more precise approach.
- Robots.txt File: Implement rules in your robots.txt file to instruct Googlebot on which pages to crawl or avoid.
- Structured Data and Sitemaps: Ensure your site’s structured data and XML sitemaps are up-to-date to guide efficient crawling.
- Server Performance: Regularly monitor your server performance to ensure it can handle crawl requests without needing to rate limit.
FAQs
- Why should I avoid using 4xx status codes for rate limiting?
- Using 4xx status codes, other than 429, for rate limiting can mislead search engines and negatively impact your site's ranking, as these codes are intended for client-side errors.
- What is the recommended method for controlling crawl rates?
- Google suggests using Google Search Console to manage crawl rates. Additionally, optimizing your site structure and server performance can naturally help manage crawl frequency.
- Can 429 status codes be used for rate limiting?
- Yes, the 429 status code is designed to indicate too many requests, and its use for rate limiting is acceptable.
According to Google, the 4xx errors sent to clients are a signal from the server that the client’s request was incorrect in some way. Most of the errors in this category, like “not found” errors and “forbidden,” do not suggest any problem with the server itself. The exception to this is the 429 error, which indicates that the server is receiving too many requests and needs to slow down.
Using 4xx HTTP status codes to limit Googlebot’s crawl rate is not recommended, as it can harm search engine optimization (SEO) efforts. All 4xx HTTP status codes, except for 429, can cause a website’s content to be removed from Google Search. Furthermore, if the robots.txt file is also served with a 4xx HTTP status code, Googlebot will treat it as if it doesn’t exist.
The best way to manage Googlebot’s crawl rate is to use Search Console to temporarily reduce the crawl rate or return a 500, 503, or 429 HTTP status code to Googlebot when it’s crawling too fast. Google has extensive documentation on how to reduce Googlebot’s crawl rate and how different HTTP status codes are handled.
Website owners should avoid using 4xx HTTP status codes, except for 429, as a means of rate limiting Googlebot’s crawl rate. Instead, they should use other recommended methods to manage Googlebot’s crawl rate to avoid harm to their website’s search engine ranking.
