Google analyst Gary Illyes warns website owners to be cautious if Google aggressively crawls their site, as it may indicate underlying issues. Illyes advises not to celebrate prematurely if search engines start crawling excessively, as it could be due to infinite spaces or website hacks.
Infinite spaces, such as calendar modules or filterable product listings, can lead to a crawl spike if not managed properly. Illyes recommends using the robots.txt file to prevent crawlers from accessing these areas. Additionally, hacked sites can also cause a crawling frenzy if spam is injected by hackers. Illyes suggests treating unexpected crawl increases as a potential problem until the root cause is identified.
For hacked sites, Google provides a video guide on recovering from security breaches. The process involves identifying and fixing vulnerabilities, cleaning pirated content, strengthening security measures, and requesting a review from Google to remove security warnings.
Google’s John Mueller offers additional tips on recovering from the SEO impact of hacked pages, including using the URL removal tool and focusing on improving overall site quality. Lingering impacts from security breaches can persist for months until Google regains trust in the site.
Website security is crucial for all businesses, as security breaches can affect trust and search engine rankings. Illyes emphasizes the importance of addressing sudden crawl spikes, as they could indicate security breaches or technical issues that require immediate attention.
Overall, website owners should be vigilant and proactive in monitoring their site’s crawl activity to detect and address any potential security threats or technical issues promptly.
Article Source
https://www.searchenginejournal.com/is-google-crawling-your-site-a-lot-that-could-be-a-bad-sign/520188/
