Thread by @semrush

Hi, I'm Katherine, and I'm doing a Semrush Twitter takeover today on all things #Crawl Depth.

Follow this thread to learn:
▪︎ What does crawl depth mean
▪︎ Why it's important and
▪︎ How to improve crawl depth on your website
@Ka3rne #SEOthread

Crawl/click depth refers to the number of links it takes to reach a page from your homepage.
From the starting point, your homepage is ground 0. Pages linking from the homepage have a depth of 1. Other pages linking from the "1" pages have a depth of 2& so on. @Ka3rne #SEOthread

So, Why Is Crawl Depth Important?

User Experience
Let's say a first-time visitor lands on your homepage looking for SHOES.

If they have to dig through several links to find that category, there are chances they'd get frustrated and even abandon your site.

@Ka3rne #SEOthread

2. Crawling & Indexing of Important Pages

Search engines have limited time to spend on your website. As a result, buying key pages deep within your site isn't a good idea.

Why?

▪ It signals that the pages are less important
bit.ly/3LDN6m1.

@ka3rne #SEOthread

▪︎ Such pages may be crawled and indexed less often (excluding where they’re discovered in XML sitemaps, other indexed content, or the GSC URL inspection tool)

@Ka3rne #SEOthread

➡ What's a Good Crawl Depth?
A rule of thumb is that your important pages should be reached within 3 clicks or less.

If it's more than that, there's a possibility that crawlers may not easily discover the pages (besides the exceptions I mentioned earlier).

@Ka3rne #SEOthread

➡️ Finding Crawl Depth Issues

Semrush has a tool that allows you to see your page crawl depth.

Here's how to check it:
- Run a crawl using Semrush’s Site Audit tool
- Go to the Crawlability report
- View the Pages Crawl Depth section.

@Ka3rne #SEOthread

➡️ Reducing Your Crawl Depth

1. Improve Your Site's Navigation

Having navigation menus that allow you to link directly to category pages, sub-categories, and product pages could help cut down your click depth, especially on large sites.

@Ka3rne #SEOthread

What to keep in mind for your Nav menu:
- Prioritize high-value categories, subs, & products
- Choose a navigation menu (e.g, mega menus) that factors in the user's journey, the number of pages on your site's page, & industry standards.
- Add breadcrumbs

@Ka3rne #SEOthread

2. Step Up Your Internal Linking Game

Solid link architecture helps to reduce the number of links it takes to reach all your pages.

Some ideas that can help:

- Find linking opportunities within the Internal Linking report in Semrush's Site Audit tool

@Ka3rne #SEOthread

- Link important pages with high click depth to your level 1 or 2 pages.
- Cross-link pages that are under different categories but have similar or complementary features.
- Ensure those links are crawlable.

@Ka3rne #SEOthread

3. Add a HTML Sitemap
An HTML sitemap includes links to all your site's pages, from top-level pages to deeper ones.

Because it appears on your homepage footer & throughout your website, HTML sitemaps can reduce the clicks it takes to reach your pages.

@Ka3rne #SEOthread

Keep in mind that you'll likely not need an HTML sitemap if you have good navigation and internal linking like John Mueller mentioned here: bit.ly/39PTIAu.

@Ka3rne #SEOthread

But those aren't in place, perhaps due to errors or ongoing fixes, HTML sitemaps can come in handy.

There you have it on what to know about Crawl depth!
@Ka3rne #SEOthread