1️⃣ What Google Can Index (Supported File Types) #
Google can index most common file types, but content discoverability depends on accessibility.
✅ Indexable File Types:
- HTML / XHTML (Best for SEO)
- Text files (.txt)
- PDFs (Make them searchable — text, not images of text)
- Images (JPG, PNG, GIF, WebP — optimized with alt text)
- Videos (MP4, WebM — provide captions, transcripts, and video schema)
- Office docs (DOCX, XLSX, PPTX — better converted to HTML for SEO)
❌ Non-Indexable (or problematic) formats:
- Content locked behind logins/paywalls (unless you use structured data for paywalls)
- Some dynamic Flash/Silverlight (deprecated)
- Canvas-based text without HTML fallback
2️⃣ URL Structure & Best Practices #
A clear, logical URL structure improves both crawling and CTR.
💡 Best Practices:
- Keep URLs short, descriptive, keyword-rich
Example:
✅ example.com/digital-marketing/seo-guide
❌ example.com/page?id=345&cat=7 - Use hyphens (-), avoid underscores (_).
- Maintain consistent lowercase URLs.
- Avoid duplicate URLs (use canonicalization).
3️⃣ Sitemaps – Your Website’s Index Map #
Sitemaps guide Google to priority pages.
- XML Sitemap → Main crawl map for bots.
- Image Sitemap → For galleries, portfolios, or e-commerce images.
- Video Sitemap → For video-heavy sites (include duration, thumbnail).
- News Sitemap → For news publishers (faster indexing).
💡 Tips:
- Submit sitemap in Search Console.
- Keep sitemaps under 50,000 URLs or 50MB each.
- Update sitemaps when content changes.
4️⃣ Crawl Management #
Googlebot discovers content via links + sitemaps + redirects.
You can control where it spends its energy.
🔍 Key Topics:
- Request Recrawl → Use URL Inspection Tool.
- Faceted Navigation → Avoid endless URL combinations (?sort=, ?filter=) — block unnecessary variations via robots.txt or canonical.
- Crawl Budget Optimization (For large sites)
- Prioritize important pages in sitemaps.
- Block low-value pages (like search results, cart pages).
- Prioritize important pages in sitemaps.
- Fix Crawl Errors (404, 500, DNS) quickly.
5️⃣ Controlling Access with Robots & Indexing #
🛠 Tools:
robots.txt → Controls crawling (not indexing).
Example:
User-agent: *
Disallow: /private/
- Meta Robots Tag → Controls indexing (noindex, nofollow).
- Canonical Tags → Merge duplicate URLs to one preferred version.
- hreflang Tags → Manage language versions.
6️⃣ Mobile, JavaScript & AMP #
- Mobile-First Indexing → Google indexes the mobile version of your site first.
✅ Use responsive design. - JavaScript SEO
- Ensure important content loads in HTML or is rendered server-side.
- Test with Google’s URL Inspection Tool.
- Ensure important content loads in HTML or is rendered server-side.
- AMP Pages
- Optimized for speed.
- Must be linked from canonical version.
- Optimized for speed.
7️⃣ Links & Link Attributes #
- Crawlable Links → Use <a href=”URL”> not onclick JavaScript.
- Outbound Links
- rel=”nofollow” → Paid/untrusted.
- rel=”sponsored” → Paid promotion.
- rel=”ugc” → User-generated content.
- rel=”nofollow” → Paid/untrusted.
8️⃣ Removals & Privacy Control #
- Remove Content from Search (Search Console → Removals Tool).
- Block Sensitive Data (robots.txt, noindex, or password-protect).
- Redacted Information → Never rely on robots.txt alone.
9️⃣ Site Moves & Changes #
- Redirects
- Permanent (301) → Link equity passes.
- Temporary (302) → For short-term moves.
- Permanent (301) → Link equity passes.
- Full Domain Moves
- Prepare redirects.
- Submit “Change of Address” in Search Console.
- Prepare redirects.
- A/B Testing
- Use canonical or noindex on test variants.
- Use canonical or noindex on test variants.
- Site Pauses
- Use proper HTTP 503 for temporary downtime.
🔟 Key Google Tools for Crawling & Indexing #
- Google Search Console (Index coverage, URL inspection, sitemaps)
- Rich Results Test (For structured data validation)
- PageSpeed Insights (Performance)
- Mobile-Friendly Test
- robots.txt Tester
💡 Golden Rule:
- Crawling is Google discovering your content.
- Indexing is Google storing it for search.
- Both require clear, accessible, high-quality pages.
| Topic | Description / Key Point |
| File types indexable by Google | Google can index most common file types (HTML, PDFs, images, videos, etc.). Check supported file types for better indexing. |
| URL structure | Organize URLs logically, keep them human-readable, and avoid unnecessary parameters. |
| Sitemaps | Submit XML, image, video, or news sitemaps to help Google discover and prioritize pages. |
| Crawler management | Control how Googlebot crawls your site for efficiency and performance. |
| Ask Google to recrawl URLs | Use Search Console’s URL Inspection tool to request re-indexing of updated pages. |
| Managing crawling of faceted navigation URLs | Avoid duplicate URL combinations from filters/sorting using canonical tags or robots.txt. |
| Large site owner’s guide to crawl budget | For sites with millions of URLs, optimize crawl budget by prioritizing key pages in sitemaps and blocking low-value ones. |
| HTTP status codes & errors | HTTP codes (200, 301, 404, 500) and DNS/network errors affect indexing; fix promptly. |
| Google crawlers | Googlebot (desktop, mobile) and other specialized crawlers fetch pages for indexing. |
| robots.txt | File that tells search engine crawlers which URLs or files to crawl or avoid. |
| Canonicalization | Set a preferred (canonical) URL for duplicate or similar content to consolidate SEO signals. |
| Mobile sites | Optimize for mobile-first indexing; Google primarily uses mobile version for ranking. |
| AMP | Accelerated Mobile Pages for fast-loading, mobile-friendly pages. Must be properly linked. |
| JavaScript | Ensure JS-rendered content is crawlable and indexable (server-side rendering preferred). |
| Page & content metadata | Use valid HTML to add meta tags (title, description, robots, etc.) to help search engines understand content. |
| All meta tags Google understands | Includes title, description, robots, noindex, nosnippet, etc. |
| Robots meta tag & X-Robots-Tag | Control indexing or snippet display with meta tags or HTTP headers. |
| Block indexing with noindex meta tag | Prevent a page from appearing in Google Search. |
| Make your links crawlable | Use HTML <a> links; avoid JS-only navigation. |
| Qualify outbound links | Use rel=”nofollow”, rel=”ugc”, or rel=”sponsored” for certain outbound links. |
| Removals | Use Search Console to remove outdated or unwanted pages or media. |
| Control what you share with Google | Use robots.txt, noindex, or password protection to manage visibility. |
| Remove images from Search | Block or remove unwanted images via Search Console or robots.txt. |
| Keep redacted info out of Search | Use secure removal methods to avoid sensitive info appearing in results. |
| Redirects & Google Search | Use proper 301 or 302 redirects for moved pages. |
| Site moves | Use “Change of Address” tool in Search Console for domain migrations. |
| Minimize A/B testing impact | Use canonical tags or noindex to prevent duplicate indexing of test pages. |
| Pause or disable website | Use HTTP 503 for temporary downtime to avoid SEO damage. |