How to Request Google to Recrawl Your Site: A Complete Guide

In the ever-evolving world of SEO, having Google recrawl your site is essential to maintaining and improving your website's performance in search engine rankings. Whether you've made significant updates, fixed technical issues, or launched new content, getting Google to recrawl your site ensures that these changes are recognized and indexed quickly.

But how do you ask Google to recrawl your site? This guide will walk you through the various methods, best practices, and tips for getting your site recrawled, helping you maximize your SEO efforts.

Why Would You Want Google to Recrawl Your Site?

Before diving into how to request a recrawl, it’s essential to understand why you’d want Google to revisit your site in the first place. There are several scenarios where a recrawl is necessary:

Site Updates: If you've made significant changes to your website's design, structure, or content, Google must take these updates into account.
New Content: Adding new pages, blog posts, or products you want to be indexed immediately.
Fixed Errors: If your site has technical issues, such as broken links or crawl errors, and you've fixed them, a recrawl ensures Google recognizes the improvements.
Improved SEO: If you’ve implemented new SEO strategies, such as optimizing for new keywords, you’ll want Google to index these updates quickly.
Recover from a Ranking Drop: If your site experienced a sudden drop in rankings due to algorithm updates or technical errors, getting Google to recrawl may help you recover faster.

Requesting a recrawl after these changes can help ensure that your SEO efforts are reflected in search engine results pages (SERPs) as soon as possible.

How Does Google Crawling Work?

Google uses crawlers (often called Googlebot) to discover and index new or updated content on the web. When Googlebot crawls your site, it follows links and reads content to understand your site's relevance and authority for specific search queries. The more efficient and frequent the crawling, the quicker Google can update your site’s appearance in search results.

However, not all websites are crawled at the same rate. Your site's size, content freshness, and authority influence how often Googlebot visits. While Googlebot usually handles crawling automatically, it’s beneficial to prompt a recrawl manually in some instances.

How To Ask Google to Recrawl Your Site

There are several ways to ask Google to recrawl your site, and your chosen method depends on your changes. Below are the most effective techniques to prompt Google to revisit your site.

‍

Use Google Search Console's URL Inspection Tool

Google Search Console (GSC) is the primary tool for communicating with Google about your website. One of its most valuable features is the URL Inspection Tool, which allows you to request a recrawl of individual URLs.

Steps to Request a Recrawl Using the URL Inspection Tool:

Log in to Google Search Console and select the website property you want Google to recrawl.
In the left-hand sidebar, click on "URL Inspection."
Enter the URL of the page you’ve updated or added in the search bar, and hit Enter.
After Google retrieves the current index status of the page, click "Request Indexing."
Google will then queue your request, and the page will be recrawled in due time.

The URL Inspection Tool is handy for submitting individual pages or small groups of pages. It’s worth noting that submitting too many URLs at once could slow down the process, so it's ideal for fresh content or essential updates on specific pages.

‍

Submit a Sitemap to Google Search Console

A sitemap is an XML file that lists all the essential URLs on your site, making it easier for search engines like Google to find and crawl your content. If you've made widespread changes to your site or launched a significant batch of new content, submitting or updating your sitemap is one of the most effective ways to prompt a Google recrawl.

Steps to Submit or Resubmit Your Sitemap:

Log in to Google Search Console and select the website property for your site.
In the left-hand sidebar, click on "Sitemaps."
Under the “Add a new sitemap” section, enter the URL for your sitemap (usually https://yourdomain.com/sitemap.xml).
Click “Submit.”

Once submitted, Google will prioritize crawling the URLs listed in your sitemap. This method ensures a broad recrawl, especially after significant updates like a new website redesign or content overhaul.

‍

Use the "Fetch as Google" Feature

The "Fetch as Google" feature in Google Search Console was a commonly used tool to request recrawls. However, it has been integrated into the URL Inspection Tool, so when you request indexing through URL Inspection, you’re essentially using the updated version of Fetch as Google. The same steps apply: submit the URL, wait for Google to retrieve the status, and request indexing.

‍

Leverage Internal Linking and Site Structure

Although it’s not a direct way to ask Google to recrawl your site, improving your internal linking can help Googlebot discover and index your updated content more effectively. Linking from high-authority pages within your site to your newly added or updated pages can speed up crawling and indexing.

How Internal Linking Helps Recrawling:

Googlebot follows links to discover new pages or updates. The more internal links pointing to a page, the more likely Google will prioritize crawling it.
A clear and logical internal linking structure helps Google understand your site's hierarchy and content, making it easier to crawl the site efficiently.

Steps to Improve Internal Linking:

Identify your most authoritative or frequently crawled pages.
Add links to new or updated content from these pages.
Use descriptive anchor text that includes relevant keywords.

‍

Build High-Quality Backlinks

Building external backlinks from other high-authority websites to your updated content can encourage Google to recrawl your site. When Googlebot crawls a site and finds a link to your content, it may follow that link, helping to speed up the recrawling process.

Steps to Build Backlinks for Recrawling:

Contact bloggers, journalists, or website owners in your industry and ask them to link to your updated or new content.
Share your updated content on social media and content platforms to increase visibility and encourage backlinks.
Create valuable, shareable content that naturally attracts links, such as infographics, research, or in-depth guides.

While building backlinks is a long-term SEO strategy, it can also help to bring Google's attention to updated pages you want to be recrawled.

Best Practices for Encouraging Regular Crawls

Even though requesting a recrawl can speed up the process after updates, making your website crawl-friendly is always a good idea. Following these best practices can encourage more frequent and efficient crawls over time:

Ensure Your Site Loads Quickly: Site speed is a critical factor influencing how often Google crawls your site. Slow websites can limit crawl frequency and depth. Use tools like Google PageSpeed Insights to monitor and improve your site's performance.
Fix Crawl Errors: Use Google Search Console to regularly check for crawl errors (e.g., broken links, server errors, or blocked resources). Fixing these issues ensures Googlebot can efficiently access all the essential content on your site.
Maintain a Clean and Updated Sitemap: Make sure your sitemap is always up-to-date, listing only the most essential pages. Remove URLs that return 404 errors or have been redirected to other pages.
Use Robots.txt Wisely: The robots.txt file instructs Google which parts of your site it can or cannot crawl. Ensure that this file is configured correctly so that critical pages are not accidentally blocked from being crawled.

Create Fresh Content Regularly: Regularly adding fresh, high-quality content signals to Google that your site is active and worth revisiting often.

How Long Does It Take for Google to Recrawl a Site?

Once you've requested a recrawl, it's natural to wonder how long it will take for Google to revisit and reindex your content. The time frame varies based on several factors, such as your site's authority, the frequency of updates, and the size of the request (whether you asked Google to recrawl a single URL or an entire site).

In most cases:

Single URL submissions using the URL Inspection Tool may take a few days to a week for Google to recrawl and reindex.
Sitemap submissions for a significant site overhaul or new content could take several days to a few weeks, depending on the number of pages and the priority Google assigns to your site.

Patience is critical, but following the abovementioned best practices can help Google recrawl your site more efficiently.

Conclusion

Getting Google to recrawl your site is essential to maintaining a solid SEO strategy. Whether you’ve made technical improvements, published new content, or fixed issues affecting your rankings, ensuring Google updates its index is crucial for success. By using tools like Google Search Console, submitting sitemaps, improving internal links, and building backlinks, you can effectively prompt Google to revisit your site and keep your SEO efforts up to date.

Remember, SEO is an ongoing process, and regular maintenance will encourage frequent and effective crawls, helping your site stay competitive in search engine results pages.

Kyle Roof