The Top 6 Best Technical SEO Tools for Website Crawling in 2023

Whether you‘re an experienced SEO professional or a website owner looking to boost your search engine rankings, having the right tools in your arsenal is essential. Technical SEO can be particularly challenging, as it involves optimizing the unseen elements of your website that impact its visibility and crawlability to search engines.

Fortunately, there are a number of powerful technical SEO tools available that can help you audit your site, identify issues, and make improvements. In this post, we‘ll take an in-depth look at the top 6 best technical SEO tools for website crawling in 2023.

What is Technical SEO?

Before we dive into the tools, let‘s quickly review what technical SEO entails. In a nutshell, technical SEO refers to optimizing the infrastructure and backend elements of a website to make it easier for search engines to crawl, index, and rank its pages. This includes factors like:

Site architecture and navigation
URL structure
Page speed and performance
Mobile friendliness
Structured data markup
Canonicalization and duplicate content
XML sitemaps and robots.txt files

Getting these technical aspects right is crucial for achieving high search engine rankings, as they directly impact how well search engine bots can access and understand your website‘s content. Poor technical SEO can lead to issues like crawl errors, indexing problems, and slow loading times – all of which can hurt your visibility in the search results.

The Importance of Website Crawling for Technical SEO

One of the key aspects of technical SEO is ensuring that search engine bots can efficiently crawl and index all the important pages on your website. Crawling refers to the process by which search engines discover and access webpages via links. Crawlers (or "spiders") follow links from known webpages to new ones, cataloging information as they go to build a searchable index.

There are several reasons why website crawling is so important for SEO:

It allows search engines to find and index new content on your site
It helps search engines understand your site structure and category hierarchy
It identifies any structural issues or crawl errors that may be preventing pages from being indexed
It provides data on how often and thoroughly your site is being crawled

Technical SEO tools that specialize in website crawling can give you valuable insights into how search engines are accessing your site and uncover any problems that need to be addressed. They can help answer questions like:

Are all my important pages being crawled and indexed?
Are there any broken links or redirect chains impeding the crawl process?
Is my site structure well-organized and easy to navigate for crawlers?
Are any pages taking too long to load or timing out?
Is my robots.txt file properly configured?

Armed with this information, you can take steps to optimize your site‘s crawlability and ensure that your content is being fully indexed and ranked by search engines. Now let‘s take a look at some of the best tools for the job.

The Top 6 Best Technical SEO Tools for Website Crawling

1. Screaming Frog SEO Spider

Screaming Frog is widely considered the gold standard when it comes to website crawling tools. This powerful desktop program simulates how a search engine crawler accesses and renders webpages, allowing you to perform extremely thorough site audits.

Some key features and benefits of Screaming Frog include:

Crawling up to 500 URLs for free (paid version is unlimited)
Generating XML sitemaps
Analyzing page titles and meta data
Finding broken links, redirects, and server errors
Identifying duplicate content and canonical issues
Extracting data with CSS path, XPath, and regex
Integrating with Google Analytics, Search Console, and PageSpeed Insights APIs

While Screaming Frog has a bit of a learning curve, it offers a wealth of configuration options and advanced crawling capabilities that make it an indispensable tool for many SEOs. Pricing starts at £149.00 per year for a license.

2. DeepCrawl

Like Screaming Frog, DeepCrawl is a comprehensive website crawler that can audit even very large and complex websites. However, as a cloud-based tool, it is more geared towards enterprise clients and may be overkill for smaller sites.

Some notable features of DeepCrawl include:

Crawling hundreds of thousands to millions of URLs
Highly customizable crawls based on URL patterns, canonicals, hreflang, pagination, etc.
Analyzing log files to identify crawled URLs and crawl budget waste
Integrating with analytics and backlink data for more insights
Detecting orphan pages, keyword cannibalization, and structured data errors

DeepCrawl‘s powerful capabilities and slick interface come at a higher price point though, with plans starting around $500/month. But for larger sites with demanding crawling needs, it can be well worth the investment.

3. Sitebulb

Sitebulb is a relative newcomer compared to tools like Screaming Frog and DeepCrawl, but it has quickly made a name for itself as one of the most user-friendly and intuitive website crawlers available. It runs from your desktop but stores crawl data in the cloud, offering a nice balance of performance and convenience.

What sets Sitebulb apart is its strong focus on providing actionable insights and reports for users of all skill levels. Some key features include:

Guided audit framework for comprehensive site analysis
Visual crawl maps to easily analyze site structure and internal linking
Detailed crawl data segmented into Issue Types like indexation status, HTTP status codes, etc.
Hints that flag specific problems and explain how to fix them
Built-in tools for analyzing page speed, mobile usability, AMP, and more

Sitebulb offers a limited free version and affordable paid plans starting at $35/month, making it a great option for small to mid-sized websites looking for an all-in-one SEO auditing solution.

4. SEMrush Site Audit

SEMrush is an industry-leading SEO toolkit that offers a full range of features for keyword research, competitor analysis, rank tracking, backlink monitoring, and more. Their Site Audit tool is a core part of the platform and provides a user-friendly way to monitor your website‘s health and crawlability.

Standout features of SEMrush‘s Site Audit include:

Checking 130+ on-site and technical SEO issues
Identifying HTTPS implementation problems
Monitoring Core Web Vitals and providing page speed recommendations
Detecting unlinked canonical URLs and pagination issues
Automated crawling on a set schedule with notifications

As part of the larger SEMrush suite, Site Audit benefits from being able to seamlessly integrate with other tools like Position Tracking and Backlink Audit for a more holistic SEO approach. Plans with access to Site Audit start at $119.95/month.

5. Ahrefs Site Audit

Ahrefs is another popular SEO platform that offers a comprehensive site crawling and auditing tool. Like SEMrush, it covers a broad range of on-page and technical SEO factors, with a particular emphasis on content quality and backlink analysis.

Some of the most useful features of Ahrefs Site Audit are:

Checking over 100 pre-defined SEO issues
Monitoring page speed and Core Web Vitals using Lighthouse data
Identifying thin, duplicate, and low-quality content
Detecting orphan pages and suggesting internal linking opportunities
Providing an overall Health Score to track your website‘s SEO performance over time

One unique advantage of Ahrefs is its massive backlink database, which can provide valuable insights into your website‘s link profile and off-site SEO efforts. Paid plans with access to Site Audit start at $99/month, with higher tiers offering more advanced features and higher crawl limits.

6. Google Search Console

Last but certainly not least is Google Search Console – a free tool provided by Google that offers a wealth of information about your website‘s performance in search results. While it may not be as comprehensive as some of the other crawling tools on this list, it does provide valuable data straight from the source.

Some key features of Google Search Console include:

Monitoring your site‘s indexing status and crawl errors
Identifying security issues like malware or hacked content
Analyzing your website‘s search traffic and impressions
Reviewing mobile usability issues and Core Web Vitals
Submitting and checking XML sitemaps
Testing and debugging structured data markup

As a webmaster, verifying your site with Google Search Console should be one of your first steps for tracking your SEO efforts and ensuring your pages are being properly crawled and indexed. It‘s an essential complement to the other tools on this list.

How to Choose the Right Technical SEO Tool for Your Needs

With so many great options available, choosing the right technical SEO tool for your website ultimately depends on your specific needs, budget, and level of expertise. Here are a few key factors to consider:

Size and complexity of your website
Your top priorities and pain points (site speed, indexation, content quality, etc.)
Ease of use and learning curve
Integrations with other tools you‘re using
Reporting and collaboration features
Pricing and scalability

For small to mid-sized websites, tools like Screaming Frog and Sitebulb offer a good balance of power and affordability. For larger enterprises and agencies, cloud-based platforms like DeepCrawl and OnCrawl may be a better fit. And for those looking for an all-in-one SEO solution, tools like Ahrefs, SEMrush, and Moz Pro provide comprehensive site auditing features as part of their broader toolkit.

Ultimately, the best approach is often to use a combination of tools that complement each other and provide a holistic view of your website‘s technical SEO performance. Don‘t be afraid to experiment with different options and see what works best for your needs.

Tips for Getting the Most Out of Your Technical SEO Tools

Once you‘ve chosen the right tools for your website, here are a few tips for getting the most value out of them:

Crawl your site regularly (at least monthly) to identify issues early and track progress over time.
Use the crawl configuration options to customize your audits and focus on specific areas of interest.
Integrate data from other sources like Google Analytics and Search Console for a more comprehensive view.
Prioritize issues based on severity and impact, and create an action plan for addressing them systematically.
Use the visualization and reporting features to communicate findings and recommendations to clients or stakeholders.
Stay up to date on the latest trends and best practices in technical SEO, and continuously optimize your auditing workflow.
Don‘t forget about the human element – while tools can identify issues, it takes knowledge and expertise to properly interpret the data and implement effective solutions.

The Future of Technical SEO Tools

As search engines continue to evolve and place greater emphasis on factors like page experience and mobile-friendliness, technical SEO tools will need to adapt and innovate to keep pace. Some notable trends and developments to watch include:

Deeper integration with Core Web Vitals and other user experience metrics
More advanced crawling capabilities for JavaScript-heavy and dynamically rendered websites
Greater use of machine learning and AI to automate issue detection and provide smart recommendations
Tighter integration with other marketing and analytics platforms for a more holistic view of website performance
More accessible and user-friendly interfaces for non-technical users

Regardless of how the tools evolve, one thing is clear – having a strong technical foundation will only become more important for search engine success in the years to come. By staying on top of the latest best practices and leveraging the right tools for the job, you can ensure that your website is well-positioned to rank and perform at its best.

Conclusion

Technical SEO can be complex and time-consuming, but with the right tools in your toolkit, it becomes much more manageable. The six tools we‘ve covered in this post – Screaming Frog, DeepCrawl, Sitebulb, SEMrush, Ahrefs, and Google Search Console – are some of the best options available for auditing your website‘s crawlability and technical health.

By regularly monitoring your site with these tools and using the insights they provide to identify and fix issues, you can dramatically improve your search engine visibility and organic traffic. Just remember that technical SEO is an ongoing process – it‘s not a one-and-done fix, but rather a continuous cycle of analyzing, optimizing, and measuring results.

If you‘re feeling overwhelmed by the complexity of technical SEO, don‘t hesitate to reach out to a qualified professional or agency for help. With the right expertise and tools on your side, you can take your website‘s performance to the next level and achieve your digital marketing goals.