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Search Engine Optimization

Difference between spider, robot and crawler 

The terms "spider," "robot," and "crawler" are often used interchangeably to refer to
software programs that traverse the internet to gather information. While these terms
are related, they have slightly different meanings:

Spider: A spider is a software program that automatically crawls through websites to


gather information, typically for the purpose of building a search engine index. The term
"spider" is often used synonymously with "bot" or "robot."

Robot: A robot is a general term used to describe any software program that
automatically performs tasks on the internet. In the context of web crawling, a robot is a
program that follows hyperlinks on web pages to find and collect information.

Crawler: A crawler is a specific type of software program that systematically browses


the internet to index web pages and other online content. Crawler programs are
often used by search engines to build their databases and provide search results.

In summary, while these terms are sometimes used interchangeably, a spider is a type
of robot that crawls web pages, and a crawler is a specific type of robot that
systematically indexes web pages.

Cannibalization
It refers to a situation where multiple pages are targeting a single keyword(focus or primary keyword) ,
which creates a confusion for search engines while determining which page to show for that particular
search query/primary keyword.

For Example: A website has multiple pages with “best smartphones” set as primary keyword, will create
a confusion for search engine to determine which page to show from the website for the search query
“best smart phones under 20k budget”, as a result none of those pages will rank as highly as they would
have if they were using different primary keyword.

Solution: use different keywords as primary keyword for different pages, i.e., primary keywords need to
be unique for each page.

Content Duplicacy:
Content duplicacy in SEO refers to the issue of having the same or substantially similar content on
multiple pages of a website or across different websites. Search engines may consider this as a form of
spamming or manipulation, and may penalize websites that engage in such practices by reducing their
search rankings or even removing them from search results altogether.

There are several types of content duplicacy, including:

1. Duplicate content within a website: This occurs when the same content appears on multiple
pages of a website, either intentionally or unintentionally. This can be due to technical issues,
such as URL parameters or session IDs, or due to content management systems that create
multiple versions of the same page.

2. Duplicate content across different websites: This occurs when the same content appears on
different websites, either due to plagiarism or syndication of content. This can be a serious issue,
as search engines may not know which version of the content is original or authoritative.

3. Similar or substantially similar content: This occurs when two or more pieces of content are very
similar, but not identical. While this may not be considered as a serious issue as exact duplicacy,
search engines may still penalize websites that have too much of similar content.

To avoid content duplicacy issues, website owners should follow best practices such as:

1. Creating unique and original content for each page of their website.

2. Using canonical tags to specify the preferred version of a page when duplicate content is
unavoidable.

3. Avoiding content syndication unless necessary and ensuring that the syndicated content includes
proper attribution and canonical tags.

4. Regularly checking for duplicate content issues using tools such as Copyscape or Siteliner.

Canonicalization:
Canonicalization in SEO refers to the process of choosing the preferred URL among multiple URLs that
have similar or identical content. When a website has duplicate content on multiple pages, search
engines may struggle to determine which page should be shown in search results, leading to a potential
loss of search engine rankings and traffic.

To address this issue, website owners can use canonicalization to signal to search engines which version
of a page they consider to be the "canonical" version, or the preferred version that should be indexed
and displayed in search results.

This is typically done by adding a canonical tag to the head section of the HTML code of the preferred
page, specifying the URL of the canonical version. Search engines will then understand that this is the
preferred version of the page and avoid indexing duplicate content on other pages.

Canonicalization is an important aspect of SEO because it helps to consolidate the link equity of multiple
pages into a single page, which can improve the overall search engine rankings and visibility of a website.
It also helps to avoid penalties for duplicate content, which can occur if search engines perceive that a
website is attempting to manipulate search rankings by creating multiple versions of the same content.

Canonical Tag example:

<link rel="canonical" href="https://indibayapparels.com/"


/>

Difference between Cannibalization and Canon icalization


cannibalization is a problem that occurs when multiple pages on a website compete for the same
keywords, while canonicalization is a solution to prevent duplicate content issues and consolidate the
ranking signals of different versions of the same page.

URL structure according to SEO guidelines.


URL structure plays an important role in SEO (Search Engine Optimization) because search engines use
URLs to understand the content of a webpage and its relevance to a user's search query. Here are some
tips for creating SEO-friendly URL structures:

1. Keep it simple and descriptive: Your URL should give users and search engines a clear idea of
what the page is about. Use descriptive words and avoid generic or vague terms.

2. Use hyphens to separate words: Hyphens are the preferred way to separate words in a URL.
Avoid using underscores or spaces, as they can cause confusion and may not be recognized by
search engines.

3. Use lowercase letters: URLs are case sensitive, so it's best to use all lowercase letters to avoid
any confusion.

4. Use a hierarchical structure: Organize your URLs in a logical and hierarchical structure, with the
main category at the beginning and subcategories after that.

5. Include relevant keywords: Including relevant keywords in your URL can help improve its
relevance to search queries. However, don't overdo it with too many keywords, as this can be
seen as spammy and hurt your SEO.

6. Avoid using numbers and special characters: Try to avoid using numbers and special characters in
your URL, as they can make it difficult for users to remember and share the link.

Robots
Robots, also known as spiders or crawlers, are automated programs used by search engines to index web
pages and gather information about their content. In the context of SEO, robots play an important role in
determining the visibility and ranking of websites in search results.

Here are a few ways in which robots impact SEO:

1. Crawling and indexing: Robots are responsible for crawling and indexing web pages, which
means that they identify and analyze the content on a website. This information is then used by
search engines to determine the relevance and authority of a website for specific search queries.

2. Site structure and organization: Robots can help identify issues with a website's structure and
organization, such as broken links or duplicate content. By fixing these issues, website owners
can improve the user experience and increase their chances of ranking well in search results.

Robot Tag
The "robots" tag is a piece of HTML code that is used to communicate with search engine robots about
how they should behave when indexing a web page. The robots tag can be used to instruct robots
whether to index a page, follow links on the page, and display snippets of the page in search results.

Here are the different values that can be used with the robots tag:

1. "index" - This value allows search engine robots to index the page.

2. "noindex" - This value tells search engine robots not to index the page.

3. "follow" - This value instructs search engine robots to follow any links on the page.

4. "nofollow" - This value tells search engine robots not to follow any links on the page.

5. "noarchive" - This value prevents search engines from storing a cached version of the page.

6. "nosnippet" - This value prevents search engines from displaying a snippet of the page in search
results.

Using the robots tag can be a useful tool in optimizing a website's SEO. For example, if a page contains
duplicate content or sensitive information that should not be indexed, the "noindex" value can be used
to prevent search engines from displaying the page in search results. Alternatively, if a page contains
links to low-quality or spammy sites, the "nofollow" value can be used to prevent search engine robots
from following these links.

<meta name="robots" content="index, follow, max-snippet:-


1, max-video-preview:-1, max-image-preview:large"/>

Robots.txt
The "robots.txt" file is a text file that website owners create to communicate with web robots and search
engine crawlers, such as Googlebot, Bingbot, or others. This file instructs the robots which pages or
sections of a website they are allowed to crawl and index and which pages or sections should be
excluded.

The robots.txt file is placed in the root directory of a website, and its contents are typically formatted in a
specific way that follows a standard called the Robots Exclusion Protocol (REP). This protocol allows
website owners to specify specific rules and directives that search engine robots must follow when they
visit their site.

The robots.txt file is a useful tool for controlling how search engines access and index your website, but
it's essential to understand that it is a public document. Anyone can view it by navigating to the domain
name followed by "/robots.txt". Additionally, not all robots and web crawlers respect the rules laid out in
the robots.txt file, so it's not a foolproof way of blocking access to your website.

How to optimize robots.txt for SEO??


Optimizing the robots.txt file for SEO can help to ensure that search engine crawlers are able to
effectively index your website while also minimizing the risk of indexing duplicate content or pages that
you don't want to appear in search results. Here are some tips for optimizing your robots.txt file:

1. Use a specific User-agent: Instead of using the wildcard (*) for all robots, you can create specific
rules for individual search engines, such as Googlebot or Bingbot. This will allow you to tailor
your directives for each search engine and optimize your website accordingly.

2. Allow access to important pages: Make sure that your robots.txt file allows access to all the
pages that you want to appear in search results. For example, if you want your homepage and
product pages to be indexed, make sure that they are not disallowed in your robots.txt file.

3. Block duplicate content: If you have duplicate content on your website, such as multiple versions
of the same page or URLs with query parameters, use the "Disallow" directive to block search
engine crawlers from indexing them.

4. Use absolute URLs: Make sure that all the URLs in your robots.txt file use absolute paths instead
of relative paths. This will help to avoid confusion or errors in interpreting your directives.

5. Regularly review and update: Regularly review and update your robots.txt file as your website
changes. This will help to ensure that search engine crawlers are always able to effectively crawl
and index your website.

Difference between robots tag and robots.txt.


The meta robots tag is implemented on individual webpages and provides instructions specific to that
page, such as indexing and following links. On the other hand, the robots.txt file is a site-wide file that
communicates guidelines to search engine crawlers about which parts of the website they are allowed or
disallowed to access. Both methods are used to control crawler behavior but serve different purposes
and are applied differently

Schema Markup
Schema Markup is a type of structured data markup that provides additional information about the
content on a website to search engines. It can help search engines better understand the context and
meaning of the content on a website, which can improve the site's visibility in search engine results
pages (SERPs).

Schema Markup uses a standardized vocabulary of tags to identify and categorize different types of
content on a website, such as articles, products, events, and reviews. By using Schema Markup, search
engines can extract and display more relevant and detailed information about a website's content in
SERPs, such as product prices, ratings, and availability.

Implementing Schema Markup on a website can also help improve click-through rates and drive more
qualified traffic to a site. For example, a search result with rich snippets that includes star ratings and
reviews may be more likely to attract clicks than a result without this additional information.

Creating a Schema Markup can be a bit technical, but there are several ways to generate the code
needed to add it to your website. Here are some steps to follow:

1. Identify the type of content on your website that you want to mark up with Schema. Common
types of content that can benefit from Schema Markup include articles, products, events, and
reviews.

2. Choose a Schema Markup format. There are several formats available, including Microdata,
RDFa, and JSON-LD. JSON-LD is the recommended format by Google, as it is easy to implement
and does not require changes to your HTML structure.

3. Use a Schema Markup generator to create the code needed to add the markup to your website.
There are several online tools available that can help you generate the code, such as Google's
Structured Data Markup Helper or Schema.org's Schema Markup Generator.

4. Add the generated code to your website. This typically involves copying and pasting the code
into the HTML code of the page you want to mark up.(head section)

5. Test your Schema Markup to ensure it is working correctly. You can use Google's Structured Data
Testing Tool to verify that the markup is correctly implemented and is being recognized by search
engines.

Item Prop
In SEO, the "itemprop" attribute is used to provide search engines with structured data about a
particular element on a webpage. This helps search engines to better understand the content of the
page and to display relevant information to users in search results.
The "itemprop" attribute is part of the Schema.org vocabulary, which provides a standardized way of
describing the content of web pages. Schema.org defines a large number of "types" that can be used to
describe different kinds of content, such as articles, products, events, and more.

To use the "itemprop" attribute, you need to include the appropriate Schema.org type for the content
you are describing, along with any relevant properties. For example, if you are describing a product, you
might use the "Product" type and include properties such as name, description, image, and price.

Example:

<div itemscope itemtype="http://schema.org/Product">

<h1 itemprop="name">Product Name</h1>

<img itemprop="image" src="product-image.jpg">

<p itemprop="description">Product description goes here.</p>

<span itemprop="price">$19.99</span>

</div>

OG tag
Open Graph (OG) tags are a type of meta tags that are used in SEO (Search Engine Optimization) to
control how web pages are displayed when shared on social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter,
LinkedIn, and others.

The OG tags are used to provide information about the webpage content such as the title, description,
image, and other metadata. This information is used by social media platforms to display a rich preview
of the webpage when it is shared.

By using OG tags, website owners can control how their content appears on social media platforms and
make it more attractive to potential visitors. The OG tags can also help to improve the click-through rates
(CTR) of shared links, as the rich preview provided by the tags can make the content more compelling
and increase the likelihood of users clicking through to the website.

Example:

<html>

<head>

<meta property="og:title" content="Example Page Title">

<meta property="og:description" content="This is an example description of the page content.">


<meta property="og:image" content="http://example.com/image.jpg">

<meta property="og:url" content="http://example.com">

<meta property="og:type" content="website">

<title>Example Page Title</title>

</head>

<body>

<p>Example page content goes here.</p>

</body>

</html>

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