The playbook
Crawlability: Worked Examples
The following crawlability examples illustrate how to move from an observed problem to a practical decision. They are hypothetical operating scenarios, not customer results or performance benchmarks. The central question is whether the work helps improve important undiscoverable URLs without losing the context needed to judge it.
Put the task in context
Important detail pages should have ordinary linked paths from useful category or topic pages. A page accessible only after typing a query into an internal search box may be difficult to discover. Test the path to a sample of deep pages from the public site.
Example 1: establish a usable starting point
A team begins working on crawlability but cannot consistently describe URL and discovery path for the same item. The immediate task is check navigation and contextual discovery paths. The team records the current state, identifies the source of each value, and resolves conflicting information before making a broader change.
The useful output is a page or query record that another person can interpret. This example does not require assuming an uplift. Success at this stage means the next decision can be made using a shared set of facts, with missing information explicitly identified.
Example 2: correct a specific failure
In a second situation, the team observes creating valuable pages reachable only through internal search. It proposes the correction: add crawlable links from relevant category or topic pages. Before applying that correction everywhere, the owner checks whether the same cause is present in other affected items. A common symptom alone does not prove that all items need the same repair.
| Decision | Illustrative reasoning |
|---|---|
| Observation | Creating valuable pages reachable only through internal search |
| Likely correction | Add crawlable links from relevant category or topic pages |
| Verification task | Inspect blocked paths and server errors |
| Result to inspect | Reduce unnecessary URL generation in filters and parameters |
After the change, the owner repeats the relevant task and records what happened. If the condition remains, the team returns to the evidence rather than declaring the process complete. The example illustrates a repair cycle; it does not claim a particular commercial result.
Example 3: extend a process after it works
A third team already has reliable records for a small scope and wants to expand. It compares the next group with the first: are URL, discovery path, block defined in the same way, and does the intended outcome remain important undiscoverable URLs? Differences are written down before the earlier process is reused.
Expansion is appropriate when the assumptions still hold and an owner can review exceptions. Where the new group has different needs, the team adapts the process and tests again. Reusing the structure is useful; reusing a conclusion without checking its conditions is much less reliable.
Apply the examples to your own work
- Write the current problem in observable terms using URL.
- Choose which of the three examples matches the stage of the work.
- Complete this action first: check navigation and contextual discovery paths.
- Keep the resulting evidence and review important undiscoverable URLs on a consistent basis.
Keep a dated record of the page or query being examined. Search interfaces and external references can change. A saved observation should include enough context to distinguish an old issue from the current state.
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