Does Frequent Search Engine Spidering Help Rankings?
from Jill Whalen

A reader wonders if frequent visits from search engines really help rankings.

Does a "Fresh Site" Improve Search Engine Rankings?

Hi Jill,

I've been following your newsletter for ages now (since before you went solo with High Rankings) and would appreciate your help with this question. I've been speaking with a client about changes to their web site. They have been told previously that using rotating images on a web page helps to keep a site "fresh" for search engines. That sounds odd to me.

Plus, based on comments you have made in previous newsletters, I get the impression that good content does not need to be updated to remain high on search engines' results. So please help me...how important is updating content? Do search engines reward sites with recent changes?

Thanks heaps -- and I hope you enjoyed the SES conference and your time in Florida at Christmas. It's pretty warm here at the moment.

Stuart

Jill's Response

Hi Stuart,

Thanks, I did enjoy the SES conference and also our short vacation last week in Florida. It could definitely have been warmer though!

You are correct that changing images to keep your site fresh seems odd. It is! There are a few basic flaws with the whole concept, which stem from people only half-understanding what they hear or read online. There are people who think that a site that is visited often by the search engine spiders will rank higher for its optimized keyword phrases. But that's simply not true.

Popularity Creates High Search Engine Rankings

What IS true is that a site that is considered "popular" by the search engines may rank higher for its optimized keyword phrases. And sites that are deemed popular will also tend to be visited more often by the spiders. What has happened is that people have mixed this up and think that a site visited more often will rank higher. With that erroneous thinking in mind, they go to great lengths to entice the spiders to visit more often. The truth of the matter is that there's no evidence to suggest that rankings are affected by how often your pages are visited by the spiders.

New Content

The *only* reason why you might care if the spiders visit your pages often is if you are actually adding new content on a regular basis. That's exactly what the spiders are looking for when they try to decide how often to visit your site. They will find the new content, determine how often you add stuff, and try to schedule their visits accordingly. It's got nothing to do with rankings, however.

Hope this helps end your confusion about this.

About SEO Expert Jill Whalen