What Is a Log File Analysis? & How to Do It for SEO

What Are Log Files?

Log files are documents that grounds each petition made to your server, whether owed to a idiosyncratic interacting with your tract oregon a hunt motor bot crawling it (i.e., discovering your pages).

Log files tin show important details about:

• The clip of the request
• The IP code making the request
• Which bot crawled your tract (like Googlebot oregon DuckDuckBot)
• The benignant of assets being accessed (like a leafage oregon image)

Here’s what a log record tin look like:

Servers typically store log files for a constricted time, based connected your settings, applicable regulatory requirements, and concern needs. 

What Is Log File Analysis?

Log record investigation is the process of downloading and auditing your site’s log files to proactively place bugs, crawling issues, and different technical SEO problems.

Analyzing log files tin amusement however Google and different hunt engines interact with a site. And besides uncover crawl errors that impact visibility successful hunt results.

Identifying immoderate issues with your log files tin assistance you commencement the process of fixing them.

What Is Log File Analysis Used for successful SEO?

Log record investigation is utilized to stitchery information you tin usage to amended your site’s crawlability—and yet your SEO performance. 

This is due to the fact that it shows you precisely however hunt motor bots similar Googlebot crawl your site.

For example, investigation of log files helps to:

• Discover which pages hunt motor bots crawl the astir and least
• Find retired whether hunt crawlers tin entree your astir important pages
• See if determination are low-value pages that are wasting your crawl budget (i.e., the clip and resources hunt engines volition give to crawling earlier moving on)
• Detect method issues similar HTTP presumption code errors (like “error 404 leafage not found”) and breached redirects that forestall hunt engines from accessing your content
• Uncover URLs with dilatory page speed, which tin negatively interaction your show successful hunt rankings
• Identify orphan pages (i.e., pages with nary interior links pointing to them) that hunt engines whitethorn miss
• Track spikes oregon drops successful crawl frequence that whitethorn awesome different method problems

How to Analyze Log Files

Now that you cognize immoderate of the benefits of doing log record investigation for SEO, let's look astatine how to bash it. 

You’ll need:

• Your website's server log files
• Access to a log record analyzer

1. Access Log Files

Access your website’s log files by downloading them from your server.

Some hosting platforms (like Hostinger) person a built-in record manager wherever you tin find and download your log files.

Here’s however to bash it.

From your dashboard oregon power panel, look for a folder named “file management,” “files,” “file manager,” oregon thing similar.

Here’s what that folder looks similar connected Hostinger:

Just unfastened the folder, find your log files (typically successful the “.logs” folder), and download the needed files. 

Alternatively, your developer oregon IT specializer tin entree the server and download the files done a record transportation protocol (FTP) lawsuit similar FileZilla.

Once you’ve downloaded your log files, it’s clip to analyse them.

2. Analyze Log Files

You tin analyse log files manually utilizing Google Sheets and different tools, but this process tin get some tiresome and messy truly quickly.

Which is wherefore we urge utilizing Semrush’s Log File Analyzer.

First, marque definite your log files are unarchived and successful the access.log, W3C, oregon Kinsta record format. 

Then, resistance and driblet your files into the tool. And click “Start Log File Analyzer.” 

Once your results are ready, you’ll spot a illustration showing Googlebot enactment implicit the past 30 days. 

Monitor this illustration to find immoderate antithetic spikes oregon drops successful activity, which tin bespeak changes successful however hunt engines crawl your tract oregon problems that request fixing.

To the close of the chart, you’ll besides spot a breakdown of:

• HTTP presumption codes: These codes amusement whether hunt engines and users tin successfully entree your site’s pages. For example, excessively galore 4xx errors mightiness bespeak breached links oregon missing pages that you should fix.
• File types crawled: Knowing however overmuch clip hunt motor bots walk crawling antithetic record types shows however hunt engines interact with your content. This helps you place if they’re spending excessively overmuch clip connected unnecessary resources (e.g., JavaScript) alternatively of prioritizing important contented (e.g., HTML).

Scroll down to “Hits by Pages” for much circumstantial insights. This study volition amusement you:

• Which pages and folders hunt motor bots crawl astir often
• How often hunt motor bots crawl those pages
• HTTP errors similar 404s

Sort the array by “Crawl Frequency” to spot however Google allocates your crawl budget.

Or, click the “Inconsistent presumption codes” fastener to spot paths (a URL’s circumstantial route) with inconsistent presumption codes.

For example, a way switching betwixt a 404 presumption codification (meaning a leafage can’t beryllium found) and a 301 presumption codification (a imperishable redirect) could awesome misconfigurations oregon different issues.

Pay peculiar attraction to your astir important pages. And usage the insights you summation astir them to marque adjustments that mightiness amended your show successful hunt results.

Prioritize Site Crawlability

Now you cognize however to entree and analyse your log files.

But don’t halt there.

Take proactive steps to marque definite your tract is optimized for crawlability.

One mode to guarantee to bash that is to behaviour a method SEO audit utilizing Semrush’s Site Audit tool. 

First, unfastened the instrumentality and configure the settings by pursuing our configuration guide. (Or instrumentality with the default settings.)

Once your study is ready, you’ll spot an overview leafage that highlights your site’s astir important method SEO issues and areas for improvement.

Head to the “Issues” tab and prime “Crawlability” successful the “Category” drop-down. 

You’ll spot a database of issues affecting your site’s crawlability.

If you don’t cognize what an contented means oregon however to code it, click connected “Why and however to hole it” to larn more. 

Run a tract audit similar this each month. And robust retired immoderate issues that popular up, either by yourself oregon by moving with a developer.