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 personification interacting pinch your tract aliases a hunt motor bot crawling it (i.e., discovering your pages).

Log files tin show important specifications about:

• The clip of the request
• The IP reside making the request
• Which bot crawled your tract (like Googlebot aliases DuckDuckBot)
• The type of assets being accessed (like a page aliases image)

Here’s what a log record tin look like:

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

What Is Log File Analysis?

Log record study 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 show really Google and different hunt engines interact pinch a site. And besides uncover crawl errors that impact visibility successful hunt results.

Identifying immoderate issues pinch your log files tin thief you commencement the process of fixing them.

What Is Log File Analysis Used for successful SEO?

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

This is because it shows you precisely really hunt motor bots for illustration Googlebot crawl your site.

For example, study 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 location are low-value pages that are wasting your crawl budget (i.e., the clip and resources hunt engines will give to crawling earlier moving on)
• Detect method issues for illustration HTTP position code errors (like “error 404 page not found”) and surgery redirects that forestall hunt engines from accessing your content
• Uncover URLs pinch slow page speed, which tin negatively effect your capacity successful hunt rankings
• Identify orphan pages (i.e., pages pinch nary soul links pointing to them) that hunt engines whitethorn miss
• Track spikes aliases drops successful crawl wave that whitethorn awesome different method problems

How to Analyze Log Files

Now that you cognize immoderate of the benefits of doing log record study for SEO, let's look astatine how to do 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 head wherever you tin find and download your log files.

Here’s really to do it.

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

Here’s what that files looks for illustration connected Hostinger:

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

Alternatively, your developer aliases IT master tin entree the server and download the files done a record transportation protocol (FTP) customer for illustration 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 really quickly.

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

First, make judge your log files are unarchived and successful the access.log, W3C, aliases 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 floor plan showing Googlebot activity complete the past 30 days. 

Monitor this floor plan to find immoderate different spikes aliases drops successful activity, which tin bespeak changes successful really hunt engines crawl your tract aliases problems that request fixing.

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

• HTTP position codes: These codes show whether hunt engines and users tin successfully entree your site’s pages. For example, excessively galore 4xx errors mightiness bespeak surgery links aliases missing pages that you should fix.
• File types crawled: Knowing really overmuch clip hunt motor bots walk crawling different record types shows really hunt engines interact pinch 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 will show you:

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

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

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

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

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

Prioritize Site Crawlability

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

But don’t extremity there.

Take proactive steps to make judge your tract is optimized for crawlability.

One measurement to guarantee to do 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 pinch the default settings.)

Once your study is ready, you’ll spot an overview page 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 rumor intends aliases really to reside it, click connected “Why and really to hole it” to study more. 

Run a tract audit for illustration this each month. And robust retired immoderate issues that popular up, either by yourself aliases by moving pinch a developer.