Page crawl depth is reasonable

crawl_depth

Checks that page crawl depth is reasonable.

What does this rule check?

Crawl depth is the number of clicks from the homepage to reach a page. Pages that are too deep (4+ clicks) may be crawled less frequently and are perceived as less important by search engines.

Why is this important?

Deep pages receive less crawl budget and link equity. They're also harder for users to find. Important content should be accessible within 3 clicks from the homepage.

How to fix

Flatten your site structure by adding internal links from higher-level pages. Add navigation menus, breadcrumbs, or related content sections.

Examples

Home > Category > Subcategory > Sub-sub > Article
<!-- 4 clicks deep - too far for important content -->

Home > Category > Article
<!-- 2 clicks deep - easily accessible -->

Agent fix snippet

Copy this snippet and paste it into your AI coding agent to fix this issue automatically.

Reduce page depth by:
1. Adding internal links from the homepage or category pages
2. Adding breadcrumb navigation
3. Including the page in your main navigation if important
4. Adding "Related Content" sections on higher-level pages