Log Analysis: Viewing the Site Through Googlebot's Eyes
Log files (server logs) are text documents automatically generated by your web server (Nginx, Apache). They record absolutely everything: who accessed which file on your site and when. This is the " black box " of your website.
Learning Supplement
Log File Analysis
Robots have a time limit (Crawl Budget). Log analysis shows which 'junk' pages the robot wastes this limit on.
Lesson Terms
Case Study Example
Logs showed Googlebot spent hours crawling thousands of filter combinations in a catalog. The filters were blocked, and indexing sped up.
Real Life Example
An inspector came to check your store, but spent all his time wandering through empty warehouses and didn't have time to evaluate the main display.