Server log SEO audit

A server log SEO audit is a one-time analysis of the real behavior of search robots based on the records in your server logs (not on Search Console aggregates): which pages Googlebot, YandexBot and others crawl, how often and in what volume, what response codes they receive (200, redirects, 404, 5xx server errors), where the crawl is spent and whether it reaches the important and new pages, whether there are error spikes and stalls, and a check of whether someone is masquerading as a search bot (we verify by IP and reverse DNS to tell a real Googlebot from a fake). Logs are the most accurate source of what the robot actually does. Honestly and upfront about the main point: this service is physically impossible without access to the raw server logs (access logs) — it is a mandatory condition, and we say so right away. And logs show only what is written to them: if there is a CDN or proxy in front of the site, some bot requests may not reach your logs or may arrive anonymized; the log retention period (rotation) limits how far back you can look. This is diagnosis, not setup and not a guarantee of ranking or indexing growth: logs show the problem, but the effect comes after the changes are implemented. Most often this audit pays off on medium and large sites with noticeable bot traffic; for very small sites there may be too little data in the logs — we will say so honestly. A snapshot over a period (we usually take logs for several weeks). What you get: a report on the real bot behavior, problems by priority (errors, crawl losses, fake bots, under-crawled important pages) and recommendations; implementation is separate work. Picture this: instead of guessing "how Google crawls us" you will see that Googlebot spends most of its visits on an old removed section returning 404, while it barely reaches the new products. The base price starts from 14,000 ₽; it depends on the volume of logs.

• You want to know exactly how robots really crawl the site, not by aggregates.
• You suspect important pages are crawled poorly or rarely.
• There are many errors (404, 5xx) in the logs and it is unclear what hurts SEO.
• It seems fake bots and scrapers masquerade as Googlebot.

• Real behavior of Googlebot, YandexBot and others from the logs
• Crawl frequency and volume, which pages and sections
• Response codes for bots: 200, redirects, 404, 5xx errors
• Where the crawl is spent and whether it reaches the important and new pages
• Bot authenticity check (IP and reverse DNS) against fakes
• Error spikes, stalls, crawl anomalies
• An honest note on log limits (CDN, anonymization, rotation)
• A prioritized report with SEO conclusions

• An accurate picture of how robots really crawl the site
• Crawl problems by priority (errors, losses, fake bots)
• Recommendations on what to fix (implementation is separate)
• Understanding where the real problem is and where it is a log-data limit

• We obtain access to the server logs for the needed period (a mandatory condition)
• We analyze bot behavior, response codes, crawl spend and bot authenticity
• We prepare a report with conclusions and recommendations and review it with you

• Can a log audit be done without server access?

  No, it is a mandatory condition: the whole service is built on analyzing the raw logs (access logs). Without them it is impossible. We will help export the logs in the right format and for the right period.

• Will the logs show everything about how the robot crawls?

  Almost, but with caveats. Logs show what is recorded in them: if there is a CDN or proxy in front of the site, some bot requests may not reach your logs or may arrive anonymized; and the retention period (rotation) limits how far back you can look. We will honestly note where the data is incomplete.

• How is this different from a crawl budget audit?

  A log audit is a method: we look at the raw logs and the real bot behavior. A crawl budget audit is a task (the efficiency of crawl spend) that often relies, among other things, on logs. They overlap; if you have a large site and the question is specifically the crawl budget, we will advise which fits better.