🗺️ Overview
When you request a recrawl for a single page in Search Atlas, you may notice that the platform crawls your entire site rather than just the one URL. This article explains why that happens and how to get the most out of your Site Metrics data once the crawl is complete.
🔄 Why Does a Single-Page Recrawl Trigger a Full Site Crawl?
Search Atlas crawls your site at the domain level, not on a page-by-page basis. This is by design. Here is why:
- Accurate internal linking data: To correctly evaluate any single page, the crawler needs to understand how it connects to the rest of your site. Internal links, anchor text, and crawl depth all influence a page's SEO metrics.
- Consistent site-wide metrics: Page authority, crawl health scores, and indexability signals are calculated relative to your full site structure. Crawling only one page would produce incomplete or misleading data.
- Dependency on fresh site context: Changes you make to one page — such as updating a title tag or adding a canonical — can affect how other pages are evaluated. A full crawl ensures every metric reflects your site's current state.
In short, a "per-page" recrawl request is processed as a trigger to refresh the entire site's crawl data so that all metrics remain accurate and in sync.
⏱️ How Long Will the Crawl Take?
Crawl duration can vary depending on your site. Larger or more complex sites may take more time to process. You do not need to stay on the page — your results will be ready when you return.
📊 Viewing Results in Site Metrics
Once the crawl is complete, your updated data is available in Site Metrics. Navigate to OTTO SEO → Site Audit → Crawl Monitoring within the platform and select the site you recrawled to review updated crawl health, page-level data, and any flagged issues.
If you are unsure where to find your results or your crawl data does not appear to have updated, please reach out to our support team with your project name, the URL you attempted to recrawl, and the approximate time you submitted the recrawl request.
If you need further assistance, open the chat widget in the bottom-right corner of the platform and type human teammate to be connected with a member of our team.