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After more than 13 years, and tens of thousands of questions, Moz Q&A closed on 12th December 2024. Whilst we’re not completely removing the content - many posts will still be possible to view - we have locked both new posts and new replies. More details here.
What is the best tool to view your page as Googlebot?
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Our site was done with asp.net and a lot of scripting. I want to see what Google can see and what it can't. What is the best tool that duplicates Googlebot? I have found several but they seem old or inaccurate.
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I just used it today. The simple crawl is free. Advanced is paid.
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I think it's free again? I use it today...
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Used to be free, now it's 9,99$ per year
certainly not unreasonable, but some sort of demo would be nice so one knows what to expect. Do you have another recommendation?
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Hi Niners52,
Personally, I like to use webconfs search engine spider tools (http://www.webconfs.com/search-engine-spider-simulator.php) but there are loads out there that you can use and it is your own preference really.
Also, I use ScreamingFrog to do similar tasks.
Matt.
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I'm a fan of http://www.seo-browser.com/ - use their simple search and it's totally free.
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