Help > Trawling for slow hyperlinks

What does this trawl type find?

DeepTrawl allows you to find links to pages which download slowly, the links might take the form of:

• Text links
• Images which activate a link when clicked
• Frames
• Client side image maps

This trawl type will also inform you if a page download times out.

This feature allows you to avoid the impact of long page download times on your users and makes sure that the servers / bandwidth of the site hosting the pages you link to are up to scratch.

This allows you to rest easy, knowing your users are not suffering with a slow web experience. A fast site and links to fast sites makes sure your users stay focused on what you want them to see: your information.

How to use this trawl type

You should make sure this trawl type is switched on. There should be a green tick next to this trawl type in the Trawl for... tab. If there is a red cross instead, click the cross to toggle the trawl type on.

This trawl type also has a search option contained in its settings dialog. This can be accessed by pressing the Settings link to the right of the trawl type in the Trawl for... tab. The dialog is shown below...

Above: The slow links settings dialog

As shown in the dialog, it is possible to set the maximum download time you find acceptable. Any link which takes longer than this to download will be flagged as a problem.

How to solve the problems found

If you find pages which you host yourself are taking too long to download you might consider either:

• Breaking up the content of each page onto multiple pages.
• Procuring a faster web hosting service.

If the slow pages are hosted on a web site you do not control, you might consider:

• Asking the owner of the content if they would mind allowing you to host the pages yourself (always remember to get written copyright permission to do this).
• Linking to another page with similar content.