How to prevent Googlebot from overwhelming site?

Question

I\'m running a site with a lot of content, but little traffic, on a middle-of-the-road dedicated server.

Occasionally, Googlebot will stampede us, resulting in Apache

Answer 1

To limit the crawl rate:

• On the Search Console Home page, click the site that you want.

• Click the gear icon Settings, then click Site Settings.

• In the Crawl rate section, select the option you want and then limit the crawl rate as desired.

The new crawl rate will be valid for 90 days.