How to Include your Website or Webpage in the Google Index
August 3, 2021
Website indexing is fundamental when it comes to generating a good amount of traffic on a given website. What does the expression “website indexing” mean, exactly? Well, in short, it refers to when a site has a higher chance of appearing in search engine results. The process of website indexing is used by search engines to establish the function of your site and that of each page on the site. Once your website has been indexed by Google – for instance – finding said site will be much easier to Google. This will allow Google to associate each page with searched topics, return the site on search engine results pages (SERP), and lead the target audience to your content.
Therefore, website indexing is a very valuable tool for website ranking and increased traffic, and it’s strictly related to search engine optimization (SEO). This is how it works: a process called “crawling” inspects webpages for keywords, metadata, and related signals that tell search engines if and where to rank content.
How to make Google crawl and index your website or webpage
Now, you’re here because you want to learn how to include your website or your webpages in the Google index. All you’ll need to do is sending Google a request so that your property can be indexed, and this can be done by simply providing Google with your website or webpage URL.
Request indexing for a URL:
– first, go to Google Search Console in order to make Google inspect the site or page URL
– then, click Request indexing on the inspection result page for the URL. If the page passes a quick check to test for immediate indexing errors, it will be submitted to the indexing queue. You cannot request indexing if the page is considered to be non-indexable in the live test
– in order for Programmable Search Engine to recognize your request, the site or URL pattern needs to be listed in the “Sites to search section” found in the Basics tab of the Setup section in the search engine configuration
– the time it takes for the crawling process to be completed varies significantly based on website popularity, proper optimization, and the overall structure of said website; it can take up to a week or two, but you might get lucky and have to wait only one day
– submitting a request doesn’t guarantee that the page will appear in the Google Index
– there is a daily limit to how many index requests you can submit; if you want many pages indexed, try submitting a sitemap to Google (learn how here!)
And lastly, in case you’re using a hosted content management platform, such as Blogger or WordPress, the platform should submit your new content (webpages) to search engines automatically.
Sources: HubSpot, Google Help
