How does Google discover new websites? They have what they call a Google bot. This ‘bot’ scours the
Let’s find out how Google finds new websites and new content.
- Will Google find my site?
- How do I submit my site to Google?
- Submit a new URL to Google.
- Request indexing.
- Only request once.
- How do I check if my website has been indexed?
- Conclusion.
- Further reading.
- Frequently asked questions.
Will Google find my site?
Absolutely. Google never stops looking for new websites. Google want to find new information, they want to see if they can improve their search results.
How long it will take to Google to find your site is a bit difficult to answer.
If you want Google to know about your website straight away. Then you can let Google know about your new website and then the Google bot will come to your website.
I always tell Google that I have a new post or have updated an old post and usually the Google bot will come in seconds.
How do I submit my site to Google?
The best and easiest way to submit your site to Google is through Google Search Console.
Google search console allows you to submit URLs on the overview page.
If you have not signed up to Google search console, then I advise you to do it now.
The overview page looks like this.
Submit a new URL to Google
When you want to submit a new page, post or any URL to Google. You copy and paste the full URL of your website into the ‘inspect any URL’ box at the top of this overview page.
I will show you how I do this with one of my websites.
I have just finished a post and want Google to index this post.
After publishing the post I then view the post on the internet. Once I view the post I then copy the URL.
You can see from this image that I have highlighted the full URL in the address bar.
Next, I open a new window and open my Google search console overview.
Now I paste the URL that I highlighted and copied into the ‘inspect any URL’ grey box at the top of this screen.
Like this.
You can see the full URL in the top box. You must have the full URL in there.
Once you have pasted the URL in the box you then press enter.
After you have pressed enter you will get a popup box like this.
After a few seconds the screen will go to this.
The green tick is to tell you that Google has indexed this URL already. If Google has not indexed your URL you will not get the green tick.
On the larger box with the green tick, you will see a question on the bottom right-hand side.
Google is asking you if your page has changed. If you have not changed your URL in any way then you do not need to do anything more.
The green tick is Google telling you that it knows about this URL already.
Request indexing
If you have changed the content on a post or if you want to tell Google about a brand new URL then you need to click on the ‘REQUEST INDEXING’ link.
Once you click on the request indexing link you will get another popup appears.
Google will run a quick live test to make sure this URL can be indexed.
Once the test is complete you will see the following popup.
Google lets you know that it has accepted your request to index this webpage. Google also explains that doing
Only request once
So when you do this request only do it once. Google will come.
To get rid of this popup you just click on ‘GOT IT’ to acknowledge that you understand.
That is all you need to do to get your website indexed.
How do I check if my website has been indexed?
If you have a brand new website and are eager to know if your site has been indexed by Google. Then here is how you do a check.
First you open a new tab and then type ‘site:(site URL)’ into Google search engine.
Here is an example. You replace (site URL) with the URL you want to check.
As you can see I put it into Google. The search results show that this page has been indexed by Google.
If it had not been indexed then I would get a page like this.
Google will tell me that there are no search results to match my query. This tells you that Google has not indexed your page yet.
If you are sure you have entered the URL into Google correctly then you just need to be patient.
Most of the time when I index a new page it is indexed within the hour.
I always make sure that I get into the routine of telling Google every time I write a new post or when I update an old one.
Make a request once each time. Do not make multiple requests to try and speed things up.
Conclusion
Google makes it very easy to get your website pages and posts indexed.
You just need to make sure you are signed up to Google search console.
If you are not and need help getting your website connected. Let me know in the comments and I will do a post about it.
Every time that I complete a new post or update an old one. The first thing I do is ask Google to index the page.
You want your latest posts indexed as fast as possible to get your content out there.
To get your site indexed faster you should submit a sitemap to Google and bing. If you don’t have a sitemap yet. Check out my ‘how to create a sitemap‘ blog post.
When you publish new posts or update old ones. Request indexing each and every time.
Further reading
For a really in-depth post about getting your website indexed I would highly recommend you check out ‘How to Get Google to Instantly Index Your New Website’ from Neil Patel about this.
His post is very detailed. He also gives you some great free tips for you to improve your website.
Frequently asked questions
How long does it take for a website to show up in Google?
If you use the Google search console to make a request to have Google index your site. Then your website should be indexed very soon.
In my experience most of my posts indexed within seconds. Only a few took longer than a day.
How do I submit my website to Google?
Sign up for Google search console and then submit your website using the instructions I give in the post above.
Once you submit your website you will be indexed in no time.
How long does it take for Google to re-index a site?
In my experience with my websites. Google is very quick to index new websites or re-index old ones.
How can I publish my website on Google for free?
Using Google search console is free. You use this to get your website indexed.
After Google has indexed your site it will hold your website information on file until it needs it to deliver for a search request.
If your website has the best answer to a search request then Google will show your website in the search results. If you have a fantastic headline, then you should get a free click from Google to your website.
Why is my website not showing in Google?
If your website is not showing in Google then that could mean that Google has not indexed your website yet.
Or, your website is not ranking yet for keywords.
With new websites you must be patient. There will be a period in the beginning that Google will test your website before using it in search results.
I have heard that Google could use 6 months or so to test.
If you have not signed up for Google search console yet. Then do that now.
After you have set that up, follow the steps I have given in this post and your website will be indexed in no time.
If you have submitted your website to Google and want to check if it has been indexed or not. Then you can check very easily by typing ‘site:www.yourwebsitename.com’ into Google search.
I have an example of how to do this in my post above.
The search results will show all pages indexed by Google for that website.
How long does it take for SEO to take effect?
If you have updated an old post to improve the SEO. Then you will have to wait at least 30 days before you will see any results from those changes.
Comments
What do you do to get your website indexed?
How long does it take for you to see your website in Google?
Do you use Google search console or do you wait for Google to come when it is ready?
I am really looking forward to reading your feedback and comments
