So you just build a website, and it runs well. Congratulations!
Yet, it isn’t showing up in search results, so there’s no way for it to rank for your target keywords. At this point, you need to submit your website to search engines so they’ll know it exists, crawl it, index it and... Give it the visibility and traffic it deserves.
Fortunately, submitting your site to search engines is quick and easy, and we’re here to guide you through the process.
Do I need to submit my website to search engines?
Website submission is not necessary. Many search engines like Google, Bing, and Yahoo employ bots that systematically “crawl” or search for new web pages to index. So, even without submitting your website, it’s still possible for search engines to index and display it in search engine results pages (SERPs).
However, it’s still advisable to submit a website to search engines for the following reasons:
- Speeds up the indexing process: “Hey, I exist”—your website introduces itself to the search engine upon submission. This helps the search engine quickly index your site and become more visible in SERPs.
- Provides search engines with site structure information: Submitting a website lets Google know more about its structure, which can be beneficial SEO-wise.
- Rapid site updates: If you create or edit web pages, these changes are quickly reflected in search results if your website is submitted to the search engine.
How to submit your website to search engines
In this section, we’ll discuss how to submit a website to Google, Yahoo, and Bing separately. These search engines require a sitemap for submission.
A Sitemap is an XML file containing information about your website’s pages, videos, URLs, and other files and their relationships.
Think of it as your website’s blueprint, detailing its structure and organization. Your sitemap indicates the important files and webpages to search engines, helping them crawl and discover your web content.
So, how do you locate your website’s sitemap?
The easiest way is to go to any of these URLs:
[yourdomain].com/sitemap.xml
[yourdomain].com/sitemap_index.xml
Another way to find your sitemap is through the website’s robots.txt file. Access it using this link:
[yourdomain].com/robots.txt
Most CMS (Content Management Systems) like WordPress or Squarespace automatically create your website’s sitemap. If you can’t see your sitemap through any of the methods above, you might need to create one.
How to submit your website to Google
Here’s how to submit a website to the world's largest search engine: Google. Currently, the only method to submit a website to Google is to provide a sitemap.
Before applying the steps below, ensure your website is verified in the Google Search Console (GSC). This means that you must prove to GSC that you are the owner. Otherwise, you can’t proceed with submitting your site to Google.
Here are the steps to submit a website to Google:
Step 1: Go to Google Search Console and log in.
Step 2: On the left sidebar menu and under the “Index” submenu, press “Sitemaps”.
Step 3: Paste your sitemap URL in the “Add a new sitemap” field. Then, hit “Submit” to finish.
And there you have it! You’ve just submitted your website to Google. If you have multiple sitemaps, simply repeat the process above.
Submitting an Individual Web Page to Google
Now, what if you want to submit only a single page to Google?
Well, it’s easy: simply follow these steps:
Step 1: In Google Search Console, go to the URL Inspection tool.
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Step 2: Paste the page URL into the inspection tool.
Step 3: If the page is not yet indexed, the console will tell you that the “URL is not on Google”. Otherwise, the console will tell you that the “URL is on Google”. If the page isn’t indexed yet, click “Request Indexing.
More on this: How to submit a website to Google (guide)
How to submit your website to Bing
As with Google, Bing requires a sitemap for website submission. Here’s a quick guide on how to submit a website to Bing:
Step 1: Go to Bing Webmaster Tools and log in.
Step 2: On the left sidebar menu, press Sitemaps.
Step 3: Paste your sitemap URL and click “Submit sitemap”.
That’s it! You’ve properly submitted your website to Bing.
How to submit your website to Yahoo
Bing powers the Yahoo search engine. Therefore, if you’ve already submitted your website to Bing, Yahoo will also crawl and index your website.
How to submit your website to DuckDuckGo
DuckDuckGo does not support manual website submission. This search engine derives its search results from various sources, including Bing, Wikipedia, Sportradar, and more.
Therefore, if you’ve submitted your website to Bing, DuckDuckGo will likely show your pages in its SERPs as well.
How to check if your website is already indexed
After submitting your website to search engines, it’s vital to confirm if it is already indexed. If Google has already indexed your content, it will add your pages to its inventory, from which it draws its search results. In short, your site’s odds of appearing in SERPs increase.
To check if your website is already indexed, follow these steps:
Step 1: Log in to Google Search Console (GSC).
Step 2: On the left sidebar menu, click “Coverage” under the “Index” submenu.
Step 3: Click the “Valid” tab. In the “Details” section, click “Submitted and Indexed” to see indexed URLs.
Another method is to type site: https://[yourwebsite].com/[yoururl] in Google’s search bar. If your webpage appears, then your website is already indexed.
This method is unreliable, though. Google might have already indexed your content, but it may not appear in SERPs because it’s not ranking yet.
You can also use Google Analytics. If you notice organic traffic coming to your site, then it means that your website appears on Google searches and is already indexed.
Third-party software can also be a reliable checker if your URLs are already indexed. For instance, INDEXED.pro regularly checks the website’s URLs to see if they’re indexed on Google.
What to do if my web page isn’t indexed?
After you've already submitted your website and the search engine has indexed its web pages, you may notice that some have been deindexed after several days.
In such a situation, you should go to GSC’s URL Inspection tool and paste the deindexed URL into the tool. You will then see the reason why the URL was deindexed under the Coverage section. Unfortunately, fixing an indexing issue can be cumbersome, so it’s advisable to seek assistance from indexing experts to handle it for you.
In any case, the following article is sure to be of interest to you: How to Get Your Website Indexed by Google in 7 Steps
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Have you successfully submitted your website to the different search engines with our guide?