By submitting your website to Google, you are letting them know your site is ready for crawling and indexing. After Google started its Search Console in 2015, submitting websites became a big deal. It was like a secret technique for smart site owners to make 100% sure that their site is crawled. Website submission adds extra insurance that search engines will recognize your website content. Let’s see how website submission works-
Is it Necessary to Submit Your Website to a Search Console?
Well, actually, not! You see, Google automatic crawlers are experts in finding new websites and pages independently. Google Crawlers, or Googlebot, are Google’s web crawling bots (often called “spiders”). They systematically scour the internet to discover new and updated pages to be added to the Google index.
The primary method Googlebot uses to discover new pages and websites is through links. When it crawls a webpage, it will examine the page’s content and any linked pages. Moreover, they can sitemap your website files to search your page, website, videos, or other content. There are some benefits you can get by submitting your website to Google.
i) You are ensured to get visibility
By submitting your site to search engines, you tell them your site exists. This makes it easier for your site to show up in search results. It means when someone searches for something related to your site, they have a better chance of finding you.
ii) Faster indexing process
When you submit your site, search engines send bots to crawl it. These bots go through your pages, understand what they’re about, and add them to the search engine’s index. It helps your pages show up in relevant search results.
iii) Google can find your website faster
Waiting for search engines to find your site alone might take a while. But if you submit your site, you’re getting their attention directly, which can speed up the process. It’s better to be safe than sorry!
iv) Effectiveness on locating pages
Sometimes, it’s hard to get noticed with new pages, so you might have to wait for days to get indexed. By submitting your site, you’re helping them find all your pages more quickly and easily.
How to Submit Your Site to Search Engines
Submitting your website to a search engine will require a sitemap. With your website’s sitemap, you can tell search engines where to find it.
A sitemap is a file stored on your server containing information about all your website’s most important pages. Google and other search engines look at your sitemap to understand how your content is linked.
Below we will show you how to get your website sitemap and submit it to a search engine.
How to Get Your Website Sitemap?
After 2014, Google canceled all their URL submission tools, which means you can’t submit your website URL. However, you can submit your website’s XML sitemap to Google Search Console, which has the same benefits as URL submitting. Remember, it’s only for Google; some search engines, like DuckDuckGo, don’t require automatic XML submission.
If you’re using a Content Management System (CMS) to create your website, such as Wix or Squarespace, the CMS will often generate a sitemap automatically. For WordPress, some recommend using a plugin like Yoast SEO or Rank Math to make a sitemap. But that isn’t necessary. Because WordPress generates your sitemap automatically.
Your sitemap will typically be located on your domain like this – yoursite.com/sitemap.xml. You should see a page like this:
Another common sitemap URL is this – yoursite.com/sitemap_index.xml. A more cleaned-up version of this page is:
Enter one of those URLs into your browser. You should see a page with a list of URLs surrounded by a lot of code. If your browser says it can’t find your sitemap at either of those URLs, you’ll need to check for a robot.txt file. The URL should look for – yoursite.com/robots.txt. And when you go to website page in your browser, your sitemap URL should be listed there, like this:
If you can’t access or don’t have any sitemap for your website, then you need to create a new sitemap from scratch.
How to Submit Your Website to Google?
Remember, you will need your sitemap to submit your website. After you get your sitemap, head over to Google Search Console.
(Note: Verify your website if this is your first time using Search Console. After accessing Search Console, Google will walk you through the steps.)
Click the Sitemaps on the left-hand side of the screen under Index. Then, under the Add a new sitemap heading, paste your sitemap URL into the input provided.
After that, press Submit to keep the changes.
Know More: How Does SEO Work for Your Website?
How to Submit Your Website to Bing?
Submitting a website in Bing is more accessible than submitting a website in Google. Just like Google, You’ll also need your sitemap URL to submit your website to Bing. To do that, open up the Bing Webmaster Tools and click on the Sitemaps on the left. Then, click on the Submit sitemap button.
On the next page, you’ll paste your sitemap URL into the provided form and it’s done.
How to Submit Your Website to Yahoo?
There is a problem with Yahoo. You see, you can’t submit your website to Yahoo. That’s because Bing powers Yahoo’s search engine. If you try to submit your website to Yahoo directly, the search engine will redirect you to the Bing Webmaster Tools. So to have your website appear on Yahoo, you need to submit it to Bing. If the website is indexed in Bing, it will also appear in Yahoo’s search results.
How to Check if Your Site is Indexed or Not Indexed?
Along with the website submission, you should check if your website is indexed. You can check your website index status quickly with the help of a simple tool, Searchenginereports. It’s free, and you can check up to 5 website domains in a day using this tool.
Just put your website URL and hit press index status. You may have to complete a captcha test to complete the process.
If your website is indexed, you should see this-
FAQ
What does it mean to submit my site to a search engine?
Submitting your site to a search engine means letting the search engine know your website exists. This is typically done by providing the search engine with a sitemap. It’s an essential first step in indexing your site and appearing in search results.
Can I submit my site to Bing?
Yes, you can. Submitting your site to Bing operates similarly to Google. Use Bing Webmaster Tools, verify your site, and submit your sitemap for indexing. This helps Bing better understand your site’s content and structure.
How long does it take for my site to appear in search results?
The time it takes for your site to appear in search results can vary. Typically, it might take a few days to a few weeks after submission for a new site to be indexed. Remember, indexing and ranking are two different things – getting a high rank takes time and effort.
Does submission guarantee a top position in search results?
No, simply submitting your site doesn’t guarantee a top position in search results. It just ensures that the search engine knows about your site. To rank higher, you need to focus on SEO strategies such as creating high-quality content, optimizing for relevant keywords, building backlinks, etc.
Do I need to resubmit my site if I update it?
Generally, no. Once a site is indexed, search engines will periodically re-crawl it to check for updates. However, if you make significant changes to your site, like adding many new pages, you may want to resubmit your sitemap.
Is Website Submission Still Viable in 2023?
You necessarily don’t need to manually submit your site to search engines because search engines will find your content eventually.
However, website submission is essential, especially for new websites that need better online authority. According to Zippia, 6 million+ blog posts are published daily across 1.9 billion websites. Google may take days or weeks to find your content and index it on their servers.
Another thing to worry is, indexing, ranking, and authority are different things. If your content is indexed, you will still rank on the 1st pages of Google. Ranking will require precise usage of SEO, patience, and continued dedication to your site with content.
Were our methods helpful? Let us know in the comments. Take care of your site!
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