How to get your WordPress site indexed on Google

Brief Overview of Indexing

So, what’s indexing all about? Imagine your WordPress website making a grand entrance into Google’s colossal digital library. Search engines dispatch crawlers, or little bots, to explore and understand your web pages. They then add these pages to their extensive database. It’s your website’s first step to shining in the search engine results pages (SERPs) and attracting a stream of organic traffic.

What is Indexing?

Indexing is the method by which search engines like Google discover, analyze, and store your web pages. Think of it as a librarian cataloging new books; if a book isn’t cataloged, no one knows it’s available for reading. Similarly, if your web pages aren’t indexed, they remain invisible in the online realm, hidden away from potential visitors.

Submit an XML Sitemap to Google Search Console

Submitting your sitemap to Google is a crucial step in ensuring your website's content is indexed and visible in search results. Here’s how to complete this process:

1. Sign Up for Google Search Console: Begin by creating an account with Google Search Console, a tool that serves as a communication channel between your website and Google’s indexing system.
2. Verify Ownership of Your Site: Google requires verification of website ownership before you can submit a sitemap. This process is facilitated through Google Search Console, where you'll find various methods to verify your ownership.
3. Submit Your Sitemap: Once verified, navigate to the ‘Sitemaps’ section in Google Search Console and submit the URL of your sitemap. This action informs Google about the structure of your site and encourages the indexing of your pages.

Optimizing Your Robots.txt File for SEO

The robots.txt file is a crucial component of your website's SEO strategy. It's a text file located in the root directory of your site, acting as a guide for search engine crawlers, like Googlebot, about which pages or sections of your site should or should not be crawled and indexed. Essentially, it communicates with web crawlers using the Robots Exclusion Standard, a protocol with a small set of commands that can control crawler access to your website content. To locate your robots.txt file, simply add "/robots.txt" to the end of your domain. For example, if your website is www.yoursite.com, you can find your robots.txt file at www.yoursite.com/robots.txt. If you don’t find a file there, it likely means your website doesn’t have one, and you'll want to create one. Here is what your robots.txt file could look like:

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User-Agent: * Allow: /wp-content/uploads/ Disallow: /wp-content/plugins/ Disallow: /wp-admin/ Sitemap: https://yoursite.com/sitemap_index.xml

If you don't have a we've included a few options below to get you started.

Options for generating a robots.txt file:

1. Yoast SEO: Yoast SEO is a comprehensive SEO plugin that offers a range of features, including the ability to edit your robots.txt file directly from the WordPress dashboard. It provides user-friendly interfaces and guidance, making it suitable for beginners and advanced users alike.
2. All in One SEO Pack: This plugin is another popular choice for overall SEO management on WordPress sites. It includes a feature to edit the robots.txt file, allowing you to easily add or modify directives as needed.
3. Rank Math: Rank Math is a fast-growing SEO plugin known for its intuitive user interface and powerful features. It allows you to edit your robots.txt file and provides additional tools to improve your website's SEO.
4. WP Robots Txt: WP Robots Txt is a more focused plugin that specifically helps with the customization of the robots.txt file. It's a great option if you're looking for a plugin dedicated solely to managing this aspect of your site.
5. (Advanced) File Manager: While not specifically an SEO plugin, File Manager allows you to access and edit the files on your WordPress site, including the robots.txt file. This plugin is useful if you're comfortable navigating your site's backend and prefer a more hands-on approach.

By carefully managing your sitemap and robots.txt file, you can significantly enhance your website's SEO performance, ensuring that your content is efficiently crawled, indexed, and visible in search engine results.

Setting Up Priority Indexing with WildSEO

Priority indexing is a crucial feature in the realm of SEO, particularly for websites that frequently update content or require timely indexing of new pages. WildSEO harnesses this capability by integrating with the Google Index API, offering a streamlined approach to ensure your website's content is quickly recognized and indexed by Google.

How WildSEO Enhances Indexing Speed

WildSEO's integration with the Google Index API is a game-changer for website owners. This connection allows WildSEO to communicate directly with Google's index, providing a faster track for your website's content to be indexed. Here's how WildSEO optimizes the indexing process:

• Direct Submission to Google Index API: WildSEO enables you to submit URLs directly with Google's Index API. This feature is particularly beneficial for new or updated content that needs to be indexed quickly to maintain the relevance and freshness of your website in search results.
• Automated Detection of New Content: WildSEO continuously monitors your website for new or updated content. When changes are detected, it automatically submits these URLs to the Google Index API, ensuring that your latest content is prioritized for indexing.

Conclusion

As we conclude this journey through the world of SEO and indexing, it's clear that WildSEO is more than just a tool; it's a catalyst for change. By leveraging the power of the Google Indexing API, WildSEO not only accelerates the indexing process but also ensures that your WordPress site gains the visibility it deserves. Whether you're managing a new blog or an established e-commerce platform, WildSEO is your partner in navigating the SEO landscape, turning the challenge of indexing into an opportunity for growth and success.