Third-Party Indexing Services
While Google offers official ways to submit URLs (detailed below), several third-party services claim to speed up the indexing process for websites and backlinks. These often operate using various methods, some more transparent than others, and typically come at a cost.
It's important to approach these services with caution. Google's algorithms are complex, and guaranteed instant indexing is often an overstatement. However, for specific use cases like indexing many backlinks quickly, some users find value in them.
Popular Indexing Services:
- SpeedyIndex: A well-known paid service specifically focused on accelerating the indexing of various types of URLs, including website pages and backlinks. They often utilize methods intended to encourage Googlebot crawling.
- Other Link Indexing Platforms: Several other platforms exist (often found through SEO forums or communities) that offer bulk URL submission for indexing. They might use techniques like creating temporary pages linking to your URLs, pinging services, or leveraging networks of sites. Research and due diligence are crucial before using any such service.
Getting Indexed by Google: Methods & Best Practices
While third-party tools exist, the most reliable and recommended ways to get your website pages and backlinks indexed involve signaling to Google directly or making your content easily discoverable through standard web practices. Here’s an exhaustive list of methods:
1. Google Search Console: URL Inspection Tool ("Request Indexing")
This is the most direct way to ask Google to crawl and consider indexing a specific URL on a site you own and have verified in Google Search Console (GSC). How it works: Paste the URL into the inspection tool at the top of GSC. After analysis, if the page isn't indexed (or if you've updated it), you'll see a "Request Indexing" button. Clicking this adds the URL to a priority crawl queue. Effectiveness: Generally very effective for a limited number of URLs per day (Google imposes quotas). It's ideal for new pages, significantly updated content, or pages you suspect Google missed. It doesn't guarantee indexing but strongly encourages Googlebot to visit. Note: This method is only for URLs on your own verified properties. You cannot submit external backlinks this way.
2. Submit an XML Sitemap via Google Search Console
An XML sitemap is a file listing the important URLs on your website that you want search engines to crawl and index. How it works: Create an XML sitemap (most CMS platforms like WordPress do this automatically or via plugins like Yoast/Rank Math) and submit its location (e.g., `yourdomain.com/sitemap.xml`) within the Sitemaps section of GSC. Effectiveness: Highly effective and essential for all websites. It helps Google discover all your important pages, especially those that might not be easily found through internal links alone. It doesn't force indexing but makes discovery systematic and efficient. Regularly updating your sitemap is crucial.
3. Strong Internal Linking Structure
Google discovers new content primarily by following links from pages it already knows about. A logical and comprehensive internal linking structure is vital. How it works: Ensure that your new pages are linked from other relevant, established pages on your site (e.g., from your homepage, category pages, related blog posts, footer/header navigation if appropriate). Use descriptive anchor text for these internal links. Effectiveness: Very effective and fundamental to SEO. Well-linked pages are discovered faster and are perceived as more important by Google. Orphaned pages (with no internal links pointing to them) are much harder for Google to find and index.
4. Create High-Quality, Unique Content Regularly
Google prioritizes crawling and indexing sites that consistently produce valuable, original content that satisfies user intent. How it works: Focus on creating useful, engaging, and unique content that people want to read and link to. Update existing content to keep it fresh and relevant. Effectiveness: A foundational long-term strategy. Sites with fresh, high-quality content tend to get crawled more frequently. While it doesn't guarantee indexing of a *specific* page immediately, it increases Google's overall interest in your site, leading to better crawl budget allocation and faster discovery of new URLs.
5. Earn High-Quality Backlinks (Natural Discovery)
When other reputable websites link to your content, it acts as a signal of trust and importance to Google. Googlebot discovers these links while crawling the linking sites. How it works: Create link-worthy content and promote it effectively to earn natural backlinks from relevant, authoritative websites. Effectiveness: Highly effective, especially for indexing *backlinks* themselves and the pages they point to. When Googlebot crawls a known site and finds a link to your page, it will likely follow that link and discover/recrawl your page. This is the primary way Google finds URLs across the web.
6. Use the Google Indexing API (Specific Use Cases)
The Indexing API allows site owners to directly notify Google when pages with `JobPosting` or `BroadcastEvent` structured data are added or removed. How it works: Requires technical setup involving service accounts and API calls. You send an API request to Google specifying the URL and the type of update (UPDATED or DELETED). Effectiveness: Extremely effective *but only for its intended use cases* (jobs and livestreams). Using it for general web pages is against Google's guidelines and likely won't work reliably long-term. Google explicitly states it's not designed for broad website indexing.
7. Ensure Crawlability: Check `robots.txt`
The `robots.txt` file tells search engine crawlers which parts of your site they are allowed or disallowed from accessing. How it works: Check your `yourdomain.com/robots.txt` file to ensure you haven't accidentally included a `Disallow:` directive that blocks Googlebot (User-agent: Googlebot) from crawling the specific URL or directory you want indexed. Effectiveness: Crucial. If a page is disallowed in `robots.txt`, Googlebot won't crawl it, and therefore it cannot be indexed (though it might still appear in search results without a description if linked to heavily from elsewhere).
8. Remove "noindex" Tags/Headers
A `noindex` directive explicitly tells search engines not to include a page in their index. How it works: Check the page's HTML source code for a meta tag like `` or ``. Also, check the HTTP headers for an `X-Robots-Tag: noindex` header (often used for non-HTML files like PDFs). Remove these directives if you want the page indexed. Use the URL Inspection tool in GSC to check the indexing status and detected directives. Effectiveness: Absolutely essential. If a `noindex` directive is present and respected by Google, the page will not be indexed, regardless of other signals.
9. Social Media Sharing (Indirect Signal)
Sharing your URLs on popular social media platforms can sometimes lead to faster discovery, although links from most social platforms are `nofollow` and don't pass direct SEO authority. How it works: Share links to your new content on platforms like Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, etc. Effectiveness: Low direct impact on indexing itself, but can increase visibility and traffic. Increased traffic and potential discovery by users who might then link to your content can indirectly encourage crawling and indexing. It's more of a discovery/traffic driver than a direct indexing signal.
10. Ping Services (Largely Obsolete)
Historically, ping services allowed you to notify various services (including some search engines) that your site had been updated. How it works: Submitting your URL or sitemap URL to ping services. Effectiveness: Very low to negligible effectiveness for Google today. Google's crawling is far more sophisticated now. Relying on sitemaps and the URL Inspection Tool in GSC is much more effective. WordPress still has a built-in ping function, but its impact on Google indexing is minimal compared to other methods.
In summary: The most reliable path to indexing involves creating high-quality content, ensuring technical accessibility (no blocks, correct sitemaps), building a strong internal link structure, earning quality external links, and using Google Search Console tools strategically. Patience is often required, as indexing is not always instantaneous.