Indexed pages refer to web pages that a given search engine contains in its database, in other words in its “search index”. Page indexing is the process through which the bots of a certain search engine crawls the Internet in search of new pages, or updates on already indexed pages.
The robots, also known as crawlers, usually examine each page of a website, analyze all of its aspects in detail, and then include this data in their index. Moreover, crawlers come back to websites periodically to check for updates, good or bad, which they add in their ledgers. They also use these periodic crawls to assess the rank of a website. So, the more often a website is updated – added new content to keep the site relevant, fixed responsiveness issues, implemented new SEO changes, etc – the higher the website’s rank.
In contrast, a website that was left without proper maintenance for a long time will become less and less relevant. And the more outdated it becomes, the less interesting or reliable the information, hence the lower the rank.
Why are indexed pages important?
The relationship between page indexing and SEO is more complex than it seems at first. To begin with, the indexing of the URL is essential if you dream of meeting positioning objectives in search results. As much as you optimize a page, if it is not indexed, you will not get any rank from the search engine or visits from users.
So, only indexed pages are given a certain position on the SERP. But, the exact position will depend on the rest of the on-page and off-page SEO factors that you have worked on up to and from that moment. That’s right, your indexing will change if you leave your site unattended.
These factors are joined by others that we can control to a greater or lesser extent, depending on each one of the factors. The factors we speak of are:
- Content publication rate;
- Content quality;
- Site updates;
- Existing competition
Thereto, indexing at a quantitative level also affects the SEO strategies positioning of a page. More URLs indexed under the same domain take on more weight in the search engine than the competition. Of course, that is only as long as these URLs are qualitative too, as quantity is not the only relevant factor relevant.
How to do page indexing in Google?
Google is the most used search engine in the world. Even in strongly domestic-oriented countries such as Russia where the household name for a long tie was Yandex.com, Google has already exceeded the 50% usage. Therefore, it is understandable that webmasters are interested in having their pages, articles, and indexed by Google as soon as possible.
Imagine you offer time-sensitive content or seasonal products – e.g. at the beginning of the school year, for Christmas, or for the summer holidays – and you have just launched a new e-shop or rebranded it and migrated it to a new domain. How welcomed is that early indexing from Google when your business’ future depends on it?
There are several ways to have your pages or new content indexed fast and help you out in this situation. however, the fastest and probably most effective of all are the following two strategies. So either choose one of the steps below or combine them. Whatever you do, these steps will allow you to create the prerequisites for fast content indexing – the basic condition for getting early traffic.
Indexing through Webmaster Tools and Google Search Console
Not only can Google be notified of the creation of new pages through tools that are commonly referred to as Webmaster Tools. But, Bing and Yahoo search engines for example use their own Webmaster Tools.
However, Google’s tools set, which we are mostly interested in, was once called Google Webmaster Tools (GWM) and is now divided into separate blocks depending on your focus. For site management especially, Google provides the Search Console, a free service for administrators who want to keep track of the sites they manage and their positions in search results.
Webmasters can give Google the exact URL of the page they made changes to, and ensure that it indexes it as quickly as possible. This helps especially with classic situations that occur after renaming an identifier URL where that Google starts indexing a 404 error – page not found for the previous link. In the worst case, it will take several months for the crawlers to understand that you have changed the identifier of already indexed pages. But by adding the link into the Google Seach Console, you speed up the process, avoiding these issues.
The same goes for both already indexed pages that were simply updated, as well as new pages. Webmasters simply notify Google of the changes, and then Google sends its crawlers to analyze and index the new content. Again, this is not a mandatory process, as Google bots will eventually get to your content – new or updated – and will index it. This is simply a speed-up system to get indexed pages faster.
Indexing by links
Another effective way to get a website indexed fast is to use internal linking, where you link the new content with that from already indexed pages. Most commonly, robots visit indexed blogs or forums with the possibility of RSS feeds because their content often changes. If you manage such a page and its focus allows it, make sure you alays use links from the site to new pages, and search engine robots will easily find and index your content.
Alternatively, work on backlinks and ask for a link from others who manage interesting and related sites with already indexed pages similar to yours. This will help not-yet future indexed pages get attention from Google bots, but you will also attract more traffic, and your overall SEO will benefit as Google considers backlinks as an authority indicator.
