Many think most of the tasks related to sites are expensive and take time, but if you think submitting your site to Google is of cost or even takes time, then we have to let you know you are wrong.
We know all about web crawlers and indexing and search engine optimization by now, but how to submit your website for all of this process to happen might confuse some.
To be honest, this step is easy and is free of cost, and above all, it takes very little time, so it’s essential to make sure you do this no matter what.
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How Can You Submit Your Website to Google?
Well, this may look like a default thing, yes it is, but doing it manually can help you in a lot of ways.
So, as of now, there are two ways you can submit your website and get it indexed, and both methods involve sitemaps.
The first one is using Google Search Console to submit an up-to-date site map. The second one is using Google’s “ping” service to submit your sitemap’s URL,
Since both these methods require a sitemap, it is better for you to know how to find your sitemap.
How to Find Your Sitemap?
Finding your sitemap differs for each site. Here are some ways to find it based on what platform you used to create your site.
You might need to create a sitemap manually if you do not use any platform or CMS (content management system). But sometimes, your site might already have a sitemap by default, so check using the URLs provided below.
If your website uses WordPress, you can use free plugins to create sitemaps. The ones that do that are SEO Framework, Yoast and Rank Math.
You can find the sitemap here if you are using WordPress: yourwebsite.com/sitemap_index.xml
If you are using other platforms like Shopify, Wix or Squarespace, then your sitemap will be available right here: yourwebsite.com/sitemap.xml
If your platform is not mentioned above or if you use CMS, then your sitemap will be available here as many tend to create sitemaps for you by default in case something like that happens, you can find your sitemap in one of the below:
yourwebsite.com/sitemap.xml
yourwebsite.com/sitemap_index.xml
yourwebsite.com/sitemap1.xml
Now, if your sitemap does not appear in any of these links, then you can always use robots.txt to find your sitemap’s location.
In order to use that, type your website URL and add robots.txt to it (yourwebsite.com/robots.txt.)
How to Submit Your Sitemap?
Now that you got your sitemap, the next part is submitting it. You have two options, one is submitting it on Google Search Console, and the next is submitting it by pinging Google.
Google Search Console
Step 1: Create an account if you are new, or else log in to your Google Search Console account.
Step 2: Go to the right property and click on the “Sitemaps” option on the left menu bar.
Step 3: Under “Add a new sitemap, ” paste your sitemap URL and click “Submit.”
This is the most recommended method, as Google Search Console keeps an account of your sitemap and even alerts you on any sitemap errors in the future.
Ping Service
You can get a fresh web crawl of your site using Google’s Ping service. But be warned that even Google says this service is only for new or updated sitemaps.
Using this service for an old or non-updated sitemap is not recommended. To get your site pinged, you need just to type the following into your browser:
http://www.google.com/ping?sitemap=<complete_url_of_sitemap>
You will be navigated to another page, and make sure you get to the “Sitemap Notification Received” at last.
Do I Need to Submit Every New Page Of My Site to Google?
No, it is not needed. You need to submit only some new pages you create on your site to Google as long as it is already included in the sitemap you have submitted.
Is It Necessary to Submit to Google?
Well, it depends. Google will find your site eventually and index it, but you get added benefits if you submit it manually.
Why is it Important to Submit Your Website to Google?
By submitting your website yourself to Google, you catapult the discovery process and others following it, but there are more benefits to it than you think.
Unwanted Pages Get Excluded
Submitting manually using sitemaps helps tell Google what all pages on your site hold importance and what all pages are unimportant or duplicates.
Since sitemaps are carefully picked by excluding all the unwanted pages, it helps give Google a better understanding of your website.
Automatic Addition
So, if you go for this, you also get the added benefit of not needing to add each new page URL to Google manually, as many add them automatically or ping Google without any prompt from your side.
Inclusion of Orphan Pages
Google uses backlinks to crawl through your site, and orphan pages will be left out for sure because they are named orphan pages because of the lack of internal links on them.
It may not solve all your orphan page issues, but it can solve some troubles as sitemaps include these pages but not all platforms do, sitemaps generated by CMS do.
We would recommend you submit a website rather than Google discovering it, as in this fast-paced world, it will help you stay ahead.
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