To help search engines find your website, verify it in Google Search Console and Bing Webmaster Tools, submit a sitemap for the site, and use each tool’s URL inspection feature for a few priority pages. These steps provide discovery or recrawl signals; they do not guarantee that a page will be indexed, rank, or appear immediately.
What “submitting” a website actually does
Submitting a sitemap or requesting a crawl tells a search engine where to look or that a page may have changed. The search engine still decides whether and when to crawl and index the page. Google says a crawl request does not guarantee inclusion in search results: Google’s recrawl guidance.
Use the method that matches the job: a sitemap for many pages, URL Inspection for a few specific pages, and IndexNow as an optional way to notify participating search engines about ongoing changes.
Step 1: Make sure the site and pages are crawlable
Choose the public version of your site you want indexed, such as the preferred HTTPS hostname. Confirm that the pages you want in search load successfully and are not unintentionally blocked or excluded.
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- Check that the site responds normally rather than returning an error or requiring a login.
- Check
robots.txtfor rules that block the pages or resources search engines need to fetch. - Check that pages intended for search do not have a
noindexmeta tag or HTTP header. - Use the preferred, canonical URL consistently in your sitemap and internal links.
Blocking a page in robots.txt is not the same as preventing indexing: if Google cannot crawl a blocked page, it cannot see a noindex directive on that page. Fix the underlying access or indexing setting before requesting another crawl. Google explains these distinctions in its URL Inspection help.
Step 2: Verify the site in webmaster tools
Google Search Console
Add your site as a property in Google Search Console and complete its ownership verification. You need owner or full-user access to request indexing through URL Inspection. Use Google’s current recrawl instructions for details; exact interface labels can change.
Bing Webmaster Tools
Add or select the verified site in Bing Webmaster Tools before submitting its sitemap or inspecting URLs. Bing’s URL Inspection guide describes the tool and its available reports.
Step 3: Find or create a sitemap
First check whether your website platform already creates a sitemap. Common platforms such as WordPress, Wix, and Blogger are likely to provide one. A sitemap should list the canonical URLs you want considered for search, not every duplicate version of a page.
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Google accepts XML sitemaps, RSS or Atom feeds, and plain text files with one absolute URL per line. An individual sitemap can be no larger than 50 MB uncompressed or 50,000 URLs; larger sites should split the sitemap and can use a sitemap index. See Google’s sitemap guidance. Bing accepts XML, RSS 2.0, Atom 0.3/1.0, and plain text URL lists, as described in its sitemap help.
For a large or frequently updated site, let the CMS or site software maintain the sitemap rather than editing a long list by hand. If you update pages, provide an accurate <lastmod> value where appropriate; do not change it just to suggest activity when the page has not materially changed.
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Step 4: Submit the sitemap to Google and Bing
Submit to Google
- Open Google Search Console and select the verified property for your site.
- Open the Sitemaps report, enter the sitemap URL, and submit it.
- Review the report later for processing status or errors.
You can also list the sitemap’s location in robots.txt, which can help Google discover it when it next crawls that file. Google also documents an API for programmatic sitemap submission. A submitted sitemap is a hint, not an instruction Google must follow or a promise that every listed URL will be crawled: Google’s sitemap documentation.
Submit to Bing
- Open Bing Webmaster Tools and select the verified site.
- Open the sitemap submission tool, enter the sitemap URL, and submit it.
- Check the tool’s report for processing status or errors.
Bing likewise treats sitemap submission as a discovery aid rather than a guarantee. Its accepted formats and submission steps are covered in Bing’s sitemap guidance.
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For a handful of new or recently fixed pages, inspect each URL in the search engine’s own tool. Inspection reports describe that engine’s view of the URL; Google’s standard result reflects the last indexed version, not necessarily what is live now.
In Google Search Console
- Enter the full URL in URL Inspection for the correct property.
- Review whether Google knows the URL, whether crawling and indexing are allowed, and which canonical URL Google selected.
- If you changed the page, run a Live Test to check its current fetch.
- If the page is accessible and eligible, choose the option to request indexing.
“URL is on Google” means the page is eligible to appear; it does not guarantee that it will show for a particular search or appear at a particular time. Repeating a request for the same URL does not make Google crawl it faster, and daily request quotas apply. See Google’s URL Inspection help and recrawl guidance.
In Bing Webmaster Tools
Use Bing’s URL Inspection tool to check Bing’s index information and available crawl, SEO, and markup details. If the page has changed or is newly published, use the indexing request option when it is available and within the tool’s quota. The Bing URL Inspection guide explains the tool.
Step 6: Consider IndexNow for ongoing updates
If your CMS, CDN, or publishing workflow supports it, IndexNow can automatically notify Bing and participating search engines when URLs are added, updated, or deleted. It is a notification protocol, not a way to force indexing or rankings, and not every search engine participates. Bing’s URL Submission guidance describes IndexNow and manual submission. That page states a limit of up to 10,000 manually submitted URLs per domain per day, with the quota resetting at midnight UTC; limits and tool options can change.
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| Method | Best suited to | What it provides |
|---|---|---|
| Sitemap submission | Many pages on a site | A list of URLs that can aid discovery; it does not guarantee crawling or indexing. |
| URL Inspection and indexing request | A few specific new or updated pages | A way to inspect what that search engine knows and, where available, request a crawl. |
| IndexNow | Ongoing changes in a compatible workflow | Automated change notifications to Bing and participating search engines; it does not force indexing. |
These methods complement each other. A verified site with a sitemap is a useful baseline; inspect individual URLs when you need to diagnose or flag a specific page.
How long it can take
Google says crawling can take from a few days to a few weeks. Bing support says a newly published or substantially revamped site may take a couple of weeks to be discovered and shown in rankings. These are not guaranteed deadlines: a page can be crawled without being indexed, or indexed without ranking for the searches you have in mind. Check each engine’s reports rather than repeatedly resubmitting URLs. Sources: Google recrawl guidance and Bing support.
Troubleshoot common status problems
- URL unknown or not discovered: Make sure it is in the sitemap or linked from an accessible page, then inspect or request it in the relevant tool.
- Crawling blocked: Check
robots.txt, server availability, and whether the site or file can be fetched. Google notes that an unreachablerobots.txtcan prevent crawling. - Indexing disallowed: Remove an unintended
noindexmeta tag or HTTP header from pages meant to appear in search. - Duplicate or canonicalized: Check the chosen canonical URL and align sitemap entries and internal links with the preferred version.
- Crawled but not indexed, or indexed but not ranking: A submission cannot override the engine’s indexing and ranking systems. Review the reported reason and improve the page where appropriate rather than sending the same request repeatedly.
- Google says “URL is on Google,” but you cannot find it: The status indicates eligibility, not guaranteed appearance. Review reported issues and remember that visibility for a particular query is not assured.
For Google-specific status definitions, see its URL Inspection help; Bing’s support page covers its guidance.
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