How to get your website indexed on Google
The five steps in dependency order — crawlable, linked, sitemap, request indexing, worth indexing — realistic timelines, and what does not work.
Getting indexed means Google has crawled your page, understood it, and stored it so it can appear in results. It is not automatic and it is not instant — but the steps are simple, and most of the delay people blame on Google is actually one fixable thing on their own site. Here is the whole process, in the order that works.
Crawled, indexed, ranked: three different things
Keeping these apart saves a lot of confused panic:
- Crawled — Googlebot has fetched the page.
- Indexed — Google has processed it and added it to the index, so it is eligible to appear. This guide is about reaching this state.
- Ranked — the page actually shows up, and where. Indexing does not guarantee a good position; it just makes you eligible to compete.
You cannot rank without being indexed, and you cannot be indexed without being crawlable. So the steps below run in that dependency order.
Step 1: make the page crawlable and indexable
Before anything else, confirm you are not accidentally telling Google to stay out. The two blockers that strand most new pages:
- A
noindextag orX-Robots-Tagheader left over from staging — this one silently keeps a whole site out of Google. - A
Disallowrule in robots.txt blocking the path.
Check both in one pass with the indexability checker. If it comes back clean, Google is allowed in and you can move on. If it does not, fix that first — every later step is wasted until it is resolved.
Step 2: link to the page
Google finds pages by following links. A page with no links pointing at it — an orphan — is the hardest thing in the world to get indexed, because there is no path to it. Two kinds of links matter:
- Internal links. Link the new page from pages Google already crawls often — your homepage, a hub page, a relevant existing article. This is the most reliable, entirely-in-your-control way to get a page discovered.
- External links. A link from another site that Google crawls is a strong discovery signal and a reason for Google to treat the page as worth indexing. Even one or two from real sites help a new domain.
Step 3: submit a sitemap
A sitemap is a list of the URLs you want found. It does not force indexing, but it is the cleanest way to tell Google what exists — especially for a new site with few inbound links. Generate one, reference it in robots.txt, and submit it in Google Search Console. The full process is its own guide: how to create and submit a sitemap, and you can confirm yours is valid with the sitemap checker.
Step 4: request indexing for key pages
In Search Console, the URL Inspection tool has a Request indexing button. Use it for genuinely important pages — a new homepage, a cornerstone article — and be honest about what it does: it adds the URL to a priority crawl queue. It is a polite nudge, not a command.
Step 5: be worth indexing
Google indexes a share of what it crawls, not all of it. If a page is crawlable, linked and submitted but still will not index, the message is usually about value: the page is too thin, too similar to another page, or duplicative. This is exactly the situation the crawled — currently not indexed and discovered — currently not indexed statuses describe. The fix is not technical: make the page genuinely useful and distinct, or consolidate it into a stronger one.
How long it takes
There is no fixed timer. A well-linked page on an established site can be indexed within hours to a few days. A new domain with little authority can take days to weeks, because Google crawls it cautiously until it has reason to trust it. That waiting period is normal and is not a problem to fix — publishing steadily and earning a few links is what shortens it over time.
What does not work
- Spamming Request indexing. Repeated requests for the same URL do not speed anything up.
- “Instant index” and ping services. For ordinary sites these do nothing Google acts on; the Indexing API is only meant for job-posting and live-stream content.
- Mass directory submissions. Low-quality links do not help discovery and can hurt.
If your pages still are not appearing after all of this, work through why a website is not showing up on Google, which takes the causes in order of likelihood, and read URL is not on Google for how to interpret exactly what the URL Inspection tool is telling you.
Frequently asked questions
- How do I get my website indexed on Google?
- Make the page crawlable and free of any noindex tag or robots.txt block, link to it from pages Google already crawls, submit a sitemap in Search Console, and use the URL Inspection tool to request indexing for your most important pages. Then make sure the page is genuinely worth indexing — Google indexes a share of what it crawls, based partly on value.
- How long does it take Google to index a new page?
- There is no fixed time. A well-linked page on an established site can be indexed within hours to a few days. A brand-new domain with little authority often takes days to a few weeks, because Google crawls new sites cautiously until it has reason to trust them. Publishing steadily and earning a few genuine links shortens the wait over time.
- Does requesting indexing in Search Console guarantee my page gets indexed?
- No. Requesting indexing adds the URL to a priority crawl queue — it is a nudge, not a command. Submitting the same URL repeatedly does nothing extra. If a page will not index after a legitimate request, the cause is almost always the page's crawlability or its value, not the number of requests you made.
- Why is my page crawled but not indexed?
- That usually means Google fetched the page but decided not to index it, most often a value or duplication judgment: the page is thin, too similar to another page, or offers little that competing results do not. The fix is to make the page genuinely useful and distinct, or to consolidate it into a stronger page, rather than any technical change.
- Do I need a sitemap to get indexed?
- Not strictly — Google can find pages through links alone — but a sitemap is the cleanest way to tell Google what exists, and it helps most for new sites with few inbound links. It aids discovery, not indexing itself, so pair it with internal links and genuinely useful pages rather than relying on it alone.
- Do instant-indexing tools and the Indexing API work for a normal website?
- No. Google's Indexing API is only intended for job-posting and live-stream (BroadcastEvent) content, not ordinary pages. Third-party 'instant index' and ping services generally do nothing Google acts on for a standard site. Stick to crawlable pages, internal links, a sitemap, and Search Console's Request indexing for key URLs.