Our SEO partner Tom starts his work, with any client, by checking one specific thing.

He looks to see if the pages or posts on a website require us to “request indexing”.

Requesting this asks Google to index the page content on Google search.

A search engine such as Google must first index the page or post’s content, before the page or post can even be considered to rank highly in the search results for the page or posts content.

This is essential whether optimising for improved SEO on the website specifically or hoping to rank organically with the content not edited specifically to improve the SEO.

Thankfully, this is quite an easy task for anyone to complete, we will outline the steps on how to do this below.

Step 1: Log in to Google Search Console

Go to: https://goo.gle/searchconsole

If your website already has a Google Search Console account created, please log in to this account.

Otherwise, log in to your personal or business Google account, for example, you may use Gmail and this account can be used for this purpose.

If you need to create a new Google account, click here for instructions on how to do this         

Step 2: Add the website to Google Search Console

NOTE: If your website already has a Google Search Console account created, you can skip this step.

See the screenshot, you will be presented with a screen similar to this:

Our preferred method is the URL prefix method. Add the website URL and click continue. If using a Google account with Google Analytics or Google Tag Manager installed, this might verify the new Google Search Console account. If not, use methods like HTML Tag if you have access to the website CMS head area. Use an HTML file if you have FTP access to upload to the website. Use the domain name provider if you have access to the website’s domain name control panel. Your website designer or manager can assist if you are unsure. Once verified, it might say processing data. Log back in a few days to give Google time to compile the initial data.

For example, see the screenshot below:

Once Google processes the initial data, you can start the request indexing process.

Step 3: Add the first URL from your website to the “Inspect any URL” section.

You will find this section at the top of the page (as shown in the previous screenshot). After adding the URL, press return. You should then see a page similar to this:

Our SEO partner Tom works through pages and posts linked via the main navigation. Google limits new page indexing tasks in one session. If Google stops taking requests, come back in 3-7 days and repeat the process. Simple as that!

This task is straightforward. The time taken depends on the number of pages or posts. Search engines like Google and Bing index pages organically. They follow internal links from the main pages to find new content. However, this task is essential. Google often does not index all pages or posts organically. This task helps improve the amount of content featured in search results. If you have any questions about this, you can contact Tom via his SEO Consultant website.

Why this works

Simon Sinek says “Start With Why,” but I am breaking the rules, and instead ending this post with the “why.” having started with the “how to” nitty gritty.

I, like many others, was wondering, is this always necessary? What if you have a link from your homepage to the blog?

I researched this further and have included below the why manually submitting new content to Google Search Console is still a valuable practice, even with a sitemap and internal links:

How Google Crawls and Indexes (the Ideal Scenario):

1. Crawling: Google uses automated programs called “crawlers” or “spiders” (Googlebot) to discover new and updated pages on the web. They start from a list of known URLs and follow links from those pages to find new ones.
2. Sitemaps: When you submit a sitemap to Google Search Console, you’re essentially providing Google with a “map” of all the important pages on your website. This helps Googlebot efficiently discover your content. Many website platforms (like WordPress with an SEO plugin) automatically update your sitemap when new content is published.
3. Internal Links: As you correctly pointed out, if a new blog post is linked from your homepage or other existing pages on your site, Googlebot should eventually find it by following those links during its regular “rounds” of crawling.
4. Indexing: Once Googlebot crawls a page, it tries to understand what the page is about (analysing text, images, etc.) and then stores that information in its massive index. A page must be indexed to appear in search results.

Why Manual Submission (via Google Search Console’s URL Inspection Tool) is Still Recommended:

While Google will eventually discover and index your new content through sitemaps and internal links, manual submission to Google Search Console (GSC) is a way to expedite the process.

• Prioritisation: When you submit a URL via the “URL Inspection Tool” in GSC and click “Request Indexing,” you’re essentially telling Google, “Hey, there’s new content here! Please come and look at it now.” This puts your new page into Google’s priority crawl queue, significantly speeding up the time it takes for it to be discovered and indexed.
• Faster Visibility: Especially for new websites or less frequently crawled sites, relying solely on Googlebot’s natural crawling can mean delays of days, weeks, or even months before new content appears in search results. Manual submission can get your content indexed within hours to a few days.
• Troubleshooting: The URL Inspection Tool in GSC is also fantastic for troubleshooting. It tells you Google’s status of a specific page, whether it’s indexed, if there are any errors preventing it from being indexed (like a “noindex” tag or a robots.txt block), and how Google sees the page. This is incredibly useful for diagnosing why a page might not be performing as expected.

In summary, it’s not strictly always necessary for Google to find it, but it’s highly recommended and best practice for new, important content (like a blog post you want to rank quickly) to give Google a direct nudge.