What is Indexnow? A Beginner's Guide for Website Owner

What is IndexNow?

IndexNow is an open-source indexing protocol launched by Microsoft Bing and Yandex that lets any website push URL changes directly to participating search engines. By sending one HTTP GET request with an API key, a site instantly signals new, updated, or deleted pages, cutting crawl delays and server load.

IndexNow changes this traditional "pull" system, where search engines come to you, into a "push" system, where your website actively tells search engines about changes. It's a simple "ping," or a quick signal, that informs search engines when a web page has been added, updated, or deleted. This represents a significant shift in how content is discovered on the internet. Instead of passively waiting for search engines to find new information, website owners can now actively initiate the process of getting their content indexed. This capability allows for more timely publication of news, product updates, or other time-sensitive information, directly impacting how quickly users can find the most relevant content and how businesses can maintain a competitive edge.

This innovative protocol was developed by Microsoft Bing and Yandex in 2021 and has since become an open-source project, meaning its code is freely available for anyone to use and improve. The importance of IndexNow extends beyond just faster indexing for individual websites. It also contributes to a more efficient internet. By providing a clear signal about what has changed, IndexNow helps search engines prioritize their crawling efforts, reducing the need for them to constantly check every page on every website. This reduction in redundant crawling translates into less energy consumed by the vast data centers that power search engines, which aligns with broader environmental goals and supports the development of a more sustainable digital infrastructure.

If you want to submit your website URLs to indexnow easily, you can use our free IndexNow URL Submitter Tool. With simple setup, You can submit your website URLs to Indexnow, Yandex, Bing, Naver, and other search engine.

Why IndexNow Matters: Superpowers for Your Website

IndexNow offers several powerful advantages for website owners, transforming how their content is discovered and presented online.

Get Found Faster: New Content Appears Quicker in Search Results

The most immediate and impactful benefit of IndexNow is speed. When a website publishes a new article, adds a new product, or updates important information, IndexNow helps search engines become aware of these changes almost instantly. This means that fresh content can appear in search results much, much faster than through traditional crawling methods. This accelerated indexing provides a distinct advantage for websites that frequently update their content, such as news platforms, online stores (e-commerce), or active blogs. For industries where information freshness is paramount, like breaking news or rapidly changing stock levels, IndexNow transforms content visibility from a passive waiting game into an active, strategic play. This can directly influence a website's market share, user engagement, and even revenue, as it enables a "first-mover advantage" in search results, which is crucial for visibility and traffic.

Always Fresh: Users See the Most Current Information

In today's fast-paced digital world, users expect to find the most current information available. Imagine searching for a product and seeing an outdated price or reading a news story that's no longer accurate. IndexNow helps ensure that when people search for something, they are presented with the most up-to-date information from your site. For online stores, this means accurate prices, product descriptions, and stock levels can show up quickly in search results, preventing user frustration and improving the overall shopping experience.

Happy Search Engines: Helps Them Understand Your Site Better and More Efficiently

IndexNow doesn't just tell search engines that something has changed; it prompts them to revisit and process the updated content quickly. This helps search engines gain a better understanding of your website's current state, leading to more accurate representation in search results.

This protocol also plays a crucial role in managing what's known as "crawl budget." Think of a crawl budget as the amount of time and resources a search engine's "spider" (the bot that explores websites) can spend on your site within a given timeframe. For very large websites, such as big online shops with thousands of pages, managing this budget can be a significant challenge. IndexNow helps search engines focus their efforts on what's new or updated, rather than wasting time re-crawling pages that haven't changed. This efficient allocation of resources means that valuable content is prioritized for indexing, preventing important updates from being missed or delayed due to inefficient crawling of static or less critical pages. This translates into better resource management for both the website (reducing server load and bandwidth) and the search engine (optimizing processing power and energy consumption).

Less Work for Everyone: Saves Energy and Time

By directly notifying search engines about changes, IndexNow reduces the need for search engine bots to constantly re-crawl your entire website just to check for updates. This can significantly reduce the load on your website's server, improving its performance and saving energy. This efficiency also extends to the search engines themselves, as they use less energy by focusing their crawling efforts, contributing to a more environmentally friendly internet.

How IndexNow Works (It's Easier Than You Think!)

The process of using IndexNow is designed to be straightforward, especially with the help of modern website tools.

Your Website Sends a Secret Signal (the "Ping")

When a website owner adds a new page, updates an existing one, or removes content, their website sends a special message, or "ping," to a participating search engine. This message includes the specific web address (URL) of the page that has changed. It's a simple, direct communication that bypasses the traditional, slower crawling process.

The "Key" to Proving It's Really You (Website Ownership Verification)

To ensure that the signal is genuinely coming from your website and not from someone trying to send false information, IndexNow requires a special "key". This key is a unique code, usually a long string of letters and numbers, that is placed in a small text file on your website's main directory. When your website sends a ping, the search engine checks for this key to confirm that you own the site and are authorized to send updates for it. Many modern website tools, such as content management system (CMS) plugins, can automatically generate and manage this key for you, simplifying the technical setup.

One Signal, Many Search Engines Get the Message

One of the most remarkable features of IndexNow is its "one-to-many" communication model. A website owner only needs to send their "ping" to one IndexNow-supporting search engine, such as Bing. That search engine then automatically shares your update with all the other search engines that are part of the IndexNow network. This means that you don't have to send separate messages to Bing, Yandex, Naver, and others individually. A single message does the work of notifying multiple search engines at once. This powerful network effect significantly reduces the effort and complexity for website owners, making it much easier for small businesses and individual content creators to manage their search engine visibility without needing extensive technical resources. As more search engines join IndexNow, the value of this single-point submission increases exponentially.

Easy Ways to Set It Up: Using Website Tools (Plugins) or Simple Steps

Implementing IndexNow is straightforward, with various options available depending on a website's setup:

• For most people, using a plugin is the easiest way. If a website uses a popular platform like WordPress, there are several plugins available, such as Rank Math, All in One SEO, and Microsoft Bing's own IndexNow plugin. These plugins can automatically handle IndexNow submissions in the background. Users typically just need to install and activate the plugin, then enable IndexNow with a simple setting.
• Website builders like Wix and BigCommerce have also integrated IndexNow directly into their platforms for their users. For many users of these services, IndexNow functionality is automatically included, requiring no extra steps to benefit from faster indexing.
• For more advanced users or custom-built websites, it is possible to set up a simple script to send the "ping" directly to the IndexNow API whenever content changes. This method provides complete control over the submission process.
• IndexNow can also be used to inform search engines about pages that no longer exist (resulting in a "404 error") or have moved to a new address (through "redirects"). This helps search engines update their records quickly, preventing users from encountering broken links in search results.

This widespread integration of IndexNow across various platforms means that even small businesses, bloggers, or individuals without deep technical knowledge can benefit from real-time indexing. This levels the playing field in search engine optimization (SEO), allowing a broader range of websites to quickly gain visibility for their fresh content, rather than being disadvantaged by slower traditional crawling methods. This accessibility promotes a more dynamic and up-to-date web environment overall.

Who's Using IndexNow? The Growing Team

IndexNow has rapidly gained traction across the web, with a growing number of search engines, website builders, and internet services adopting the protocol. This broad adoption by diverse players, from core search engines to infrastructure providers and end-user platforms, signals IndexNow's growing importance and potential to become a standard in how content updates are communicated. This widespread integration means that the benefits of IndexNow are becoming accessible to a vast number of websites, from small blogs to large enterprises, making it a significant trend in the evolution of web indexing and SEO. It demonstrates a collaborative industry effort towards a more efficient web.

Search Engines On Board

Several major search engines actively support IndexNow, sharing updates with each other to ensure content is discovered quickly across their platforms:

This table highlights that while Google's full adoption is still pending, a significant portion of the global search landscape is already embracing IndexNow.

Website Builders and Tools That Help You

Many popular website platforms and tools have integrated IndexNow support, making it easy for their users to benefit from faster indexing:

• Wix: This website builder automatically uses IndexNow for its Premium plan users, notifying search engines whenever changes are made to their sites.
• WordPress: For websites built on WordPress, popular SEO plugins such as Rank Math, All in One SEO, and Microsoft Bing's own IndexNow plugin offer simple ways to enable the protocol.
• BigCommerce: This e-commerce platform provides an app that automatically notifies search engines about updates to products, categories, or pages within an online store.
• Other CMS Platforms: Other content management systems like Duda, Milestone CMS, and Cradle CMS have also integrated IndexNow, providing automated submission capabilities.

Big Companies and Services Joining In

Beyond website builders, other major internet services and companies are also adopting IndexNow, further solidifying its presence in the online ecosystem:

• Content Delivery Networks (CDNs): Companies like Cloudflare and Akamai, which are crucial for delivering website content quickly to users around the world, are supporting IndexNow. They can even send the notifications on behalf of websites at a network level, streamlining the process.
• SEO Companies: Many companies that provide tools and services for search engine optimization (SEO) are integrating IndexNow into their offerings. This includes firms like Botify, Oncrawl, Onely, and Yext, which help businesses manage and improve their search visibility.
• Large Websites: Many large and well-known websites, such as eBay, LinkedIn, MSN, and GitHub, have also adopted IndexNow to ensure their vast amounts of content are indexed efficiently.

The widespread adoption by such diverse players across the web ecosystem indicates IndexNow's growing importance and potential to become a standard in how content updates are communicated. This suggests a collaborative industry effort towards a more efficient and up-to-date web.

Important Tips for Using IndexNow

While IndexNow simplifies content discovery, understanding a few key practices ensures its most effective use. This highlights that even simplified technologies require responsible usage to maintain their effectiveness and avoid negative consequences, such as being rate-limited by search engines or wasting crawl quota. It also educates the user that "faster" does not mean "unlimited" or "unconditional."

What to Send and What Not to Send (Only Changed Pages)

It is important to use IndexNow for its intended purpose: notifying search engines about recent changes. This means only sending a "ping" for pages that have been recently added, updated, or deleted. It is not meant for submitting old changes from months or years ago.

For pages that update extremely frequently, such as real-time weather information or stock prices that change every minute, it is generally better not to send a ping for every single tiny modification. Over-submitting the same URL can lead to search engines slowing down or even ignoring your requests.

IndexNow can also be used to inform search engines about pages that no longer exist (showing a "404 error" when visited) or have moved to a new address (using "redirects"). This helps search engines quickly remove outdated links from their results or update them to the new location.

Checking if It's Working (Monitoring Your Submissions)

After sending a "ping" to IndexNow, a website should typically receive a "200 OK" message. This indicates that the search engine has successfully received the request.

To verify if pages are being indexed faster, website owners can use tools provided by search engines, such as Bing Webmaster Tools. Many website plugins that integrate IndexNow also offer dashboards or logs that show the status of submitted URLs.

It is crucial to remember that while IndexNow tells search engines about changes, it does not guarantee that a page will be crawled or indexed. Search engines still have their own criteria for what content they choose to include in their results, and it can still take some time for changes to fully appear.

Conclusion: The Future of Getting Found Online

IndexNow represents a significant advancement in how websites interact with search engines, offering website owners unprecedented control over the visibility of their content. By providing a direct and instant way to communicate changes, IndexNow empowers websites to ensure their latest information, products, or news reaches online searchers much faster than ever before. This capability provides a real advantage in the competitive digital landscape.

In today's fast-paced online world, being quick and up-to-date is paramount. IndexNow helps websites stay fresh and relevant, which in turn can improve how search engines perceive and rank their content. As search technologies continue to evolve, with more integration of artificial intelligence (AI-powered discovery), real-time shopping modules, and generative search experiences, the ability to instantly communicate content changes will become even more critical. Adopting IndexNow now positions a website to perform better in these emerging search environments, ensuring continued visibility and relevance. It is an investment in adapting to the changing landscape of information retrieval, helping websites stay ahead of the curve. By proactively informing search engines, IndexNow is shaping the future of how content is discovered and accessed online, making the web a more efficient and responsive source of information for everyone.