IndexNow
Protocol to notify participating engines of URL changes (not Google).
IndexNow in plain English
IndexNow is an open protocol that lets a website notify participating search engines straight away when a URL is added, updated or deleted. It's supported by search engines including Bing and Yandex, which share submissions with each other. Google doesn't participate. Details are on the IndexNow website.
How to check IndexNow on your site
Check whether your CMS, hosting provider or SEO plugin offers IndexNow. Many do. If you enable it, Bing Webmaster Tools shows submitted URLs. Don't expect it to change anything in Google, and keep your XML sitemap up to date for all search engines.
A worked example
An events venue publishes new dates every week. Its website platform has a built-in IndexNow option, which it switches on. New event pages start appearing in Bing more quickly, while Google continues to discover them through the sitemap and internal links as usual.
Where it usually goes wrong
- Expecting IndexNow to speed up Google indexing.
- Submitting every URL repeatedly, even when nothing has changed.
- Submitting URLs that are blocked or set to noindex.
- Treating it as a substitute for good internal linking.
Why a small site should care
For most UK small businesses, Google is the main source of search traffic, so IndexNow isn't essential. It's a low-effort extra for Bing and other participating engines, especially if your platform or a plugin supports it. It can help those engines pick up price changes, new pages or removed products faster.
It's also worth knowing what it isn't: a way to force indexing. Participating engines still decide whether a page is worth including, so IndexNow speeds up discovery but doesn't replace good content and structure.
Connected technical terms
- Bing: Microsoft's search engine; still worth basic optimisation.
- Yandex: A major search engine in some markets; less central for UK SEO.
- XML sitemap: A file listing important URLs to help search engines discover pages.
- Crawl: When a search engine bot discovers URLs by following links and sitemaps.
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