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To submit a website to Google or Bing, make its pages accessible to crawlers, publish a sitemap containing the preferred URLs, verify your site in each search engine’s webmaster tools, and submit the sitemap there. For a small number of Google pages, use URL Inspection; for changing URLs on a site that supports it, IndexNow can notify participating engines. These steps request discovery or recrawling—they do not guarantee indexing or higher rankings.
What “submitting a website” does—and does not do
Search engines can discover pages by following links, so manual submission is not required for every site. Submission gives an engine a discovery or update signal: a sitemap can point to many URLs, while inspection tools and notification protocols can flag particular URLs. The engine decides whether and when to crawl a URL and whether to include it in results.
Think of the process as three separate tasks: make the page crawlable, help the engine find it, and check what happened. A sitemap or notification cannot fix a blocked page, replace useful internal links, or compel an engine to index a page.
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Before submitting: check your pages and sitemap
Make important pages reachable
Link important pages from other pages on your site using links search engines can follow. Google recommends crawlable links as a way to help its systems discover pages. Check that the page loads and is not unintentionally blocked by robots rules or a noindex directive.
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Look for a sitemap your CMS already creates
Many content-management systems publish a sitemap automatically. Check your CMS or site’s SEO settings before creating another one; Google’s sitemap overview explains discovery and sitemap options at Google Search Central’s sitemap overview.
Use a sitemap to list the preferred, canonical version of each page—not every duplicate URL variation. Google treats sitemap URLs as a canonical preference, not a command. Keep lastmod accurate: it should reflect a significant change, such as updated main content, structured data, or links, rather than a cosmetic copyright-year change.
- Use fully qualified absolute URLs and UTF-8.
- Google’s limit is 50 MB uncompressed or 50,000 URLs per sitemap. Split larger collections into multiple sitemaps and, if useful, use a sitemap index.
- XML works broadly. Google also documents support for RSS or Atom feeds and plain-text URL lists in applicable cases.
See Google’s sitemap building guidance for file requirements and formats.
How do I submit my website to Google?
- Check your sitemap. Find the sitemap your CMS publishes, or create one with the preferred canonical URLs of pages you want Google to discover.
- Add and verify your site in Google Search Console. Choose the property that covers the URLs you need to manage and complete the verification method offered for it.
- Submit the sitemap. In Search Console, open the Sitemaps report, enter the sitemap URL, and submit it. Google also allows sitemap submission through its Search Console API or by adding a
Sitemap:directive torobots.txt; Google will learn about that sitemap when it next crawls the file. Details are in Google’s sitemap submission instructions. - For a few individual pages, use URL Inspection. Inspect the page’s URL in Search Console and request indexing if appropriate. You must be an owner or full user of the property to request a crawl. Use a sitemap for many URLs; Google limits individual requests, and submitting the same URL repeatedly does not make it crawl faster. Follow Google’s recrawl request guidance.
- Check reports and allow time. Use the Sitemaps report to review processing and URL Inspection to see a page’s reported state. Fix reported access or sitemap problems, then allow time for crawling and processing.
Submitting a sitemap is a hint, not a promise that Google will download it, crawl every listed page, or index any particular page.
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How do I submit my website to Bing?
- Add and verify the site in Bing Webmaster Tools. Follow the setup checklist for the site you want to manage. See Bing’s site verification guidance.
- Submit the sitemap. In Bing Webmaster Tools, open Sitemaps for the selected site and submit its sitemap. Bing supports XML sitemaps and sitemap index files, Atom, RSS, and text files with one URL per line. You can also declare a sitemap in
robots.txt. The tool reports processing status and discovered URL information. See Bing’s sitemap documentation. - For individual URL changes, choose a notification method. Bing offers manual URL submission and APIs, and recommends IndexNow for changes. Its help page currently states a manual limit of up to 10,000 URLs per domain per day, with quota resetting at midnight UTC; the limit is subject to revision, so check the current page before relying on it. Details: Bing’s URL submission guidance.
- Check status and investigate issues. Use sitemap reporting and Bing URL Inspection to look for access, crawl, or indexing problems. Submission does not guarantee inclusion: Bing still needs to crawl and assess the URL. Its indexing troubleshooting guidance describes possible causes.
When to use each discovery method
| Method | Best fit | What it requires | Important limit |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sitemap | Helping an engine discover many preferred URLs | A valid sitemap; Search Console or Bing Webmaster Tools can provide submission and status reporting | A hint only; does not guarantee crawling or indexing |
| Google URL Inspection | Requesting a crawl of a small number of Google URLs | Owner or full-user access to the relevant Search Console property | Request quota applies; repeating a request does not speed crawling |
| Bing manual URL submission | Submitting individual URL changes in Bing Webmaster Tools | Verified site access in Bing Webmaster Tools | The help page states up to 10,000 URLs per domain per day; quota may change |
| IndexNow | Notifying participating engines about added, changed, or deleted URLs | A site key and key file hosted on your site, plus a request from an integration or your system | Notification does not guarantee crawling or indexing; support varies |
What IndexNow does
IndexNow is a protocol for notifying participating search engines when URLs on your site are added, changed, or deleted. A site creates a key, hosts a UTF-8 key file on its own host, and sends changed URLs—individually or in a batch—through an HTTP request. Some CMSs and plugins offer an integration, so check what your existing setup supports before implementing it yourself. Consult IndexNow’s documentation for the protocol and setup.
A successful notification makes participating engines aware of the change; it does not guarantee a crawl or index entry. The engines that participate and available CMS integrations can change, so confirm current support for your site and target engine.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.How long does it take Google to index a new website?
Google says crawling can take anywhere from a few days to a few weeks. That is an estimate for crawling, not a deadline for appearing in search results: crawling and indexing are separate, and Google does not guarantee inclusion. Use Search Console reports to monitor what Google reports rather than repeatedly resubmitting the same URL.
If pages still do not appear
- Check access: Confirm the URL loads and is not blocked by robots rules or a
noindexdirective. Use Google URL Inspection or Bing URL Inspection to investigate the relevant engine’s view. - Check links: Make sure important pages are linked from pages crawlers can reach. A sitemap is not a substitute for crawlable internal links.
- Check sitemap entries: Confirm listed URLs are live, canonical, and suitable for discovery; review the engine’s sitemap processing status for errors.
- Look beyond submission: Bing lists blocked URLs, duplicates, crawl problems, and page quality among possible reasons a page may not appear. Submission itself cannot resolve those issues.
- Give the process time: Google says repeating an individual crawl request does not accelerate it, and Bing still assesses URLs after submission.
For a new Google site, prioritize accessible, useful pages and links that help crawlers discover them while allowing time for crawling and processing. The submission steps help with discovery; they do not decide ranking.
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