Recently a client who we’d just launched a new website for asked me a great question: How long will it take for my new website to show up on Google?
I’m going to be honest. It is impossible to give you an exact time frame for how long it takes for a new website to show up on Google. Some websites can take as little as four days. While others can take anywhere between four weeks and six months for Google to crawl and index your website.
Pretty disappointing, right?
Well, no, because although nobody can guarantee your new website will be ranking within days, there is still plenty you can do to help Google notice it.
What happens when Google indexes a site?
Google indexes websites via an algorithm (which can change like the wind in the Midwest) and bots. These bots crawl the internet and pour over billions of pages.
When it finds your page, it reads the content on your website according to the instructions in your robot.txt file. The bot crawls the sites and follows links provided by the sitemap (which you need to keep up to date).
The content the bot discovers is sent back to the Google server and added to the search engine’s database. This information is then fed into computer programs that note how often the bot visits a website and the number of pages it needs to fetch.
Sites are then rewarded if their pages are relevant and valuable with a high ranking.
10 ways to help Google index your coaching website.
To give your new coaching website the best possible chance of being indexed quickly, try these tips:
1. Create an XML Sitemap
Before you submit a sitemap, first, you need to create one. I recommend an XML Sitemap, not HTML. You can do this with several WordPress plugins, including:
Follow your chosen plugin’s instructions to create your sitemap (if you have a web designer/developer, they may be able to do this for you).
2. Submit your Sitemap
Once you have your sitemap, you’re ready to submit it to search engines. Just copy the sitemap URL from your site and then:
- Google Submission
- Visit Google Search Console > Select property (website) > Sitemaps > Paste Link > Submit
- Bing Submission
- Visit Bing Webmaster Tools > Sitemaps > Paste Link > Submit
Okay, the latter might not be Google, but it’s good to have it elsewhere too. Oh, and make sure you keep your sitemap updated whenever you add pages to your website. If you’re using one of the plugins I listed above, they will do this for you.
3. Install Google Analytics
Installing Google Analytics gives Google a little wave to tell it that it is active and ready for indexing. It is also a great way to track marketing metrics (we’ll talk about that another day, eh?)
4. Check your Robots.txt file isn’t being blocked
The Robots.txt file communicates with web crawlers and web robots. You need to check this isn’t blocking search engines from crawling your content.
You can check this via Google Help or ask the person who designed your website to check it is set up correctly.
5. Create an RSS feed
RSS feeds update automatically when adding new pages to your website. Yep, another little wave to search engines that your site is active.
You can ask your web designer about adding an RSS feed. And you can find out more about them on RSS Wikipedia.
6. Write high-quality blog posts regularly
If you never update your blog, visitors will think it is a dead site and move to one of your competitors. By writing regular, valuable blog posts, you stand a better chance of being indexed on Google.
In fact, in a study by Tech Client, it was found that websites with active blogs have 434% more indexed pages on Google than those without.
Wow!
7. Link your articles internally
When you write a blog post, link to another that compliments it. This tells search engines that your content is high quality and that you have a series of posts users will find helpful.
8. Get links from influencers
Get your article(s) featured and linked on a website with a major influence in your niche, where possible. Why? Because Google sees it as quality content and rewards you with a faster and higher search engine placement.
9. Join industry directories
These will usually already be high on search engines, and adding your website to them will boost your credibility.
10. Create a Google Business profile
Creating a Google Business Profile is free and shows up on the right side of Google when people search for your business. You can add photos, business details, and updates — plus, it helps Google see you’re a real business.
Patience pays off.
As I said at the start, there is no guarantee your new website will show up on Google within days. It is much more likely to take weeks (though hopefully not much longer than that!).
So remember: be patient.
Need help getting your website indexed?
Then maybe I can help.
If you have a WordPress website and all of the above sounds confusing, visit my Website Care page to see how I can get your website indexed faster.
I hope you found this helpful!
Jennie
