{"id":15643,"date":"2023-06-26T09:34:02","date_gmt":"2023-06-26T09:34:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/rankz.co\/blog\/?p=15643"},"modified":"2023-07-06T04:44:10","modified_gmt":"2023-07-06T04:44:10","slug":"indexing-in-seo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rankz.co\/blog\/indexing-in-seo\/","title":{"rendered":"What is Indexing in SEO? How It Works in Google"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_82_2 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-grey ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<div class=\"ez-toc-title-container\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<span class=\"ez-toc-title-toggle\"><a href=\"#\" class=\"ez-toc-pull-right ez-toc-btn ez-toc-btn-xs ez-toc-btn-default ez-toc-toggle\" aria-label=\"Toggle Table of Content\"><span class=\"ez-toc-js-icon-con\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/rankz.co\/blog\/indexing-in-seo\/#How_Do_We_Define_Indexing_in_SEO_and_Why_Is_It_Important\" >How Do We Define Indexing in SEO and Why Is It Important?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/rankz.co\/blog\/indexing-in-seo\/#How_Search_Engines_Work\" >How Search Engines Work<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/rankz.co\/blog\/indexing-in-seo\/#How_Long_Does_Indexing_in_SEO_Take\" >How Long Does Indexing in SEO Take?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/rankz.co\/blog\/indexing-in-seo\/#Difference_between_Crawling_and_Indexing_in_SEO\" >Difference between Crawling and Indexing in SEO<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-5\" href=\"https:\/\/rankz.co\/blog\/indexing-in-seo\/#Boosting_Your_Websites_Indexability_Tips_Strategies\" >Boosting Your Website\u2019s Indexability: Tips &amp; Strategies<\/a><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-3' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-6\" href=\"https:\/\/rankz.co\/blog\/indexing-in-seo\/#1_Improve_Your_Internal_Linking\" >1. Improve Your Internal Linking<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-7\" href=\"https:\/\/rankz.co\/blog\/indexing-in-seo\/#2_Fix_Broken_Links\" >2. Fix Broken Links<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-8\" href=\"https:\/\/rankz.co\/blog\/indexing-in-seo\/#3_Setup_Your_robotstxt_File_Correctly\" >3. Setup Your robots.txt File Correctly<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-9\" href=\"https:\/\/rankz.co\/blog\/indexing-in-seo\/#4_Submit_a_Sitemap\" >4. Submit a Sitemap<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-10\" href=\"https:\/\/rankz.co\/blog\/indexing-in-seo\/#5_Publish_Content_More_Often\" >5. Publish Content More Often<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-11\" href=\"https:\/\/rankz.co\/blog\/indexing-in-seo\/#6_Avoid_Using_Forms_or_Complicated_Scripts_Unless_Absolutely_Necessary\" >6. Avoid Using Forms or Complicated Scripts Unless Absolutely Necessary<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-12\" href=\"https:\/\/rankz.co\/blog\/indexing-in-seo\/#7_Make_Your_Website_Faster_to_Load\" >7. Make Your Website Faster to Load<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-13\" href=\"https:\/\/rankz.co\/blog\/indexing-in-seo\/#Conclusion\" >Conclusion<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n\n<p>The purpose of any search engine is to provide the most suitable and relevant answers that address the user\u2019s query. But before Google and its competitors can do that, a database populated with years if not decades\u2019 worth of content is necessary to call upon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This is referred to as indexing in SEO terminology. It\u2019s a process that takes place even before algorithmically deciding which websites should appear at the top for a given search query. However, indexing in SEO is not something that is to be taken for granted. If Google can\u2019t find your website, you can\u2019t expect it to get indexed, let alone ranking for any search terms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you\u2019re aiming to get <a href=\"https:\/\/rankz.co\/blog\/direct-vs-organic-traffic\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">organic search traffic<\/a> to your website, it\u2019s a good idea to educate yourself on how to do indexing in SEO and what\u2019s involved at every step of the way. We\u2019re going to help you with that by touching upon the topics of crawling, indexing, and ranking a website and how it all relates to getting your content appear in the<a href=\"https:\/\/rankz.co\/blog\/serp-features\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"> SERPs<\/a> for your desired search queries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"How_Do_We_Define_Indexing_in_SEO_and_Why_Is_It_Important\"><\/span><strong>How Do We Define Indexing in SEO and Why Is It Important?<\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Before Google adds a website to its library, it first needs to be aware of its existence. After the condition is met, it sends a search engine crawler (also referred to as Google spider) to investigate. Whether it stumbles upon the content for the very first time or simply detects that it has been updated since its last visit, it will capture an image of it and transfer it back to its database.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>What we described above is crawling &#8211; a crucial step that search engines need to take before even indexing an SEO site, so it\u2019s crucial to break it down before we can define indexing in SEO. In layman terms, indexing refers to organizing the information gathered in a way the search engines can pull up and display within a moment\u2019s notice when someone searches for it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Keep in mind this goes beyond the content itself. In fact, <a href=\"https:\/\/rankz.co\/blog\/google-marketing-strategy\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Google<\/a> also analyzes every single multimedia element on the website, including images, videos, and so forth. With that being said, you can make Google\u2019s indexing job either harder or easier depending on how you structure your website (more on this later).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"How_Search_Engines_Work\"><\/span><strong>How Search Engines Work<\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>To get a complete picture of how search engines work and at what point indexing in <a href=\"https:\/\/rankz.co\/blog\/types-of-seo\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">SEO<\/a> comes in, we\u2019ve chronologically organized the steps that take a piece of content from being discovered and all the way to actually appearings in Google SERPs. The stages are as follows:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Crawling<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p>Crawling is the very first step in the process. Think of it as the discovery phase; this is where search engine crawlers discover content they\u2019ve never encountered before, content that has been updated, and content that used to exist but no longer does, either due to being manually removed by the webmaster or something as unfortunate as the expiration of a domain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>To do this, search engines automate the process through intelligent scripting. The terms \u2018crawler\u2019, \u2018spider\u2019, and \u2018bot\u2019 all refer to the same piece of code that runs through the web and discovers fresh content. Keep in mind not every URL is crawled in an instant &#8211; some are added to Google\u2019s TO-DO list, meaning the crawlers will be coming back to check up on them later.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\" start=\"2\">\n<li><strong>Indexing<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p>After the crawling phase is complete, Google needs to make sense of the data collected. This is referred to as indexing in SEO. After dissecting the data, it knows exactly what the page is about and what section of the content is dedicated to a certain topic or subtopic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The latter is also known as latent semantic indexing in <a href=\"https:\/\/rankz.co\/blog\/benefits-of-seo\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">SEO<\/a>, a process where Google detects whether certain long-tail keywords are present on a given page and classify the content that surrounds them based on how helpful it is to the reader and whether it matches the intent of that particular search term.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Once the indexing process is complete, Google now has a massive library of organized information it can recall in the bat of an eye. Of course, this requires some massive server resources only a multi-billion company can afford and maintain, but for massive IT giants like Microsoft and Google, it\u2019s not an obstacle at all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Also, don\u2019t forget that Google has publicly come out with the statement that indexing every single page on the internet is not the end goal; it\u2019s mostly the ones that provide some kind of value to the user.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\" start=\"3\">\n<li><strong>Ranking &nbsp;<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p>Finally, we have ranking, the last part of the search engine algorithm equation. Here, Google looks at all sorts of qualifiers that go beyond how well a content is written and whether it matches up with the search intent of the query. When someone searches for a particular term, prior to providing the answers, the search engine also wants to prioritize high authority sources as well as make sure the user experience is on point (preference is given to mobile-optimized and quick-to-load webpages).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In essence, Google now has a tough job of assigning a ranking to each of the qualifying web pages from its library in relation to that particular search term. No one (except the top Google executives) knows exactly how it all works, but a lot of it revolves around relevance, user experience, and the authority of the source that provides the answers. That\u2019s the basic concept.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"How_Long_Does_Indexing_in_SEO_Take\"><\/span><strong>How Long Does Indexing in SEO Take?<\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Once the spiders crawl a page (and that\u2019s an \u2018if\u2019), you can expect a significant delay before it gets indexed and much more so before the content actually starts ranking for any search terms. The delay can be anywhere from 1 day to weeks or possibly even months.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When it comes to crawling, indexing, and the frequently thereof, certain high-authority pages will always be given priority treatment by the algorithm. An example of this is the BBC, a widely known and reputable news site. The reason being is that Google wants to be the first to provide the freshest content, and a trusted resource will always be crawled and indexed more often compared to a fresh domain that still has lots to prove.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In addition, the world wide web is growing at a rapid pace and the fact that an average website is getting increasingly resource-heavier doesn\u2019t help with the speed of indexing either.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Difference_between_Crawling_and_Indexing_in_SEO\"><\/span><strong>Difference between Crawling and Indexing in SEO<\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>To re-emphasize the points made above, crawling and indexing in SEO are two different processes. Crawling refers to Google\u2019s crawlers following the web of links, just like a spider would. It\u2019s what can be referred to as the discovery phase. Indexing, on the other hand, involves analyzing a piece of content to determine what it\u2019s about and how successfully and relevantly it answers a given search query. Organizing the content and storing it into a searchable database is also something that happens during the indexing phase.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Boosting_Your_Websites_Indexability_Tips_Strategies\"><\/span><strong>Boosting Your Website\u2019s Indexability: Tips &amp; Strategies<\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The good news is that you can improve your website\u2019s crawlability and indexability to a certain degree. Remember that you don\u2019t need to outcompete the BBC &#8211; only your direct competition!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>With this in mind, we\u2019ll share some concrete tips and strategies on how to boost your website\u2019s indexability:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"1_Improve_Your_Internal_Linking\"><\/span><strong>1. Improve Your Internal Linking<\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Are you linking to related sections of your website from other places than just the main menu, or, worse yet, not at all? As you write your content, make sure to reference another article you\u2019ve published on your domain if it provides additional helpful information the reader can learn. At the same time, you\u2019ll make it easier for search engine crawlers to discover the entirety of your website. Win-win!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"2_Fix_Broken_Links\"><\/span><strong>2. Fix Broken Links<\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Sometimes, broken links can occur due to changing the site structure, migrating to another CMS, or other reasons. Consequently, Google will not be able to find the URLs referenced in these cases, so you\u2019re going to need to give it a helping hand by creating redirects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"3_Setup_Your_robotstxt_File_Correctly\"><\/span><strong>3. Setup Your robots.txt File Correctly<\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>In your website\u2019s robots.txt file, you can specify which pages you\u2019d like search engine spiders to crawl and which ones you\u2019d like to exclude. Unless you know exactly what you\u2019re doing, it\u2019s easy to get this wrong and unwillingly declare all pages as blocked from crawling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"4_Submit_a_Sitemap\"><\/span><strong>4. Submit a Sitemap<\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>A sitemap is like a roadmap to your website\u2019s content. It makes it easy for the search engine crawlers to find even the most remote corner of your website that would otherwise remain hidden. If you\u2019re using a CMS like WordPress, you can generate one automatically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"5_Publish_Content_More_Often\"><\/span><strong>5. Publish Content More Often<\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Google likes fresh content and the websites that provide it. By publishing frequently, you will give search engine crawlers more reason to visit your website on a regular basis. It basically conditions them to expect a new post soon after the previous one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"6_Avoid_Using_Forms_or_Complicated_Scripts_Unless_Absolutely_Necessary\"><\/span><strong>6. Avoid Using Forms or Complicated Scripts Unless Absolutely Necessary<\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Script-heavy websites are generally harder to crawl than sites that are simpler in their structure and design. Naturally, this can create a problem as far as indexability goes. Similarly, hiding the content deeply in difficult-to-access forms makes it harder for crawlers to do their job, and it\u2019s not doing you any favors when it comes to indexing in SEO.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"7_Make_Your_Website_Faster_to_Load\"><\/span><strong>7. Make Your Website Faster to Load<\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Your visitors do not have an unlimited reservoir of patience, and neither do Google\u2019s search engine crawlers. The former have better things to do than wait around while the latter need to conserve their limited hardware resources. Unless the content loads in a reasonable amount of time, they will leave. Therefore, find a way to improve your load times which is often achieved by making your website lighter and as bare-bones as possible (often, this is a fine balancing act between function and form).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Conclusion\"><\/span><strong>Conclusion<\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Indexing in SEO plays an important role in the <a href=\"https:\/\/moz.com\/beginners-guide-to-seo\/how-search-engines-operate\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">discoverability of your website<\/a>. Attracting search engine crawlers to visit your website is the first step, but it is not enough; you also need to make sure to remove any obstacles that would otherwise lie in their way. Only then can you hope to progress to the final phase, which is qualifying your website to appear in the SERPs under the relevant search terms.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The purpose of any search engine is to provide the most suitable and relevant answers that address the user\u2019s query. But before Google and its competitors can do that, a database populated with years if not decades\u2019 worth of content is necessary to call upon. This is referred to as indexing in SEO terminology. It\u2019s [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":15730,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[60,98,45],"class_list":["post-15643","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-seo","tag-backlinks","tag-indexing-in-seo","tag-seo"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/rankz.co\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Untitled-3.png","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/rankz.co\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15643","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/rankz.co\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/rankz.co\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rankz.co\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rankz.co\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15643"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/rankz.co\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15643\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rankz.co\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15730"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rankz.co\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15643"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rankz.co\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15643"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rankz.co\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15643"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}