# How do I get my website indexed by Google?

> To get indexed, add your site to Google Search Console, submit your XML sitemap, make sure nothing blocks Google (no noindex tag, no robots.txt block), link to every page from other pages, and use the URL Inspection tool to request indexing for key pages. Google decides what to keep, so indexing is likely but never guaranteed, and a new site usually takes days to weeks.

Topic: SEO basics. Last reviewed: 12 November 2026. Source: Arcline, https://arcline.celira.space/faq/get-indexed-on-google

## How does Google decide what to index?

Google finds pages mainly by following links and reading sitemaps, then crawls them, reads their content and decides whether to store them in its index. Only indexed pages can show up in results. Google does not index everything it crawls: it can skip pages that are duplicates, very thin, blocked, or marked noindex. So your job has two parts: make pages easy to find, and make them worth keeping.

## What are the steps to get indexed?

1. **1. Add and verify your site in Search Console.** Google Search Console is free. A Domain property covers every version of your address and is verified with a DNS record at your domain company. A URL-prefix property is verified by an HTML file or a meta tag, which is easier on many website builders.
2. **2. Submit your sitemap.** In Search Console, open Sitemaps and enter your sitemap address, usually `/sitemap.xml`. A sitemap tells Google which pages you want found. It helps discovery but does not force indexing. See [what an XML sitemap is](https://arcline.celira.space/faq/xml-sitemap).
3. **3. Remove anything that blocks Google.** Check for a noindex tag on the page, a `Disallow: /` rule in robots.txt, and a login wall. Learn the rules in [robots.txt](https://arcline.celira.space/faq/robots-txt) and [the noindex tag](https://arcline.celira.space/faq/noindex-tag).
4. **4. Link every page from somewhere.** A page with no links pointing to it is easy to miss. Link new pages from your menu, home page or related articles, using descriptive link text.
5. **5. Request indexing for your key pages.** Paste the page address into the URL Inspection tool at the top of Search Console. If it says “URL is not on Google”, press “Request indexing”. Do it for your most important pages, not for hundreds.
6. **6. Make the page worth indexing.** Original, useful text that differs from your other pages gives Google a reason to keep it. Thin or repeated pages are the most common reason for indexing to stall.

## Does requesting indexing work, and can you overuse it?

Requesting indexing puts a page in a queue to be crawled. It does not promise a result, and it does not speed anything up if you press it repeatedly. Google limits how many requests you can make, so keep it for important new or changed pages. If a page stays unindexed after a request, the cause is usually something on the page or site, not the missing request.

## What do the indexing statuses mean?

The Page indexing report in Search Console groups pages by reason. These are the ones people meet most:

- **Discovered - currently not indexed.** Google knows the address but has not crawled it. Add internal links and improve the site's overall quality.
- **Crawled - currently not indexed.** Google read the page and chose not to keep it. Improve the content, or merge it with a stronger page.
- **Duplicate without user-selected canonical.** Google sees several similar pages and picked another as the main one. Set a canonical tag.
- **Excluded by noindex tag.** Remove the tag if you want the page found.
- **Blocked by robots.txt.** Edit robots.txt so Google may crawl the page.

## How long does indexing take?

For a new site, days to a few weeks is normal. For a page on a site Google already visits often, it can be quicker. There is no fixed promise, and being indexed does not mean being on the first page: that is a separate question of ranking, covered in [how to improve your Google ranking](https://arcline.celira.space/faq/improve-google-ranking). If nothing is indexed after a few weeks, work through the diagnosis in [why your site is not showing on Google](https://arcline.celira.space/faq/website-not-showing-on-google).

## What about Bing and other tools?

Bing has its own free Webmaster Tools, with a similar sitemap and URL submission flow, which is worth setting up in the same sitting. Arcline helps with the preparation side: it scans up to 200 public pages, flags pages hidden by noindex, a blocking robots.txt, sitemap problems and pages that nothing links to, and gives exact steps. It does not submit anything to Google for you, so keep Search Console for that. See [features](https://arcline.celira.space/features).

## Related questions

- [Why is my website not showing on Google?](https://arcline.celira.space/faq/website-not-showing-on-google.md)
- [What is an XML sitemap, and how do I submit it to Google?](https://arcline.celira.space/faq/xml-sitemap.md)
- [What is robots.txt, and how should I set it up?](https://arcline.celira.space/faq/robots-txt.md)
- [What does the noindex tag do, and when should I use it?](https://arcline.celira.space/faq/noindex-tag.md)
- [How can I improve my website's Google ranking?](https://arcline.celira.space/faq/improve-google-ranking.md)
- [Do broken links hurt SEO?](https://arcline.celira.space/faq/broken-links-seo.md)