How to use IndexNow with Rank Math?

WordPress SEO Plugin Rank Math

You need to index your website and all web content in order to drive traffic from organic search, and timely indexing of content isWordPress SEOWithout indexing, search engines won’t be able to find your website, which means your website won’t rank and no one will find it in search results. And, if this happens, you’ll lose out on potential traffic that could be converted into leads and customers.

Rank MathofInstant IndexingAllows you to submit URLs to enabledIndexNow's search engines and help you index your site and its content even without configuring your site with any of these webmaster tools. IndexNow How features can help you instantly send content to Bing and Yandex Submit the URL.

1.What is IndexNow?

IndexNow is a proud initiative of Microsoft and Yandex to crawl websites efficiently so that they can reduce the crawl footprint. Various engines have already adopted the IndexNow protocol.

The protocol works by allowing a website to submit a URL once to the IndexNow API and it will be shared with all participating search engines.Submit one-time website changes and URLs, all participating search engines will be aware of the latest changes on your site so thatCrawl, index, and reflect these changes in search results faster.

When you start submitting URLs, search engines want to verify that those submissions are legitimate and coming from the website itself and not from any malicious elements. Therefore, search engines want websites to generate unique API keys and verify them.

Thankfully, Rank MathAutomatically generates an API key for your website, dynamically hosts it on your website, and makes it available to search engines, so you don’t have to go through all the hassle and can focus more on creating and managing the content on your website.

2.How do I configure automatic URL submission?

To enable IndexNow, go toWordPress Dashboard > Rank Math > Dashboard > Modules,Then enableInstant IndexingModule, as follows:

The rest can be found inConfigure in "Rank Math" > "Instant Indexing" > SettingsYou can select/deselect anything you want to be automatically submitted. Once you have selected your post type, make sure Rank Math has generated an API key. Finally, click "Save Changes" to save your preferences.

Rank Math will now automatically submit the URL to the IndexNow API whenever a new post is published or modified on your site. However, please note thatRank Math does not automatically submit URLs set to NoIndex.

3.Manually submit URL

Rank Math offers a few different options for manually submitting your URLs. Here are them:

3.1、Batch submit URLs

To submit a URL manually, just go toRank Math > Instant Index > Submit URLHere you can add multiple URLs (one per line) for your blog posts, home page, or any other web content.

Then clickSubmit URLbutton, all added URLs will be submitted for indexing without actually visiting Webmaster Tools or configuring it with an API key.

3.2、Submit individual posts/pages

In addition to the Submit URL feature in the Instant Indexing settings, you can always submit posts (or pages) from the Posts page in the WordPress editor.

On the Posts page, when you hover your mouse over a post, you'll see a row of options. SelectInstant Indexing: Submit Home Pageoptions, as shown below.

Once you've successfully submitted your post, you'll see a notification at the top of the page similar to the one below.

3.3、Instant Index Bulk Operations

In some cases, you may need to submit multiple URLs from the Posts page. In such cases, submitting URLs one by one can be tedious, and Rank Math provides bulk operations so you can save time.

To use bulk actions, select the posts you want to submit to IndexNow. Then selectInstant Indexing: Submit PageOptions, and then clickapplicationbutton.

4.Managing API Keys

You can select the "Instant Index" option from the "Rank Math" tab under "Instant Index" under "Settings"Manage Rank Math in the Index settings An API key generated for the IndexNow protocol.

4.1、Changing the interface key

The API Key field displays the API key that Rank Math automatically generates for your website. This API key helps you prove ownership of your website.

In the unlikely event that your API key becomes known to a third party, you can always restore it by clicking theChanging the key" option to regenerate a new key. Rank Math will then generate a new API key for your website within a few minutes.

4.2、Check API key location

As we mentioned earlier, Rank Math dynamically hosts the API keys and makes them available to search engines. If you wish to check if the API key is accessible to the search engines, you can click on the "Available"Check the key" button. A new tab will open and point you to the location of your Rank Math hosted API key.

If the new tab displays your API key, then you can rest assured that the API key will be provided to search engines to verify your site (provided this page is not blocked by robots.txt).

5.Check History

To check the URLs you submitted, you can always visit the History section under Immediate Rank Math Index. You can also check the response code associated with your submission. Ideally, whenever you submit any valid and relevant URL, it should show “200 – OK”. This means that the URL you submitted was submitted successfully without any issues.

Notice:Users will initially see a "202 – Accepted" status. This means that the IndexNow API has accepted the request, but has not yet verified the site with the API key.

6.What are the benefits of IndexNow for publishers?

Single submission:With just one submission to the IndexNow API, webmasters can make all participating search engines aware of changes to their site.
Helps you publish web content faster:IndexNow reduces the crawling demands on servers. That is, all participating search engines will not have to spend more time on exploratory crawls to ensure that all web pages are updated. This will further help reduce the time it takes for content to be indexed and discovered by users.
Reduce server loading time:It improves the performance of the server without burdening the search engine with redundant serving of web pages that it already has.
Reducing global warming pressure: It helps reduce global warming stress by reducing the energy requirements of crawling and indexing.

7.FAQs about IndexNow: Everything you need to know

What does IndexNow mean?

IndexNow is an open source initiative for all participating search engines that aims to change the way content is discovered to a push method. It is a simple ping protocol that lets search engines know that a URL and its content have been added, updated, or deleted, which allows search engines to quickly reflect this change in their search results by crawling and indexing faster.

Which search engines are using IndexNow?

The technology, developed by Microsoft Bing and Yandex, allows websites to easily notify search engines when they create, update, or delete content on their site. Currently, Bing and Yandex are the only search engines using the IndexNow feature, but more are expected to adopt IndexNow.

How does the IndexNow module in Rank Math work?

After enabling the IndexNow module, Rank Math will automatically generate an API key for your website and host it dynamically. For configured post types, when a new post is created, updated or deleted, Rank Math will automatically ping IndexNow and all IndexNow-enabled search engines will be aware of the latest changes on the website.

How many URLs can I submit per day?

Currently, the IndexNow feature does not have any known limit on the number of URLs that can be submitted per day. However, it is always recommended not to take advantage of this.

Despite submitting the URL, why is my URL not indexed?

IndexNow is a way to let search engines know about recent changes to your website. However, crawling and indexing these pages is entirely at the discretion of participating search engines.

score