Developing your WordPress site yourself could leave you un questions you might need help answering. One of the many things is the need for IndexNow and its uses. So if you are too stuck on what IndexNow is or if you should add IndexNow to your WordPress website? Worry not; we’re here to help you find the answer!
IndexNow is the latest SEO initiative by Microsoft designed to help your WordPress website get indexed more quickly in search engines. It also helps boost discoverability for new content and improve your SEO results in speed.
In the following article, we help you understand what IndexNow is, how it benefits your WordPress website, and most importantly, how to install it and help speed up your SEO results.
Understanding IndexNow
IndexNow is the most recent development that informs search engines about the latest happening on your website, including the addition, updating, or deletion of posts and pages. This helps search engines always update search results and helps speed up the overall SEO results.
As mentioned above, this brilliant initiative was started by Microsoft, and it’s currently compatible with both Microsoft Bing and Yandex. Google has been heard of testing the IndexNow as it helps reduce carbon footprint and is thus environmentally sustainable.
As of now, search engines use XML sitemaps that help discover new content and keep up with updates. The only challenge is that sometimes it takes days or even weeks for search engines to find the latest content updates. This happens because your website is visited at random intervals.
Search engine bots have a high carbon footprint and are comparatively inefficient due to their legacy design. So, when one such bot visits your sitemap, they attempt to visit every single link available on the sitemap and those located inside each page. This causes an increase in the carbon footprint and is otherwise also a resource-intensive process. The IndexNow protocol is designed to solve these problems.
How to add IndexNow to your WordPress website?
Method 1: Adding IndexNow in WordPress using AIOSEO
AIOSEO, the best WordPress SEO plugin currently in use by over 3 million websites, is mainly used on WPBeginner to improve SEO rankings.
With their latest update to add IndexNow support for WordPress, AIOSEO is the first WordPress SEO to do so.
Though most WordPress users are familiar with the AIOSEO plugin, please ensure your plugin has been activated before beginning to add IndexNow.
The following method explains the steps for the AIOSEO premium version as it includes IndexNow and other important SEO features. However, you can also opt for a free version of AIOSEO to try out the process.
Once you have activated AIOSEO, move on to the Feature Manager on your WordPress dashboard. This will allow you to enable the IndexNow feature.
After being enabled, IndexNow automatically configures, and your task here is done!
In a partnership with Microsoft, AIOSEO built an integration system that helps with the smooth process of enabling IndexNow and making the process beginner-friendly. It automatically generates an IndexNow API key for your website and configures it leaving you with little work to do.
You can visit the AIOSEO plugin and go to the General Settings to further verify this. There you will find the Webmaster Tools tab and the IndexNow icon appearing. If you click on it, you can verify that your website’s IndexNow API key has already been configured.
Method 2: Adding IndexNow in WordPress using the IndexNow plugin
Though the existing WordPress SEO plugins are starting to add IndexNow support, several are a long way from it. If you are comfortable with your current SEO plugin and are not looking to switch to AIOSEO, you can directly install the IndexNow plugin.
To begin with, you need to install the IndexNow utility plugin and activate the same.
After activating it, go to Settings, followed by IndexNow on your WordPress dashboard. Here, you need to click on the Get Started button, and it will automatically generate your API key, and everything gets configured and done!
Now, you will be able to see a screen with IndexNow statistics, including successful URL submissions and more.
IndexNow is a great initiative by Microsoft and is adapted by Microsoft Bing and Yandex. Google has been testing support for this, and given its advantages, it is in everyone’s best interest if they adapt it.
Given the convenience and advantages, we believe that all popular website builder platforms will add IndexNow integrations. With AIOSEO leading the way for WordPress, other companies, including Duda, Cloudflare, etc., have begun to add IndexNow integrations in the recent past.
IndexNow offers a brilliant solution for both small scales and large websites. And truly is every SEO professional’s dream come true as it speeds up the SEO results with constant and instant indexing.
Though it has its advantages, it is important to note that IndexNow is not here to replace sitemaps. It is still essential to have XML sitemaps, a news sitemap, video sitemaps, and other advanced sitemaps, as they will only help improve your SEO rankings. IndexNow is just a tool used alongside to help increase your SEO rankings.
We hope the article helps you get clarity on what IndexNow is and whether or not it will be suitable for your website.
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