The SEO trick for everyday life

New articles and websites are only helpful if they can be found. However, Google does not always index new or changed content immediately. That’s why we want to explain to you today how you can apply for Google indexing quickly and manually. A little SEO trick for everyday use.

The world could be so simple: You build a new website, write one or more articles or other pieces of content and you end up at the top of Google searches in your specialist area.

But the process is not that easy – and that always surprises content creators and clients in departments and companies.

How does new content get into the Google search?

Therefore, sooner or later, many SEO managers, content creators and media professionals ask themselves the question: How do I get my content into the Google search? The answer can supposedly be answered quickly: with enough waiting time.

Put simply, Google continuously scans the entire Internet for new content and websites. As soon as the Google bot discovers something new, the content is analyzed (crawled) and added to the directory.

So as long as the Google bot hasn’t checked out your new website, it’s quite possible that you won’t appear or only appear very far down in the Google search. This applies in particular to updates and subsequently changed content.

Apply for Google indexing: How to start the process manually

However, that is of course suboptimal from the perspective of search engine optimization (SEO), to put it mildly. Conversely, this of course raises the question of whether and how Google indexing can be applied for – and faster.

The positive answer for all website maintainers and content creators is: There is actually a quick and easy way to manually trigger the indexing of new content on Google. In the following we would like to explain exactly how this works.

Step 1: Google Search Console (set up and) open

In the first step you open the Google Search Console (GSC). It is among the most important free SEO tools on the market. If you haven’t set up a GSC for your website yet, you should definitely do so now.

Once you’ve logged into your Google Search Console account, you can apply for Google indexing.

Step 2: Select the correct Google property

If you manage several websites in your Google Search Console, first select the correct website using the drop-down menu in the upper left corner.

If, on the other hand, you have only stored one property or one website in your Google Search Console, you are already on the right page.

3. Enter the URL of new websites or articles

The next step is to check whether content has already been included in the Google search via Google crawling. To do this, simply enter the relevant URL in the search field in the middle.

For example, the URL could be from a new article or blog post you just published. It can also be the new landing page for the new marketing campaign.

Step 4: Apply for Google indexing

After a few seconds or a maximum of two minutes, the GSC will provide you with a results page. There you will see either a green color if your URL is already indexed by Google or a gray version if your URL is not on Google.

If the second scenario applies to your content, you click on “Request indexing” so that Google crawls your (new) content for the first time. So you manually alert the search engine that there is something new to discover.

By the way: You can also apply for a new Google indexing if your website or your content is already indexed. This makes sense, for example, if you have added new content or revised the structure of the website in terms of content and from an SEO perspective.

How long does Google indexing take?

Of course, this question is literally burning under the nails of many SEO managers and especially the managing directors. The answer: it depends.

By applying for Google indexing, we first informed the Google crawler that there was new content. Now we have to wait for the Google bot to become active – and exactly how long that will take cannot be predicted.

Our personal experience over several years shows that on some websites and blog articles it only takes a few minutes or a few hours for manual Google indexing to be successful.

However, there are also new websites, URLs and content that only appear in Google searches after several days or even weeks, despite manual Google indexing in the Google Search Console.

Duration of Google indexing: A tip for SEO managers

Since it can take time, being honest is essential for website maintainers and SEO managers. This is especially true when talking to stake holders. That means: Even before the launch of a website, managing directors should be clearly communicated that search engine optimization is not magic.

Or to put it another way: You don’t just press a button and all the content is on Google. Unfortunately, this attitude is widespread in management.

It is therefore all the more important for those responsible for SEO to convey early and clearly that under bad circumstances it can take a few weeks until all content is finally indexed.

Apply for Google indexing: A valuable SEO tip for everyday life

Nevertheless, the way via the Google Search Console is a helpful and efficient SEO trick for everyday life in search engine optimization, in content marketing and in content creation.

In newsrooms, for example, manual Google indexing offers the opportunity to quickly bring new, exclusive content into the Google search and thus land ahead of the competition with a better SEO structure in the Google ranking.

Also interesting: