This tool helps you submit URLs to Bing's IndexNow API for immediate indexing. Select a project, verify its configuration status, and enter the URLs you want to index. IndexNow sends URLs directly to search engines without the need for them to crawl the site. See more: Index now
In the competitive world of SEO, having your content discovered and indexed quickly by search engines plays a crucial role. Effective indexing not only helps your website appear sooner on the search engine results pages (SERPs) but is also the foundation for attracting quality traffic and converting potential customers. Understanding this importance, the IndexNow tool was created as a breakthrough solution to significantly optimize the indexing process.
IndexNow is a joint initiative by Microsoft Bing and Yandex, designed to change how search engines discover new or updated content. Instead of waiting for crawlers to follow a schedule, IndexNow allows websites to proactively "notify" search engines immediately about changes. And at Solann Software, we are proud to offer a powerful integrated IndexNow tool solution, helping you easily leverage this benefit to the fullest. Let's explore what is indexing? and how Solann's SEO software, especially the basic tool package with its integrated IndexNow tool, can help you speed up.
IndexNow is a simple, open protocol developed by Microsoft Bing and Yandex. It allows websites to directly inform search engines whenever content on the site is added, updated, or even deleted. Instead of the traditional "pull method", where search engines must constantly crawl billions of web pages to find changes, IndexNow operates on a "push method".
How it works: When a URL on your website changes, the website sends a simple "ping" to the IndexNow server. This server then notifies participating search engines (like Bing, Yandex) about the changed URL. As a result, search engines can prioritize crawling these URLs and quickly update their index.
This difference helps reduce the delay between the time content changes and the time it is updated on the search engine. To learn more, you can visit the official IndexNow website at indexnow.org.
Implementing the IndexNow tool brings many significant benefits, contributing to improving the overall SEO effectiveness of your website:
This is the most obvious advantage. Your new or updated content will be indexed faster, appearing sooner in search results. This is especially important for news, new products, or time-sensitive content.
IndexNow helps reduce unnecessary crawling. Bots focus only on URLs that have actually changed, saving bandwidth, reducing server load, and improving website performance.
Content that is indexed faster has a better chance of ranking sooner, increasing visibility and attracting potential traffic.
Minimizing unnecessary crawling means reducing energy consumption by data centers, contributing to a reduction in carbon emissions related to internet activity.
To ensure your content is effectively recognized by search engines, don't forget to use specialized indexing tools.
The IndexNow tool was initially an initiative of Microsoft Bing and Yandex. These are the two main search engines that fully support this protocol. In addition, some other search engines have also begun to implement support for IndexNow, including Seznam (popular in the Czech Republic) and Naver (a leader in South Korea).
This trend shows that IndexNow is gradually becoming a widely accepted open standard. Many experts expect that more search engines will join, expanding the protocol's reach. You can learn more through Bing Webmaster Tools and Yandex Webmaster.
To better understand the value of IndexNow, let's compare it with popular indexing methods:
| Method | How it works | Indexing Speed | Pros & Cons |
|---|---|---|---|
| Natural Waiting | Website waits for search engine bots to come and crawl the data on their own | Several days to a few weeks | No additional configuration needed, but it is very slow and unreliable |
| Submit Sitemap | Provide a list of URLs via Webmaster Tools | A few days | Relatively easy to set up, but search engines still process on their own schedule |
| Manual Indexing Request | Submit individual URLs through the Search Console/Webmaster Tools interface | A few hours to a few days | Has higher priority, but is limited in the number of URLs and must be done manually |
| Google Indexing API | Notify Google directly via API | A few hours | Fast, can be automated, but is limited to certain types of content and only applies to Google |
| IndexNow | Website proactively "pushes" information about changes to search engines | A few hours | Fast, efficient, supports multiple search engines, not limited by content type |
In summary, IndexNow does not completely replace other methods like sitemaps, but it provides an instant, effective notification channel, helping your content to be prioritized and processed significantly faster than relying solely on traditional methods.
There are many ways to integrate and use the IndexNow tool, depending on your website's platform.
For WordPress websites, a plugin is the easiest way. Microsoft has released an official, free IndexNow plugin. After installing and activating the "IndexNow" plugin from the WordPress plugin library, you just need to go to the plugin's settings and click "Get Started". The plugin will automatically generate an API key and configure itself. Common features include automatic URL submission on change, manual submission, viewing history, and retrying failed submissions.
Rank Math, a popular SEO plugin, has built-in "Instant Indexing" functionality that uses the IndexNow protocol.
Although plugins make integrating IndexNow on WordPress easy, you can absolutely implement this protocol for non-WordPress websites (e.g., static sites, Joomla, Drupal, Shopify, or websites custom-coded in PHP, Python, Node.js, etc.).
You need to generate your own API key (a unique string of characters, e.g., using a UUID). The key must be at least 8 characters and at most 128 characters long, containing only alphanumeric characters (a-zA-Z0-9) and hyphens (-).
Create a text file (e.g., your-api-key.txt or indexnowapikey.txt) containing your API key. Place this file in the root directory of your website so that search engines can access and verify it (e.g., https://yourdomain.com/your-api-key.txt).
When a URL is new, updated, or deleted, you need to send an HTTP POST (recommended) or GET request to the API endpoint of a search engine that supports IndexNow.
API Endpoint:https://www.bing.com/indexnowhttps://yandex.com/indexnowhttps://search.seznam.cz/indexnowhttps://api.indexnow.org/indexnowurl: The single URL you want to notify.host: The domain of the website.key: The API Key you generated.keyLocation: The full URL pointing to the text file containing the API key.urlList (for POST requests): An array of URLs you want to submit (up to 10,000 URLs).Integrate this request-sending logic into your content management system (CMS) or content publishing workflow so that notifications are sent automatically whenever there is a change.
Example GET request:
HTTP GET Request
https://api.indexnow.org/indexnow?url=https://yourdomain.com/page-a.html&key=your-api-key&keyLocation=https://yourdomain.com/your-api-key.txtExample POST request (JSON):
HTTP POST Request
POST /indexnow HTTP/1.1
Content-Type: application/json; charset=utf-8
Host: api.indexnow.org
{
"host": "yourdomain.com",
"key": "your-api-key",
"keyLocation": "https://yourdomain.com/your-api-key.txt",
"urlList": [
"https://yourdomain.com/url-1",
"https://yourdomain.com/folder/url-2",
"https://yourdomain.com/url-3"
]
}Many major CMS platforms and CDNs (like Cloudflare) have also started to offer built-in integrations for IndexNow, simplifying this process.
To get the most out of the IndexNow tool, you should:
Regularly check your API Key and ensure the file containing it is not blocked by robots.txt. Do not share this key publicly or embed it directly in client-side source code to avoid spoofed requests.
Use Bing Webmaster Tools ("URL Inspection" or "Crawl Information" section) to check if the page has been indexed. If not, review for technical issues.
Maintain an updated XML sitemap and submit it through Bing Webmaster Tools to ensure completeness.
Use analytics tools to monitor changes in rankings and traffic to evaluate the effectiveness of IndexNow.
200 OK: The request was accepted and processed successfully.202 Accepted: The request was accepted but is pending processing.400 Bad Request: The request is invalid due to incorrect formatting. Fix: Check the URL structure and JSON payload.403 Forbidden: The API Key is invalid or the keyLocation file was not found. Fix: Double-check the API Key and the path.422 Unprocessable Entity: The URL or URL list is invalid. Fix: Ensure the URLs belong to the registered domain.429 Too Many Requests: Too many requests in a short period. Fix: Reduce the frequency of submissions.When deleting a page, submit that URL to IndexNow with a 404 (Not Found) or 410 (Gone) status code to:
Although detailed and public case studies on the direct effectiveness of IndexNow are still being collected and analyzed by the SEO community, we can envision its benefits through real-world scenarios for different types of websites:
News sites publish articles continuously. IndexNow helps new articles and breaking news get indexed and appear on Bing News or Yandex search results almost instantly, increasing the chances of reaching readers first.
When a new product is launched, a price changes, or stock status is updated, IndexNow helps this information get updated quickly on search engines. This is especially important during peak shopping seasons or short-term promotions.
For bloggers who frequently publish new posts or update old content, IndexNow ensures that these changes are quickly recognized by search engines, keeping content fresh and giving it a better chance to rank for target keywords.
New job postings need to be displayed quickly to potential candidates. IndexNow can help these listings get indexed early, increasing the chances of finding suitable candidates.
Although Google has not yet officially joined IndexNow, optimizing for Bing and Yandex through this protocol still brings significant benefits, especially if your target audience uses these search engines. Furthermore, adopting new technologies and adhering to open standards is often a positive signal that your website is well-managed and up-to-date.
At Solann SEO Software, we understand that website optimization is a continuous process. Our SEO Software is designed to be comprehensive, and of course, it includes a built-in IndexNow tool.
With Solann, you don't need to install multiple plugins or deal with complex API configurations. Our IndexNow feature provides:
Experience the difference that the IndexNow tool in Solann Software can make. This feature is integrated into our basic tool package.
Check out other useful tools from Solann like our index checker tool, index potential assessor tool, and learn about the google indexing api tool.
It is an open protocol that helps websites directly notify search engines (Bing, Yandex) when content changes, speeding up indexing.
Mainly Microsoft Bing and Yandex. Also, Seznam and Naver.
Some sources say there is no limit, but it should not be abused. Plugins may have their own limits (e.g., 10,000 URLs/day). According to the official IndexNow documentation, you can submit up to 10,000 URLs per POST request and there is no hard limit on the number of requests per day, but it is recommended to only submit URLs when they actually change.
IndexNow only notifies. The final indexing depends on the search engine. Check your website's technical aspects (robots.txt, errors, content quality). A search engine may not index a URL for many reasons, such as poor quality content, duplication, technical issues on the page, or the page being blocked by robots.txt or a noindex tag.
Yes, this is a good way to quickly remove content (by notifying a 404/410 URL).
Rank Math automatically generates an API Key and pings IndexNow when content changes (is created, updated, or deleted).
You can name the file whatever you like (e.g., indexnowapikey.txt or your API key's name with .txt). This file must be placed in the root directory of your website so it can be accessed via https://yourdomain.com/file-name.txt. You then need to declare this path in the keyLocation parameter when sending the API request.
Besides viewing the submission history in your plugin or tool, the best way is to check in Bing Webmaster Tools. Use the URL Inspection tool to see if the last time Bing crawled that URL was after you submitted it via IndexNow. You can also check your server logs to see requests from Bing/Yandex bots after you send an IndexNow notification.
The IndexNow tool plays a crucial role in modern SEO strategy, helping to speed up indexing, improve SEO performance, and save resources. Integrating IndexNow is a smart strategic move.
With Solann SEO Software, you will have a powerful solution with a convenient and effective built-in IndexNow tool, along with pioneering support for the Model Context Protocol (MCP) in the future.
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