Technical SEO · Glossary
What is IndexNow?
IndexNow is an open protocol that lets a website tell participating search engines straight away when a page is added, updated or deleted, instead of waiting for them to recrawl it.
Written by Noor KhanWhy IndexNow matters
Faster discovery means corrected facts and new pages can reach search indexes sooner. Microsoft Bing, Naver, Seznam.cz, Yandex and Yep support IndexNow; Google isn't listed among its participants.
How IndexNow works
- You host a key file on your site to prove you control it.
- When a URL changes, your site or CMS sends it to an IndexNow endpoint.
- Participating search engines are notified and can crawl the URL sooner.
How to apply it
- Turn on IndexNow in your CMS, SEO plugin or CDN if it supports it, or call the API from your site.
- Submit URLs after real changes, not on a fixed schedule.
- Keep your XML sitemap and Search Console for search engines that don't use IndexNow.
Example
An online store updates a product's price and stock, and IndexNow notifies Bing straight away so the product page can be recrawled sooner.
Common mistake
Expecting IndexNow to speed up Google. Google isn't among the listed participants, so sitemaps and Search Console still matter.
put this into practice
Not sure how IndexNow applies to your site? Book a strategy call, request a free gap snapshot, or ask the assistant.