Are you unsure what IndexNow is and whether or not you should use it in WordPress?
IndexNow is a new SEO initiative from Microsoft that aims to speed up the indexing of your website in search engines. This improves the discoverability of new content and speeds up your SEO results.
We’ll show you how to use IndexNow in WordPress to improve SEO results in this article.
What exactly is IndexNow?
IndexNow is a search engine notification system that notifies search engines when a post or page (URL) on your website is added, modified, or deleted. This helps search engines to update their search results more frequently, which improves overall SEO results. Simply told, it’s indexing in a flash!
This is a new Microsoft project that is currently being supported by both Microsoft Bing and Yandex. A Google spokesperson also confirmed that the IndexNow protocol will be tested for environmental sustainability.
XML sitemaps are currently used by all search engines to locate fresh content and updates. Because search engines examine your website at random intervals, it can take days or weeks for search engines to notice new content updates.
Due to their outdated architecture, search engine bots are inefficient and have a significant carbon footprint.
When a search engine bot views your sitemap, it tries to visit every single link on the sitemap, as well as every single link on each individual page. The IndexNow protocol tries to alleviate this resource-intensive procedure.
IndexNow allows your website to simply ping the search engine to let them know when you publish a new post or update an old piece of content, rather than having search engine bots randomly check every single page on your site to see what’s been updated.
This allows them to refresh their search results rapidly while also helping the environment.
IndexNow is a win-win situation for website owners, search engines, and the rest of the world.
As a result, let’s look at how to use IndexNow in WordPress to improve your SEO results.
Method 1: Using AIOSEO, Add IndexNow to WordPress
AIOSEO is the most popular WordPress SEO plugin, with over 3 million websites using it. On WPExpertpro, we use AIOSEO to improve our SEO ranks.
AIOSEO became the first WordPress SEO plugin to include IndexNow support in a recent release.
The AIOSEO plugin must first be installed and activated. See our step-by-step guide on installing a WordPress plugin for more information.
We’ll be utilizing the premium edition of AIOSEO for this lesson because it contains IndexNow and other useful SEO tools. AIOSEO also comes with a free version that you may use to get a feel for it.
To use the IndexNow function, go to AIOSEO » Feature Manager from your WordPress dashboard once it’s been activated.
IndexNow is automatically configured and ready to use once you enable it; no action is required on your part.
AIOSEO collaborated with Microsoft to create this integration, and they made it user-friendly. They generate an IndexNow API key for your website and configure it for you automatically, so you don’t have to.
Go to AIOSEO » General Settings and click on the Webmaster Tools tab to confirm this. There will be an IndexNow icon there, and if you click it, your website’s IndexNow API key will be pre-configured.
AIOSEO also includes a Link Assistant, a redirection manager, and other useful features to help you enhance your WordPress SEO ranks.
We offer a step-by-step guide on how to set up All in One SEO effectively, as well as for instructions on how to migrate from Yoast, RankMath, and other SEO tools to AIOSEO.
Method 2: Using the IndexNow plugin, add IndexNow to WordPress.
While some other WordPress SEO plugins have begun to support IndexNow, the majority still do not. You can utilize this option instead of switching to AIOSEO if you don’t want to move to AIOSEO.
The IndexNow utility plugin must first be installed and activated. See our article on how to install a WordPress plugin for more information.
You must go to Settings » IndexNow in your WordPress dashboard after activation. You’ll need to click the Get Started now button, which will generate your API key and configure everything for you.
Following that, you’ll see a screen displaying IndexNow statistics such as successful URL submissions and other information.
That’s all there is to it; you’ve successfully integrated IndexNow into WordPress.
Final Thoughts on IndexNow and SEO in the Future
IndexNow is a new initiative that Microsoft Bing and Yandex have already adopted. Google is reportedly testing support for this, and we sincerely hope they adopt it.
We expect that IndexNow connections will be introduced to all popular website builder platforms, with AIOSEO leading the way for WordPress, but other firms such as Duda, Cloudflare, and others have also implemented IndexNow integrations in recent months.
IndexNow is a fantastic solution for both small and large sites, and it’s an SEO pro’s dream come true because it finally speeds up SEO results with near-instant indexing.
It’s vital to note that IndexNow is not a substitute for sitemaps. To help boost your SEO ranks, you should still have XML sitemaps, video sitemaps, news sitemaps, and other advanced sitemaps. To achieve a competitive advantage, you should use IndexNow in conjunction with sitemaps.
We hope you found this post useful in learning how to use IndexNow with WordPress.
Comments are closed.