Crawlers. In the ever-evolving landscape of SEO, they’re a necessary evil.
A critical component in ensuring that your content is discovered, indexed, and ranked by search engines.
However, the traditional approach to SEO often involves a passive stance – waiting for search engines like Google to crawl your site on their own schedule.
This can lead to delays in your content being found and ranked, affecting your site’s visibility, and ultimately, its success.
One powerful tool ecommerce sites, news outlets, weather services, blogs and other digital entities are using to communicate their content changes to search engines is IndexNow.
This free, open-source protocol helps maintain your relevancy and position in search engines by allowing you to proactively notify them of the new, updated, or removed content on your website.
However, the effectiveness of IndexNow relies on the ability to identify what qualifies as a significant update to your content. It’s crucial to understand that not every change on your website is important enough to necessitate a notification to search engines.
Instead, focus on substantial content changes that genuinely enhance your website’s value as these updates won’t improve search engines’ ability to index your pages or the ranking of your content.
According to Fabrice Canel, Principal Product Manager for Microsoft, Bing, “To reduce server load and conserve resources, IndexNow should only be updated for meaningful changes.”
For example, a minor tweak in a blog’s footer or a slight adjustment in a stock price might not necessitate an IndexNow notification.
However, substantial updates like new product pages, updated pricing, a breaking news story, or a product becoming out of stock are prime candidates for IndexNow notifications.
Some examples of meaningful changes for several different industries would include:
In a domain where timing can make or break a sale, IndexNow is a valuable tool to help ensure customers always have access to your most current and accurate product information.
Note: To avoid overloading servers with unnecessary updates, do not update constantly fluctuating inventory levels. A good rule of thumb is to monitor when inventory levels are low and promptly submit a deletion to IndexNow of the product once levels have diminished.
In the fast-paced world of news, where every second counts, IndexNow empowers news platforms to disseminate breaking stories with remarkable speed.
For sites with moderate to extreme fluctuations, it can be especially difficult to know when to notify IndexNow to strategically ensure content remains current in search engine results. While each site is different, here are some tips on when to consider updating IndexNow:
Note: Keep in mind that not all websites are created equal, and the way you interact with IndexNow can vary depending on your Content Management System (CMS) or coding approach. Some CMSes like Wix or Duda have direct integration with IndexNow, while others like WordPress have a free Open Source IndexNow plugin that handles IndexNow notifications for you. If your CMS has seamless integration with IndexNow, you’re in good hands, as we work with them to ensure the highest quality and accuracy of submitted URLs.
Having better online visibility isn’t just about having a website.
It’s about your latest content being found. With these guidelines, you’ll ensure that your content is not just changing but changing intelligently for better search engine visibility.
Visit IndexNow/bing to learn more.
Co-authored by: Valerie Wells, Product Marketing Manager, IndexNow
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Featured Image: BestForBest/Shutterstock
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