You can't force Google to index a site. You can remove blockers and give it reasons to crawl: a sitemap, links from indexed pages, and a few requests.
LLaunchScaler·Published ·8 min read
You can't force Google to index a site, but you can make it faster to find and cheaper to crawl. Remove anything that blocks crawling, verify the site in Search Console and submit a sitemap on day one, link every important page from pages Google already indexes, get a handful of links from other sites, and request indexing for your 5 to 10 most important URLs.
Those are the levers Google documents. The rest, such as resubmitting the same URL, paying an indexing service or posting links on social media and waiting, does little or nothing on its own.
Can you force Google to index your site?
No. Google's guide to how Search works says it "doesn't guarantee that it will crawl, index, or serve your page," and that it "doesn't accept payment to crawl a site more frequently, or rank it higher. If anyone tells you otherwise, they're wrong." What you control is whether Google can crawl the site and how much reason it has to.
Google learns about URLs three ways: pages it has visited before, links it extracts from known pages, and sitemaps you submit. Its crawl budget guide describes crawl demand, how much Google wants to crawl a site, as driven by the site's size, update frequency, quality and relevance, with popularity ("URLs that are more popular on the Internet tend to be crawled more often") and staleness among the factors you can influence. Every lever below either removes a block or raises that demand.
Lever
Effect on indexing speed
Why
Remove crawl and index blockers
Required
A blocked page never gets indexed, however fast it is found.
Search Console property and sitemap
High for a new site
Tells Google which URLs exist without waiting for links.
Questions, answered
What people ask about this
01
Can I force Google to index my site?
No. Google says it doesn't guarantee it will crawl, index or serve any page, and it doesn't accept payment to crawl a site more often. You can only remove what blocks crawling and give Google reasons to crawl sooner.
02
What is the fastest way to get a new site indexed by Google?
Google finds new URLs by extracting links from known pages.
A few links from other sites
High for a new domain
Google's sitemap guide says a new site with few external links may not be discovered.
Request indexing for key URLs
Moderate, for 5 to 10 pages
Queues a crawl, subject to a daily quota.
Resubmitting the same URL
None
Google says it won't get the URL crawled any faster.
Paid indexing services
None documented
Google doesn't accept payment to crawl more often.
Social posts alone
Indirect at best
Google documents links, sitemaps and crawl requests as discovery routes, not shares.
Step 1: What blocks indexing before you start?
Check that nothing tells Google to stay away. The common blockers on a new site are a Disallow: / left in robots.txt from staging, a noindex shipped from a pre-launch setting, a login or firewall that answers Googlebot with 401 or 403, and main content that only appears after JavaScript runs. Any one of them makes every other step pointless.
You want a robots.txt that does not disallow your public pages, a 200 status, and no noindex in the header or the meta tag. Google's Page indexing help notes that a drop in indexed pages without matching errors can mean pages are blocked by robots.txt, noindex or a required login, the same checks.
Step 2: How do you set up Search Console and a sitemap on day one?
Add a Domain property for your site in Search Console, verify it with a DNS TXT record, and submit your XML sitemap in the Sitemaps report. Google's sitemap guide lists "your site is new and has few external links to it" as a case where you need one, because Googlebot might not otherwise discover your pages.
Add a Domain property (example.com) and verify it with the TXT record Search Console gives you.
Generate a sitemap that lists only canonical URLs returning 200, with accurate <lastmod> dates.
Submit it under Indexing, Sitemaps, and add Sitemap: https://example.com/sitemap.xml to robots.txt.
Check that the Sitemaps report shows the status Success, which Google defines as loaded and processed with no errors and all URLs queued for crawling.
Google's help also says data collection for a property starts as soon as it is added, so do this on launch day, not after you notice a problem. The Search Console setup guide covers verification and the first reports to read.
A sitemap helps discovery but promises nothing. Google's guide says it "doesn't guarantee that all the items in your sitemap will be crawled and indexed."
Step 3: Why link every page from pages Google already indexes?
Google finds most new URLs by following links from pages it already knows. Link each important page from your homepage or from a page that is already indexed, using plain <a href> links with descriptive anchor text. A page linked only from a sitemap, or only through JavaScript click handlers, is slower to find and weaker once found.
Google's Page indexing help says the best first step for a new website is to request indexing of the homepage, which should start Google crawling the site, so the homepage should link to the pages that matter: pricing, the main features, and your best articles. Then give each new article a link from at least one related, older page. Google's link guidance says "every page you care about should have a link from at least one other page on your site," and that it can only reliably follow links written as an <a> element with an href.
Check the rendered HTML, not just the source. If your navigation is built by JavaScript, open URL Inspection, run Test live URL, and look in View tested page for the links in the HTML tab.
Step 4: Why get a few links from other sites?
A brand-new domain has no incoming links, so the only way Google can reach it is through what you submit. A handful of links from pages Google already crawls, such as a launch listing, your company profile on directories you belong to, a GitHub README, or a partner's integrations page, gives Google independent paths to your domain and adds to crawl demand.
You don't need many. The goal is discovery, not rankings: a few crawlable links from real pages that Google revisits often. Prefer pages that are themselves indexed and that link with a normal <a href>, because a link Google never crawls does nothing for discovery. The backlinks for a new website guide covers which kinds of links are worth getting early and which to avoid.
Step 5: Which URLs should you request indexing for?
Use URL Inspection's Request indexing for the few pages that matter most on day one: the homepage, pricing, the main product or feature pages, and one or two cornerstone articles. Each request queues the URL for a crawl after a quick check. For everything else, rely on the sitemap and internal links.
Paste the URL into the inspection bar in Search Console.
Click Test live URL and confirm "URL is available to Google".
Click Request indexing once.
Google's help says indexing typically takes "a day or so, but can take much longer," that there is a daily limit on requests, and that a request does not guarantee indexing. Its recrawl documentation adds that crawling can take "anywhere from a few days to a few weeks." The Request indexing guide explains the quota and what the button actually does.
What doesn't speed up indexing?
Repeating what you already did, paying for shortcuts, and relying on channels Google doesn't document. Resubmitting a URL, buying an "instant indexing" service, and posting links on social media without earning a crawlable link all fall into this group.
Resubmitting the same URL. Google says requesting a recrawl multiple times for the same URL "won't get it crawled any faster." For a page marked "Crawled - currently not indexed," it says there is "no need to resubmit."
Paid indexing services. Google says it doesn't accept payment to crawl a site more often. Services that push ordinary pages through Google's Indexing API are using it outside its scope: the API "can only be used to crawl pages with either JobPosting or BroadcastEvent embedded in a VideoObject," and Google warns that abusing it "may result in access being revoked."
Social shares on their own. Google documents links from known pages, sitemaps and crawl requests as the ways it discovers URLs. A post helps only if it produces a crawlable link on a page Google actually crawls.
Changing dates without changing content. Google's crawl budget guide ties recrawling to staleness, meaning real changes, and recommends <lastmod> for updated content, so a date that changes on every deploy tells Google nothing true.
How long should you wait before worrying?
Give a new site about a week. Google's Page indexing help says it "can take a week or so" for Google to start crawling and indexing a new page or site, and that after a URL is known it can take "up to a few weeks" to crawl some or all of the site. If key pages are still missing after two or three weeks, inspect them.
URL Inspection tells you which case you are in. "URL is unknown to Google" means discovery is still the problem, so strengthen links and the sitemap. "Discovered - currently not indexed" means Google knows the URL and hasn't crawled it yet. "Crawled - currently not indexed" means it looked and passed, which is a content question rather than a speed one. The guide to how long Google takes to index lists realistic time frames for each case.
Check the blockers before you ask Google to crawl
Every request and every link is wasted on a page Google can't crawl or index. Before step 2, run the free scan on LaunchScaler with just your address and no account. It runs 156 checks across 6 of its 7 categories at no cost, including a robots.txt that blocks pages you want ranked, noindex in the meta tag or the X-Robots-Tag header, a missing sitemap or Sitemap: line, a sitemap that lists redirecting or non-canonical URLs, main content that only appears after JavaScript runs, and pages that are under-linked internally.
Verify the site in Search Console, submit an XML sitemap, request indexing for your homepage and a handful of key pages, and get a few links from other sites that Google already crawls, such as launch listings and company profiles.
03
How long does Google take to index a new site?
Google's help says it can take a week or so to start crawling and indexing a new page or site, and that crawling after a request can take anywhere from a few days to a few weeks.
04
Do indexing services speed up Google indexing?
Nothing Google documents supports them. Google says it doesn't accept payment to crawl a site more frequently, and that abusing the Indexing API, which only supports job posting and livestream pages, can get access revoked.
05
Does requesting indexing again make it faster?
No. Google says requesting a recrawl multiple times for the same URL won't get it crawled any faster, and each request uses a daily quota.
Google treats rel=canonical as a hint and weighs redirects, sitemaps, links, HTTPS and hreflang. Make every signal name one URL and Google usually follows.
No. Google says the Indexing API only covers pages with JobPosting or BroadcastEvent markup. For other pages, use sitemaps, links and Request indexing.
