How to Index Your Blog on Google Search Console: A Comprehensive Guide
Good afternoon, my lovely friend. You know that feeling, right? You have poured your heart and soul into creating your blog. You've spent countless hours editing the template, meticulously crafting pages, and expressing your ideas in posts. You've created something you're proud of, something you want to share with the world. But then when you Google your website… it doesn't find it anywhere.
It's like screaming into the void.
Why can't anyone find my website? Well, today we're going to tackle this problem head on and learn how to index our blogs in Google Search Console. Let's turn this void into an echo chamber. Or at least on a bicycle horn, whatever. The important thing is to make some noise to start. So, grab your coffee, my friend. Let's start.
And The Reason Is You (maybe)
There are several reasons why your site doesn’t appear on Google. I'll tell you some of them, but let's focus specifically on one in this post.
No or few backlinks: Backlinks are links from other websites to your blog. They’re important because they signal to Google that your content is valuable and worth indexing. If your blog has few or no backlinks, it might not appear in Google search results.
Poor SEO: Search Engine Optimization (SEO) involves optimizing your blog’s content and structure to make it more attractive to search engines. If your blog’s SEO is poor, it might not rank well in Google search results.
Google hasn’t crawled your site yet: Even if your blog is not new, Google might not have crawled it yet. This could be due to a variety of factors, such as a lack of backlinks or a poorly structured sitemap.
Your blog is blocked from search engines: In some cases, your blog might be set to ‘noindex’, which means search engines are explicitly told not to index it. This is often an option in blog settings and could be the reason why your blog doesn’t appear on Google.
Thin content: If your blog posts are very short or lack substance, Google might choose not to index them. Google prefers content that provides value to its users, so make sure your posts are informative and of high quality.
And...
Your blog is new: If your blog is very new, it might not have been indexed by Google yet. It can take some time for Google’s crawlers to discover and index new websites. (Our post today)
Indexing? What a hell is that?
Indexing is like putting up a sign with the name of your store on a busy street. Imagine you've opened an amazing store, full of products and useful information, but forgot to put up a sign on the street so people know where to find it. Even if your store is fantastic, people will struggle to find it.
Similarly, when you create a webpage on the internet, it's like your online store. Indexing is like putting up that address sign on the internet, so search engines like Google can find it and show it to people when they're looking for something related to what you offer (but how does Google know that your store has what they're looking for? Through On-Page SEO, which you can learn more on this post). Without this indexing, your page could be lost in the vastness of the internet, making it difficult for people to find.
It's important to note that this 'address' sign isn't an advertising billboard. It's not like a flashy billboard trying to grab people's attention for your store. Instead, it's like a discreet sign, placed on a busy street, simply indicating where your store is located.
Similarly, indexing isn't about actively promoting your page like an advertising campaign. Instead, it's about ensuring your page is easily found when someone is searching for something related to your content. It's more about facilitating discovery than active promotion.
Understanding Google Search Console
Google Search Console is a free tool offered by Google that helps you monitor, maintain, and troubleshoot your site’s presence in Google Search results. It offers insights into how Google views your website and allows you to optimize your visibility.
Think of it as your blog’s health check tool. It alerts you when Google is unable to crawl and index pages on your site, it helps you fix indexing problems and re-index pages after you’ve fixed them, and it lets you see which sites link to your website.
The Importance of Indexing Your Blog
Indexing your blog means that Google is aware of your blog and can include it in search results. This increases your blog’s visibility and can drive more traffic to your site.
Without indexing, your blog is like a billboard in the desert. It might be the most beautiful and informative billboard, but if no one passes by to see it, it won’t serve its purpose. Indexing puts your blog on the highway where it’s visible to all the traffic – potential readers.
Step-by-Step Guide to Indexing Your Blog
1. Create a Google Search Console account
If you don’t already have one, head over to Google Search Console and sign up. It’s free and only requires a Google account. This is your first step towards making your blog more visible to your audience.
2. Add a new property
Once you’re logged in, click on ‘Add Property’ and enter your blog’s URL. Make sure to enter the exact URL, including the ‘http’ or ‘https’ and ‘www’ if applicable. This is like telling Google the address of your blog.
3. Verify your website
Google needs to confirm that you’re the owner of the website. You can do this by adding a meta tag to your site’s home page or uploading an HTML file to your server. Google provides clear instructions for both methods. This step is crucial because it prevents anyone else from making changes to your site on Google Search Console.
4. Submit a sitemap
A sitemap is a file where you provide information about the pages, videos, and other files on your site, and the relationships between them. You can usually find this on your website platform or create one using an online tool. Once you have your sitemap, submit it through the ‘Sitemaps’ option in Google Search Console. This is like giving Google a map of your blog.
5. Wait for Google to crawl your site
After you’ve submitted your sitemap, Google will begin to crawl your site. This can take anywhere from a few hours to a few days, so be patient! (Yes, Google makes that clear. And from personal experience, I'd say you need A LOT of patience.) This is the process where Google visits each page of your blog, just like a potential reader would.
6. Check your coverage
Once Google has crawled your site, you can check the ‘Coverage’ section in Google Search Console to see which pages are successfully indexed. This lets you know which pages of your blog Google has visited.
And there you have it! Your blog is now indexed on Google. Remember, SEO is a marathon, not a sprint. It might take some time to see results, but with patience and persistence, you’ll get there.
Conclusion
Indexing your blog on Google Search Console is a vital step in optimizing your blog for search engines. It increases your visibility, drives more traffic to your site, and ultimately, can lead to higher engagement and more followers. So, don’t overlook this important step in your blogging journey.And as I always say here, I hope this has helped you a bit. If you liked (or didn't like) this post, there are other contents right below. I'll see you there.
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