Get your website indexed correctly by search engines
Creating a website and then indexing it properly is a job for larger websites, with the hosting of MijnHostingPartner.nl we would like to give you some tips on how to do this easily. Let's start with the tips on how to properly index your website.
Search engines like Google, Bing and DuckDuckGo can index your website quickly and easily these days. However, there are a number of steps you can take to improve your website's ranking and get it indexed the right way. With the following steps, you will know exactly what it takes to get your website indexed properly.
Sitemap.xml
With a sitemap.xml you can create a table of contents of your entire website, with a sitemap you can make it clear which URLs are new to your website. And which of them need to be indexed. Many content management systems have a sitemap.xml functionality by default. This will automatically create one for you. There are also some online tools that can help you create a sitemap.xml automatically.
A sitemap.xml should be placed directly in your wwwroot in most cases and should also be specified in the robots.txt file. This file ensures that your website can be easily indexed by Google and Bing crawlers.
Submitting a sitemap to search engines
To submit a sitemap to search engines, you can simply add it to your website and maintain it. Or you can have search engines index it manually. By having it scanned for changes. This can be done in Google and Bing's management tools. By submitting your site to Google Search Console and Bing Webmaster Tools.
The sitemap can also be scanned periodically in both tools for changes and readability. Do this again periodically as well. This way, you can quickly determine if there are crawl errors. And you can quickly resolve that. You can do this when you launch a new page, or once a month with the new blog posts you create, for example.
Google Search Console
Google Search Console has a comprehensive toolset that allows you to see which pages and keywords on your site are performing best. How your website is indexed and displayed within Google. And how your site is showing up with different pages. Google Search Console can give you insights that you wouldn't normally be able to see easily or have to pay a lot of money for. To set this up, all you need is a Google account. And make a small change in the DNS records using a TXT record. After that, Google Search Console will be active. And you will be able to see the information. To know more about Google Search Console, you can read the previous article.
Bing Webmaster Tools
With Bing Webmaster Tools, you can see how Microsoft's search engine interacts with your website. And you can determine which pages are performing and which are not. To get more information on this, you'll need a Microsoft account. Something many will already have. If you don't have one, you can also create one just for Bing Webmaster Tools. If you already have an existing Outlook or live email address, you can do this easily. Bing, of course, has a very small market share compared to Google, but that can't be overlooked. With the right strategy, you can build an alternative traffic source here as well. One point that is always advisable is to be as diverse as possible.
Other steps required to get your website indexed correctly.
Other steps you can apply to your website is to organize your website logically, with URLs that are easy to read, not too long and separated with relevant categories. This not only makes it easier for your visitors to navigate, but also for search engines. Readable URLs can be configured in web.config within wwwroot, or even through your content management system like WordPress. We've already written an article about this that can be used.
Optimization also depends on a number of other factors, such as is your site suitable for mobile devices and can the entire site be used independently of the user? These are questions that are also asked by search engine crawlers. Nowadays, it is also advisable to have an extensive "About Us" page. Where you let people know who exactly is behind the website. This is known as the Google EAT update or terms and conditions set.
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