Submitting your website to Google is the first step to getting it indexed and appearing in search results. The good news: Google does not charge for indexing and the process takes about 10 minutes using Google Search Console. Whether you are launching a new site, adding new pages, or trying to get a page that dropped out of the index back into search results, this guide covers every method for submitting to Google free in 2025.
Do You Need to Submit to Google?
Technically, no — Google's crawlers find new websites automatically by following links from other indexed pages. If any other indexed website links to yours (even a directory listing or social media profile), Google will eventually discover it without any direct submission.
In practice, however, submitting is strongly recommended because:
- Speed: Crawlers may take weeks or months to find a brand-new site with no inbound links. Direct submission through Search Console can accelerate this to days.
- Control: Submission through GSC gives you visibility into whether Google has indexed your pages and flags any crawling errors immediately.
- Sitemap coverage: Submitting a sitemap tells Google about every page on your site at once — not just pages that have inbound links.
New sites with zero backlinks should always submit to Google via Search Console. Do not rely on passive discovery when your site has no external links for crawlers to follow.
Method 1: Google Search Console (Best)
Google Search Console is Google's free webmaster tool. Setting it up for your site is a one-time process that also gives you access to keyword data, coverage reports, Core Web Vitals scores, and more. It is the only direct communication channel between you and Google, and it is completely free.
Step 1: Go to Google Search Console
Visit search.google.com/search-console and sign in with a Google account.
Step 2: Add your property
Click "Add property" and enter your website URL. GSC offers two property types:
- Domain property (recommended) — covers all URLs under your domain including http, https, www, and non-www variants. Requires DNS verification.
- URL prefix property — covers only the specific URL prefix you enter. Supports multiple verification methods including HTML file upload, HTML tag, Google Analytics, and Google Tag Manager.
For most site owners, the URL prefix method with HTML tag verification is easiest. Add the verification meta tag to your site's <head> section, then click "Verify" in GSC.
Step 3: Submit a sitemap
After verification, go to Sitemaps in the left menu, enter your sitemap URL (usually yoursite.com/sitemap.xml), and click Submit. This tells Google about every page on your site at once.
Step 4: Wait for crawling
After setup, GSC will begin receiving data within 24–72 hours for most sites. Full indexing of all pages may take 1–4 weeks depending on your site's crawl budget and how many pages you have.
Method 2: URL Inspection for Individual Pages
The URL Inspection tool in Google Search Console lets you request indexing for a single specific page. This is the fastest way to get a new or updated page indexed quickly.
When to use URL Inspection:
- When you publish a new blog post or page and want it indexed within days rather than weeks
- When you update a page significantly (new content, title change, URL fix) and want Google to recrawl it
- When a page drops out of the index and you want to re-submit it after fixing the issue
How to use it:
- In Google Search Console, paste the full URL into the inspection bar at the top
- GSC will show you the current index status: indexed, not indexed, or crawled but not indexed
- Click "Request Indexing" — Google will add the URL to a priority crawl queue
- Indexing typically happens within 1–7 days after a request
Important limitation: you can submit approximately 12 URL inspection requests per day per property. If you have many new pages to index, the sitemap method is more efficient than individual URL requests.
After requesting indexing, avoid making significant changes to the page for at least 48 hours. Changing the content immediately after requesting indexing may mean Google crawls a different version than you intended.
Method 3: Submit Your Sitemap
A sitemap is an XML file that lists all the URLs on your website, along with optional metadata like when each page was last updated and how frequently it changes. Submitting a sitemap is the most efficient way to tell Google about all your pages at once.
How to create a sitemap:
- WordPress: Yoast SEO and Rank Math both auto-generate sitemaps. The URL is usually yoursite.com/sitemap_index.xml
- Other CMS platforms: Most modern CMS platforms (Squarespace, Wix, Shopify) auto-generate sitemaps
- Custom sites: Use a free sitemap generator tool or create one manually following the sitemaps.org XML protocol
How to submit your sitemap in GSC:
- In Google Search Console, go to Indexing → Sitemaps in the left menu
- In the "Add a new sitemap" field, enter your sitemap URL
- Click "Submit"
- GSC will show the status: Success, Has errors, or Couldn't fetch
Check your sitemap submission status weekly when you first launch a site. If GSC shows errors, common causes are: malformed XML, URLs returning 404 errors, or noindex tags on pages included in the sitemap (Google ignores noindexed URLs in sitemaps).
Also make sure your robots.txt file references your sitemap URL. Add this line at the bottom of your robots.txt — you can create a correctly-configured robots.txt using our free Robots.txt Generator:
Sitemap: https://yoursite.com/sitemap.xml
How Long Does Indexing Take?
Indexing time varies significantly depending on your site's authority, crawl budget, and the method used:
| Method | New site | Established site |
|---|---|---|
| URL Inspection request | 3–14 days | 1–7 days |
| Sitemap submission | 1–4 weeks | 3–10 days |
| Natural discovery via links | Weeks to months | Days to weeks |
Brand-new sites with zero backlinks and low crawl authority will always take longer than established sites. Google allocates crawl budget based on the site's overall authority and historical crawl behaviour. A new site may only be crawled once every few weeks initially — which is why earning your first backlinks is important for improving crawl frequency.
The fastest way to get a new site indexed is to combine all three methods: verify in GSC, submit a sitemap, and request indexing for your most important pages individually. This signals to Google that the site is active and maintained, which typically results in faster crawling.
Why Your Page May Not Get Indexed
Submitting a URL to Google does not guarantee it will be indexed. Google's indexing is selective — it chooses to index pages it considers valuable and omits those it considers low-quality or redundant. If your page is not getting indexed, the most common causes are:
Noindex tag: The most common technical reason. If your page has <meta name="robots" content="noindex"> in the HTML head, Google will not index it regardless of submission. Check your page source or use GSC URL Inspection to identify this.
Blocked by robots.txt: If your robots.txt file has Disallow: / or blocks the specific URL, Google cannot crawl it. Use our free Robots.txt Generator to create a correctly-configured file that allows Google to crawl all your important pages.
Thin or low-quality content: Google's quality systems may choose not to index pages with very little content (under 300 words), duplicate content, or pages that provide no value beyond what is already in the index. Adding more original, detailed content typically resolves this.
Crawl errors: Server errors (500), redirect chains, or slow page load times can prevent successful crawling. Check the Coverage report in GSC for error details.
New domain with no authority: Very new domains (under 3 months) with no backlinks may have their pages crawled but held in a staging state while Google evaluates the site's overall quality. Adding high-quality content and earning backlinks from reputable sites accelerates exit from this phase.
How to Check If Your Page Is Indexed
There are two reliable ways to check if a specific page is in Google's index:
Method 1 — Google site: search: Go to Google and type site:yoursite.com/specific-page-url. If the page appears in results, it is indexed. If nothing appears, it is not currently indexed. Note that this method is not 100% reliable — Google's site: operator sometimes omits indexed pages. GSC is more accurate.
Method 2 — GSC URL Inspection: This is more reliable. Paste the URL into the inspection bar in Google Search Console. The tool will tell you: "URL is on Google" (indexed), "URL is not on Google" (not indexed), or "URL is on Google, but has issues" (indexed but with problems). The detailed report also shows when the page was last crawled and what Googlebot saw when it crawled it.
Check indexing status one week after submission, then again at two weeks. If a page still shows "URL is not on Google" after two weeks and you have followed all the steps above, investigate the coverage report in GSC for specific error messages that explain why Google is declining to index the page.
According to Google's official crawlers documentation, Googlebot crawls billions of pages every day — but it prioritises pages it considers high-quality and well-linked. Improving your content quality and earning backlinks are the two most reliable ways to increase crawl frequency and indexing speed for a new site.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is submitting to Google free?
Yes — Google Search Console is completely free. There is no charge for verifying your site, submitting a sitemap, or requesting indexing via the URL Inspection tool. Any service that charges you to "submit your site to Google" is selling something Google provides for free. The only legitimate cost is the time it takes to set up Search Console, which is typically 10–15 minutes for a new site.
How many times can I request indexing for a URL?
You can request indexing for approximately 12 URLs per day per Search Console property. For a new site with many pages to index, prioritise your most important pages (homepage, key landing pages, main product or service pages) first. Repeat indexing requests for the same URL more frequently than once a week are unlikely to accelerate crawling — Google processes requests based on crawl budget, not submission frequency.
Does submitting to Google improve my rankings?
Submission gets your page into the index so it can rank — but it does not automatically improve your position in search results. Rankings depend on the quality of your content, the relevance of your page to the search query, your page's technical health, and the authority of your domain (influenced by backlinks). Indexing is the first step; ranking well requires ongoing SEO work across all these dimensions.
What if my page keeps getting de-indexed?
If Google repeatedly removes a page from its index after you re-submit it, this signals a quality issue. Common causes: the page has thin content (under 500 words), the content closely duplicates another page on your site or the web, the page is loading too slowly, or Google's quality systems have assessed the page as low-value. Add more original content, fix any technical issues shown in GSC, and wait 2–4 weeks after each fix before re-requesting indexing.