IndexNow helps supported search engines notice your page changes faster. It does not guarantee rankings, and it does not magically fix SEO, but it can speed up how quickly updated URLs are discovered after you publish or edit them.
What is IndexNow?
IndexNow is a free protocol backed by Microsoft Bing that lets you notify participating search engines when a page has been added, updated, or deleted. In plain English, it is a ping that says, “This page changed, come check it.” The official IndexNow site currently lists support from Microsoft Bing, Naver, Seznam.cz, Yandex, and Yep, and says submitted URLs are shared across participating search engines.
That matters because search engines do not crawl every page on your website every five minutes. Sometimes they spot updates quickly. Sometimes they do not. IndexNow exists to cut down that waiting around by helping supported engines prioritise changed URLs sooner.
The easiest way to set up IndexNow
For most people, the easiest route is not touching code at all.
Just ask your developer:
- is IndexNow already included?
- can it be turned on through the CMS, plugin, or hosting setup?
- if not, what would it cost to add properly?
That is actually close to the official recommendation. The IndexNow FAQ says the first thing to check is whether your CMS, hosting provider, or SEO plugin already supports it, because many platforms already include support or compatible add-ons. The same FAQ also lists platforms such as WordPress, Shopify, and Wix among CMS options that support IndexNow natively or through plugins or extensions.
Your 3 setup options
Most people fall into one of these three camps:
Your setup | Best move |
|---|---|
You host your own website and control the code | Implement IndexNow directly or through a plugin |
You use a website builder like Wix or Shopify | Check whether support is already built in |
You have a managed website and do not really know the stack | Ask your developer or provider to handle it |
That is the simple version. Now let’s break each one down properly.
Option 1: Simple Setup Guide for Developers
If you are technical, or your developer is, this is the cleanest setup for IndexNow.
The official process is basically:
- generate a key
- create a text file named after that key
- upload it to your site
- send URLs to the IndexNow endpoint when content changes.
Step 1: Generate a key
IndexNow says your key should be between 8 and 128 characters and can include letters, numbers, and dashes.
Step 2: Create the key file
If your key was:
abc123xyz
you would create a file called:
abc123xyz.txt
and place the key inside the file. The docs say this should be a UTF-8 encoded text file.
Step 3: Upload it to your site
The recommended setup is to place the file at the root of your host, so it ends up at something like:
https://yourdomain.co.uk/abc123xyz.txt
IndexNow supports another option where the key file can live deeper in the site and be referenced using keyLocation, but the official docs strongly recommend putting it at the root where possible.
Step 4: Submit changed URLs
You can submit one URL at a time with a simple request.
curl "https://api.indexnow.org/indexnow?url=https://www.example.com/blog/indexnow-guide&key=YOUR_KEY"
This follows the single-URL pattern shown in the official docs. IndexNow says a successful request returns HTTP 200, but that only means the search engine received the URL, not that it has been indexed already.
If you have several updated pages, POST is cleaner.
curl -X POST "https://api.indexnow.org/indexnow" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json; charset=utf-8" \
-d '{
"host": "www.example.com",
"key": "YOUR_KEY",
"urlList": [
"https://www.example.com/blog/indexnow-guide",
"https://www.example.com/services/seo"
]
}'
The documentation says you can submit up to 10,000 URLs in one POST request.
One thing beginners should not do
Do not start firing IndexNow every time you change one word, move a button, or fix a typo.
Use it when something genuinely changed:
- a new page went live
- a page was updated properly
- a product or service changed
- a page was deleted
- pricing or stock changed
- a blog post was refreshed in a meaningful way.
That is where it makes sense.
Option 2: You use a website builder
This is where people often assume they need to do more than they actually do.
Wix
If your website is on Wix and you have a Premium plan, Wix says IndexNow is already included. Wix checks when your site pages change and then submits those changes to the IndexNow protocol on your behalf. Wix also says this can help supported search engines crawl and index pages faster, depending on their indexing factors.
So if you are on Wix Premium, the simple answer is: you probably do not need to manually set this up.
Shopify
The official IndexNow FAQ lists Shopify among the CMS platforms that support IndexNow natively or through plugins or extensions. So if you are on Shopify, the best first step is to check your SEO app stack, plugin setup, or developer configuration before trying to force a manual solution.
Framer
This one is a bit more limited from what I could verify in the official docs. Framer’s help documentation does confirm that static files can be uploaded and hosted on your domain, including verification files and custom configuration files.
So with Framer, the safe answer is:
- yes, you may be able to host the key file
- no, do not assume automatic IndexNow support unless you have checked
Option 3: You have a managed website
This is probably the most common one for small business owners.
You have a site. It works. Someone built it. You are not fully sure what the stack is. You definitely are not uploading key files or POST requests yourself.
If that is you, the easiest answer is still the best one:
ask your developer if IndexNow is already included, and if not, what it would cost to add properly. At onetimewebsites we include IndexNow for free)
That is the quickest way to get a real answer without making a mess of something you do not control.
Does this help with Google?
This is the bit that catches people out.
Google does have an Indexing API, but Google’s own documentation says it is only for job posting pages and livestreaming video pages using the right structured data. It is not a general “submit any page on my site” shortcut for normal service pages, product pages, or standard blog posts.
So if your main question is, “Will this instantly make Google re-read all my normal pages?” the honest answer is no, not in the way a lot of people think.
That does not make IndexNow pointless. It just means you should understand what it is actually for.
Should you still use it on a small website?
Yes.
The IndexNow FAQ explicitly says small websites can benefit too. The reasoning is simple enough: if you only have a few pages but those pages matter, it still helps supported search engines become aware of updates faster. The FAQ specifically mentions faster visibility for new or updated content and better crawl efficiency around changed pages.
So this is not only for giant ecommerce websites or huge publishers.
It can still be worth it for a local business site that updates pages properly.
Is IndexNow worth it?
Situation | Worth it? | Why |
|---|---|---|
You update your site regularly | Yes | Supported engines can discover changes faster |
You publish blogs, products, or service updates often | Yes | New and updated URLs can be picked up sooner |
You barely touch the site | Still useful, but lower impact | There is less changing for search engines to react to |
You expect it to rank weak pages by itself | No | That is not what it does |
That is really the point.
IndexNow is not exciting because it is not pretending to be some secret SEO loophole. It is just a practical way to tell supported search engines that something changed.
Final thoughts
IndexNow is one of those free tools that gets overlooked because it is not flashy.
It does not promise page one.
It does not fix weak content.
It does not replace proper SEO.
What it does do is simple: it helps supported search engines notice when your pages have changed, and that can make a real difference when you are publishing new content.
