How to Submit Your Website to Search Engines - Step by Step Instructions
Step by Step instructions are below explaining exactly how to submit your website to search engines.
Steps and graphics are included to make sure you can submit your website to search engines and start reaping the benefits of ranking well on search engines.
We did not omit ANYTHING you need to know easily do this for yourself.
If you hired us, this is exactly what we would do for you and how we do it.
What is Google Search Console and Why is it Important?
Google Search Console tells Google how to interact with, and catalog, every word on your website.
To submit your website to Google, you MUST use Google Search Console.
Back in the day you could manually submit links without doing using Google Search Console at all, but not any longer.
And you should – Google has 95% of ALL internet searches on their search engine platform.
Be sure to submit your website to Google’s Search Engine.
Connecting Google Search Console
The following instructions “seem” like a lot as you are looking at them in writing, but they aren’t.
We send these instructions to our clients all the time, and they are all able to do this easily by just following these instructions.
You can do this in less than fifteen minutes if you follow these instructions step by step.
Steps to Connect Google Search Console Manually*
*NOTE
- For Wix Users: If you are using Wix there is a shortcut to doing this manually and the steps are near the bottom of this article (but you will still need to submit sitemaps manually)
- For WordPress Users: There is also a plugin you can install to skip doing this manually and the steps are near the bottom of this email (but you will still need to submit sitemaps manually)
Step #1: Do a Google search for Google Search Console (don’t ask me why but you have to do this every time to find the login page but you do)
Step #2: Click – Get started (lower left-hand button on screen)
Step #3: Log In With Your Gmail and Gmail password (any gmail will do)
Step #4: VERIFYING YOUR PROPERTY (website) Instructions
- When you log in for the first time – you will need to “verify your domain”
- You are going to verify the domain using html tag option
- The main thing is when you go to verify your property (website) – Choose the HTML Option below for verification:
- enter your website domain where red arrow points
- NOT on the Domain Block Side
- Next you will be offered multiple options in a drop down menu for verifying your property (website)
- Select – Verify Using html Code
- Next – Copy The Html code they give you so you can paste in the HEAD section of the back of your website
- Next – Open a new tab BUT – (keep the tab with search console open)
- Next log into the back of your website and find the “head” section on your website settings
- If you don’t know how find the HEAD section of your website – do a Google search “how to copy html tag into head section of Wix, Squarespace, WordPress, etc.”
- Step by step instructions will pop up right away
- Don’t be intimidated by this step. It is easy once you get the instructions
- Paste the code in the HEAD Section
- Next Click save or publish
- Next – Come back to Google Search Console Tab and Click – Verify
- Now Your Site is Verified
- But there is more to do to submit your website to this search engine
After Site Verification is Complete You Must Submit Sitemaps in Google Search Console – This is Ultimately How You Submit Your Website to the Google Search Engine
Once you get your website verified by Google Search Console you need to submit your sitemap to Google Search Console – this is how they know which pages you want submitted to the search engine.
Pro Tip: A Sitemap Will Look Something Like This:
/sitemap.xml
/pages-sitemap.xml
/posts-sitemap.xml
And this is what you will need to enter into Google Search Console.
Not the whole URL. Just this last little bit.
Steps to Submit Sitemap to Google Search Console:
Step #1: Find Your Sitemaps
Each type of website platform (Wix, WordPress, Squarespace, Weebly, etc) will have their own individual sitemaps and you will need to find them and be ready to copy and paste them into Google Search Console
So find your Sitemap or Sitemaps first (often there is more than one sitemap).
How to Find Your Sitemap or Sitemaps
We have saved you some time by finding some articles for you to help you locate sitemaps for most major platforms:
Find Sitemaps for Wix : Wix Sitemaps
Find Sitemaps for WordPress: It is in your Yoast Plugin: Yoast Sitemaps
Find Sitemap for SquareSpace: SquareSpace Sitemap
Find your Sitemap in Weebly: Weebly Sitemap
If you have some other platform, if you do a Google search for “how to find sitemap for _______” you will find it. This is a very common question in help forums.
Step #2: Once you are logged into Search Console
- In the upper left-hand corner Click the Three Bars
- Then Click Search Property
- Then Click on your “property” (which will be in the drop down menu)
- Which will be www.mysite.com
Next – Scroll down, and on the left-hand side of the screen – Click Sitemaps
Next – Where it says “Add a New Sitemap” – enter your sitemap or sitemaps
Remember – A Sitemap Will Look Something Like This:
- /sitemap.xml
- /pages-sitemap.xml
- /posts-sitemap.xml
Step #3 View Results
Once you’ve submitted your sitemaps, you want to look at them and make sure your pages have been indexed
You should see out next to your sitemaps you should see the number of “Discovered URL’s.” (see image below)
If you see a zero for Discovered URL’s, something is wrong and you will probably need help from a professional to resolve it.
That is it!
You have now successfully submitted your website to the biggest search engine on the planet.
Pro Tip for Submitting Your Website to Search Engines for WordPress
- If you have a WordPress Website – You can bypass some of these steps because Google rolled out this AWESOME new Google Plugin that will do this all for you.
- Log in to your WordPress Website and on the left, find Plugins
- Click – Add New
- In the search bar type Google
- Find Site Kit By Google
- Click Install Now
- Follow the prompts and this plugin will set up Google Search Console, Google Analytics, and Google Ads
- Everything in Google will be done for you and installed in the correct place on your WordPress Website.
- And if there are any problems, the Plugin will tell you what they are.
Pro-Tip for Wix – Submitting your Wix Website to Google Search Engine
Wix has a great shortcut to submit your website to search engines as well.
- Log into your Wix website
- On the left-hand side Click – SEO Tools
- On the right-hand side of the screen click – Site Verification
- At the top of the list – Click Google Search Console
- It will prompt you to log in to with your Gmail Account – Log in
- That is it! Wix does the rest for you!
Summary: How to Submit Your Website to Search Engines
The main thing you need to remember about how to submit your website to search engines is that you need to connect your site to them and then submit your sitemap or sitemaps.
Once you do that, any time you make an update, the search engines will “see” the update, and catalog your updates.
If you get stuck, and this is the only thing you are stuck on, you can hire us very inexpensively to just set up Google Search Console if you needed to.
Please note: We do not suggest submitting your website to search engines as your your first step for SEO.
First you should make sure you have good on-page SEO and SEO set up properly on the back end of your website BEFORE you submit your website to a search engine.
Otherwise they will catalog all of your mistakes and it takes awhile for Google to Catch Up Later
So before you submit your website to a search engine: learn more about SEO
If you need help with any of this please e-mail tim@staywilddigital.com
About Stay Wild Digital Marketing –
Stay Wild Digital Marketing is a full service Digital Marketing Agency specializing in Website Design and SEO. We are located in Salt Lake City with operations in Park City Utah and New Orleans Louisiana. We serve all fifty states and Canada.
