How to Submit Your Website to Search Engines (Step-by-Step)

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Short answer: to get a new website into search results, verify it in Google Search Console and Bing Webmaster Tools, submit your XML sitemap in both, request indexing for your most important pages, and then list the site on a small number of trusted, relevant directories. Most sites are discovered within days once a sitemap is submitted and a few quality links point to them.

Do you still need to submit a website to search engines?

Search engines can find a site on their own by following links, but submitting it directly is faster and gives you data you cannot get any other way: which pages are indexed, which are excluded and why, and what searches bring visitors. For a brand-new site with few or no links, submission is the most reliable way to get crawled quickly.

Step 1: Prepare your site before you submit

  1. Use HTTPS on every page and redirect the http and www versions to one main address.
  2. Create an XML sitemap that lists only the pages you want in search results (no login, admin or thank-you pages).
  3. Add a robots.txt file at the root of your domain that links to your sitemap and does not block CSS or JavaScript.
  4. Give every page a unique title and meta description that says clearly what the page is about.
  5. Make sure missing pages return a real 404 status, not a normal page that says "not found".

Step 2: Submit to Google Search Console

  1. Open Google Search Console and add your site as a Domain property (covers http, https, www and subdomains) or a URL prefix property.
  2. Verify ownership with a DNS TXT record or by uploading the HTML verification file Google gives you.
  3. Go to Sitemaps and submit the full URL of your sitemap, for example https://example.com/sitemap.xml.
  4. Use URL Inspection on your homepage and two or three key pages, then click Request indexing.
  5. Check the Pages report after a few days to see what was indexed and fix any reasons pages were excluded.

Step 3: Submit to Bing Webmaster Tools (and reach Yahoo and DuckDuckGo)

Bing Webmaster Tools can import your verified sites straight from Google Search Console, which takes about a minute. Submit the same sitemap there. Bing's index also feeds several other search experiences, so this one step widens your reach well beyond Bing itself.

Step 4: Use IndexNow for instant update pings

IndexNow is an open protocol that lets you notify participating search engines (including Bing, Yandex, Naver and Seznam) the moment a page is added or changed. Many CMS plugins and hosting control panels support it. Google does not use IndexNow, so keep your sitemap up to date for Google.

Step 5: Add regional search engines if they matter to you

  • Yandex Webmaster - important for Russian-speaking audiences.
  • Naver Search Advisor - important for South Korea.
  • Baidu - only relevant if you target mainland China and meet its requirements.

Step 6: List your site on trusted directories

Directory listings help people and search engines discover you, but quality matters far more than quantity. Prioritise:

  • Directories in your niche (for example SaaS, AI tools or startup launch platforms).
  • Well-known review and listing platforms where real users look for products like yours.
  • Local and business directories if you serve a specific city or country.

Our free Website Submission Sites tool lists hundreds of these by category, marks which are known to give dofollow links, and lets you tick off each site as you go.

How long does it take for a new website to be indexed?

There is no fixed time. A site with a submitted sitemap and a few links from other sites is often crawled within a few days, while a site with no links can take several weeks. Search Console's URL Inspection tool shows the exact status of any page, so use it instead of guessing.

Common submission mistakes to avoid

  • Submitting a sitemap that contains redirected, broken or "noindex" URLs.
  • Using paid "submit to 1,000 search engines" services - most of those engines do not matter.
  • Submitting to hundreds of low-quality directories in one day.
  • Writing a different business name or description on every listing - keep them consistent.

Quick checklist

  • HTTPS, one preferred domain, robots.txt and XML sitemap in place
  • Google Search Console verified and sitemap submitted
  • Bing Webmaster Tools verified (import from Google) and sitemap submitted
  • IndexNow enabled if your platform supports it
  • Ten to twenty relevant, trusted directories completed over a few weeks

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