Indexing

During indexing, a search engine captures a web page and its content in order to rank it. It can then place the page on the results page for the relevant search query. Because the visibility of a page on the Internet depends very much on its result on this results page, indexing is important for the success of the page.

Definition

In general, indexing is a method of processing information. With indexing, information is collected, analyzed and arranged according to a system. In the field of the Internet, indexing is mainly the indexing of search engines.

In order to provide the user with search results, a search engine must, in a sense, create a library of web pages on the net. With this, it can present web pages depending on the keyword. The result of this information processing is then, for example, the Google list, on the basis of which Google creates the Search Engine Result Page (SERP) depending on the search query.

How do search engines create their index?

The indexing of web pages by search engines is an elaborate and complex process that search engine operators essentially keep secret. However, through various statements by those in charge, blog posts and much more, there are clues. With these you can perform search engine optimization (SEO) of websites.

In order to present a website on the results list, the search engines need to know what this website presents to its visitors. For this purpose, so-called crawlers scan the page for keywords and can capture the content on the basis of these keywords. Through various other Key Performance Indicators (KPI) such as backlinks or page views, the search engine’s algorithm calculates a Domain Authority, which evaluates how trustworthy the page is. With these and other factors, Google can then evaluate the relevance of a page for a search query and place it on the results list.

Why is this important for SEO?

Search engines such as Google are the first port of call for most Internet users. The first entries on the results list are naturally the first that the user clicks on during his search and are therefore subject to competition. In order to be able to present your own website as high as possible among the organic hits, it is therefore essential to alignthe site as well as possible to the way search engines work.

To achieve this you have to make sure that the crawler can find and understand a page well. Possibilities to ensure this are for example

• Assignment of the correct meta data
• A balanced keyword density in the content
• Use of Canonical Tags
• Keywords in robots.txt

With the Google Search Console, the indexing of the page can be viewed down to the individual subpages and their URLs. With commands like noindex or nofollow in the source code of the page, the crawlers can be steered by the webmaster and not index content – which is interesting for duplicate content, for example.

How to get a new page into the Google index fast

“Request indexation” in Google Search Console.

Using a dialog within the GSC, you can easily send a URL to Google’s index so that the corresponding content is (re)indexed quickly.

In the new version of the GSC, enter the URL of the web page you want and Google will start checking the URL. After that you will see if Google knows the URL or not and gives you the option “Request indexing”.

Be careful when optimizing for search engines!

However, search engine optimization should not be done solely with regard to the work of the search engine. Techniques like keyword stuffing or spamming are now recognized and negatively evaluated by Google and the others. The metrics resulting from user behavior, such as page impressions or bounce rate, are increasingly taken into account by the algorithms. Therefore, a page should always be optimized for the audience first and foremost. If your users find interesting, varied and easy-to-read content, they won’t just come back. They will also recommend your site to others! Backlinks through organic link building also increases your domain authority.

Conclusion

Indexing by search engines is an essential process of information processing on the Internet. These are what make websites visible and findable in the first place. To improve the visibility of your own site it is important to know how search engines work and to adapt your site to the requirements of Google and co.