How to Enable IndexNow: Step-by-Step Setup & Benefits Guide

Waiting days for search engines to discover a new page hurts fast-moving businesses. IndexNow flips that delay into near-real-time visibility. This guide shows you simple switches, plugins, and API calls that push every update straight to major search engines—no crawling guesswork, no wasted bandwidth. You will learn why IndexNow matters, how to set it up in minutes, and how the protocol can lift traffic and revenue.

Overview of IndexNow

IndexNow is a free, open-source push protocol created by Microsoft Bing and Yandex in 2021 to speed up content discovery. Instead of bots polling your site, you ping the engines the moment something changes.

Today it is accepted by Bing, Yandex, Seznam, Naver, and Yep, with more engines testing the feed. Big platforms such as Amazon and Shopify have already integrated the signal to keep their vast catalogs fresh.

Why IndexNow Matters for SEO

• Content appears in SERPs within minutes, not days.
• Crawl budget is used only when pages change, reducing unnecessary hits.
• Faster updates mean search snippets stay accurate, improving click-through rates.
• Real-time discovery helps AI overviews and shopping feeds pull your newest data.
• Businesses see earlier revenue lifts from seasonal or promotional pages.

Quick Start: No-Code Methods

1. WordPress in one click

1. Go to Plugins → Add New, search “IndexNow”.
2. Install the official IndexNow plugin by bingwebmastertools (100k+ installs).
3. Activate. The plugin auto-generates and hosts your key file and pushes URLs on every post update.

2. WordPress with AIOSEO

If you already use All in One SEO:

1. Update to the latest version.
2. Navigate to AIOSEO → General Settings → Webmaster Tools.
3. Toggle IndexNow. The plugin manages keys and submissions automatically.

3. Cloudflare users

Open Cloudflare Dashboard → Speed → Crawler Hints → Enable.
This single toggle lets Cloudflare push IndexNow hints whenever cache data shows a change—ideal for any CMS behind Cloudflare’s proxy.

4. CMS marketplaces

Many hosted builders, including Shopify and Wix, now surface IndexNow apps or built-in toggles. Check your marketplace for “instant indexing” or “IndexNow” and switch it on.

Developer Method: Full Control with the API

Step 1: Generate a key

Create a random 32-character hexadecimal string. Example:

textCopyEdited89459539324fea8769b6a4e9520e4e

Step 2: Host the key file

Save the string in a UTF-8 text file named with the key plus .txt, then place it at:

arduinoCopyEdithttps://www.example.com/ed89459539324fea8769b6a4e9520e4e.txt

Step 3: Submit a single URL

bashCopyEditcurl "https://www.bing.com/indexnow?url=https://www.example.com/product.html&key=ed89459539324fea8769b6a4e9520e4e"

A 200 response means the URL was received.

Step 4: Submit a batch

bashCopyEditcurl --location --request POST "https://api.indexnow.org/indexnow" \
--header "Content-Type: application/json" \
--data '{
  "host":"www.example.com",
  "key":"ed89459539324fea8769b6a4e9520e4e",
  "urlList":[
    "https://www.example.com/url1",
    "https://www.example.com/folder/url2",
    "https://www.example.com/url3"
  ]
}'

You can push up to 10 000 URLs per JSON payload.

Step 5: Automate

• CRON job: run a script that scans modified dates and fires cURL.
• Serverless: trigger a webhook on CMS publish events.
• E-commerce: hook into order management so new product pages ping instantly.

Response codes at a glance

• 200 OK – URL accepted
• 202 Accepted – key check pending
• 400 Bad Request – malformed JSON or URL
• 403 Forbidden – key file missing or string mismatch
• 429 Too Many Requests – slow down to respect quotas

Best Practices

• Use the root-level key file whenever possible; sub-folder keys limit URL scope.
• Ping only on create, update, or delete—avoid duplicate submissions.
• Keep key strings secret; rotate if exposed.
• Combine with XML sitemaps for historical coverage.
• Monitor 4xx/5xx responses and retry failed batches after fixing issues.

Business Impact

Real companies report:

• 50 % faster appearance in Bing Discover widgets.
• 30 % fewer bot hits, lowering bandwidth on large catalogs.
• Higher freshness scores in AI summaries, boosting click share.

Early indexing also accelerates A/B tests; winners reach visitors sooner, increasing conversion speed.

Did You Know?

• IndexNow shares your ping with all participating engines, so one request multiplies reach.
• Cloudflare’s Crawler Hints uses real traffic patterns to decide when to ping, cutting empty crawls.
• Amazon publishes millions of product updates through IndexNow every day.

Key Takeaways

• IndexNow turns reactive crawling into proactive discovery.
• No-code plugins exist for WordPress, Cloudflare, and major SaaS builders.
• Developers can script pushes with a simple POST call plus a key file.
• Faster indexing translates to fresher snippets, better user trust, and measurable revenue lift.

FAQs

Conclusion

IndexNow is quick to deploy yet powerful. Whether you flip a switch in WordPress, enable a Cloudflare hint, or hand-roll API calls, you move from hoping crawlers visit to telling them exactly when to show up. Implement it today, measure the lift, and keep your audience and search bots in sync with every change.