As we all know, Google is the largest search engine in the world and for a web page to appear in search results, it first needs to be added to their search index.
In SEO, indexing is the process where Google acquires and organises webpages for them.
How does Google Index web pages?
Google mainly does two things, which are "Crawling" and "Indexing". Before a webpage can be indexed, it first needs to be crawled. Google uses a web crawling program called "Spiders" or "Googlebot". They crawl webpages as well as those linking to them, then linking to those, and so on. This is to discover new or updated content and allows them to gather a massive amount of information.
Then, the data gathered by crawlers from webpages are analysed, organised and stored in their database for them to appear in search queries. This is indexing.
Crawling - This is the process of Google discovering web pages.
Indexing - Analysing, storing and organising web pages in their database.
How long does it take for Google to index your live link?
With all the processes involved, it would take a few days to a month, or even a few months for a web page to be indexed by Google. It's also important to note that we don't have control over how long it can take.
Even when Google has crawled and processed a page, indexing is still not 100% guaranteed. While it's rare to happen to a link from us, it still does occasionally for various reasons. That is why we don't guarantee all live links to be indexed.
Instances where live links are not indexing
Indexing can take time, especially for a new page; giving it a couple of weeks before assuming an issue would be best.
From your end, you may also use free tools like Robots Exclusion Tracker to check the page's Robots meta directives and canonical status.
If the page is still not indexed after a couple of weeks, we will then reach out to the publisher and request the following:
Request Indexing - Verified site owners are the only ones who would have access to Google Search Console and Indexing Requests.
Submit Sitemap - Sometimes, we request our partner publishers to submit a sitemap to Google.
Though not always a guarantee, a sitemap helps Google crawlers discover URLs on a website, especially new ones. This would increase the likelihood of your page being crawled and, in return, being indexed.
Please also note that a refund would not be applied as the order has been completed and the link not being indexed after all necessary actions have been made is beyond our control.
What's Next?
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