Google Sitemap - How Long Does it Take Google To Index?
-
We have changed our sitemap about 1 month ago and Google is yet to index it. We have run a site: search and we still have many pages indexed but we are wondering how long does it take for google to index our sitemap? The last sitemap we put up had thousands of pages indexed within a fortnight, but for some reason this version is taking way longer. We are also confident that there are no errors in this version. Help!
-
Hi James, I assume that Google indexing your sitemap isn't the ultimate goal. Rather, Google indexing your individual web pages and ultimately, your pages showing up in the top of the search results is the ultimate goal, is that correct?
Your sitemap is only a suggestion to google that you have pages you would like it to index. Google may or may not crawl pages just because they're listed on a sitemap. Roughly, its the authority of pages to be indexed that determines frequency of google's crawl--and that even includes the sitemap. The greater the authority the more often they're going to be crawled.
The last time your sitemap was revised, it may have been later in the crawling cycle and this past time, it may have been earlier in the cycle (or you domain could have lost authority). Ultimately, social networking, link building, and building authority is going to be what speeds things up for you. In the mean time, be patient, you're on Google time, now.
-
How long is a piece of string? That's the problem with waiting for Google to index something having said that have you tried submitting your sitemap to Google? - https://support.google.com/sites/answer/100283?hl=en-GB
Got a burning SEO question?
Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.
Browse Questions
Explore more categories
-
Moz Tools
Chat with the community about the Moz tools.
-
SEO Tactics
Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers
-
Community
Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!
-
Digital Marketing
Chat about tactics outside of SEO
-
Research & Trends
Dive into research and trends in the search industry.
-
Support
Connect on product support and feature requests.
Related Questions
-
How long does it take for canonical tags to work
How long on average does it take for a canonical tag to work? Understand that canonicals are just a suggestion, but after adding a canonical tag and submitting the page via Google fetch, assuming Google follows the canonical, would you expect it to work after a day or two or does it take longer? We added canonicals to old PPC landing pages that are ranking organically, though our new landing pages (which we want to rank organically) are not identical and have a bit more content/features. They are similar though. Canonicals were added to the old pages (pointing to new pages) and requested indexing via search console. Old pages are still ranking and new pages not so much. FYI we are unable to 301 old PPC pages due to other non negotiable reasons unfortunately. Thanks.
Technical SEO | | SoulSurfer80 -
Google is not indexing my new URL structure. Why not?
Hi all, We launched a new website for a customer on April 29th. That same day we resubmitted the new sitemap & asked Google to fetch the new website. Screenshot is attached of this (GWT Indexed). However, when I look at Google Index (see attachment - Google Index), Automated Production's old website URL's still appear. It's been two weeks. Is it normal for Google's index to take this long to update? Thanks for your help. Cole VoLPjhy vfxVUsO
Technical SEO | | ColeLusby0 -
"INDEX,FOLLOW" then later in the code "NOINDEX,NOFOLLOW" which does google follow?
background info: we have an established closed E-commerce system which the company has been using for years. I have only just started and reviewing the system, I don't have direct access to the code, but can request changes, but it could take months before the changes are in effect (or done at all), and we won't can't change to a new E-commerce system for the short to mid term. While reviewing the site (with help of seomoz crawl diagnostics) I noticed that some of the existing "landing pages" have in the code: <meta name="<a class="attribute-value">robots</a>" content="<a class="attribute-value">INDEX,FOLLOW</a>" /> then a few lines later <meta name="<a class="attribute-value">robots</a>" content="<a class="attribute-value">NOINDEX,NOFOLLOW</a>" /> Which the crawl diagnostics flagged up, but in the webmaster tools says
Technical SEO | | PaddyDisplays
"We didn't detect any issues with non-indexable content on your site." so the question is which instructions does google follow? the first or 2nd? note: clearly this is need fixed, but I have a big list of changes for the system so I need to know how important this is tthanks0 -
My sitemap in Google is coming back with an error
I submitted my xml sitemap to Google Webmaster tools. It is giving an error, not found. 404 Error. But I can't figure out why my site map is signaling a 404. Why? 😞
Technical SEO | | cschwartzel0 -
How long after google crawl do you need 301 redirects
We have just added 301's when we moved our site. Google has done a crawl & spat back a few errors. How long do I need to keep those 301's in place? I may need to change some. Thanks
Technical SEO | | Paul_MC0 -
Google indexing tags help
Hey everyone, So yesterday someone pointed out to me that Google is indexing tags and that will likely hurt search engine results. I just did a "site:thetechblock.com" and I notice that tags are still being pulled. http://d.pr/i/WmE6 Today, I went into my Yoast settings and checked "noindex,follow" tags in the Taxomomies settings. I just want to make sure what I'm doing is right. http://d.pr/i/zmbd Thanks guys
Technical SEO | | ttb0 -
Google.com
Hi We are managing a .com site for a client working on getting the site ranking. The site is hosted in the US. The content is rich, deep and unique. The site is in a competitive market but had begun ranking top 50 for a selection of keywords and we could see many more in the top 100. The site is now going backwards and only has a few keywords ranking top 50 and all the others have disappeared from the rankings all together. Any thought as to what could cause this. The site is managed from the Uk but as mentioned is hosted in the US. No penguin issues as all content unique, rich, relevant and fresh. SEO is also managed from the UK. Thoughts
Technical SEO | | SEOwins0 -
Is it OK for a sitemap to appear as a "Top URL" in Google Webmaster?
I'm using Google Webmaster (alongside other tools) to understand how Google is indexing my site. One of the tools is "Content Keywords", where it lists keywords that Google sees as significant for your site. The keywords shown are generally fine, but when I click on an individual word, I am often seeing our sitemap as one of the "Top URLs" that the keyword is found on (our sitemap is at system/sitemap1.xml.gz) - is this OK? Obviously I don't want to add the sitemap URL to robots.txt, but I also want to ensure that 'real' user-focused pages (e.g. our homepage) appear higher in the "Top URLs" list for the keywords, as I'm assuming this is an indicator of how the site is performing in search. Any help appreciated!
Technical SEO | | anilababla0