Google’s John Mueller said there is nothing wrong with using the Google Search Console URL inspection tool to request indexing but the better route is to have Google discover those new URLs on that new site through external links. Google said it is simply better to have links to the site and for Google to pick up the site that way.
John Mueller told me that on last Friday’s hangout at the 7:56 mark into the video. I explained that I started a brand new blog, not on SEO (I have two of those already). The blog is named Lucid Insider – it is on the topic of the new EV maker, Lucid Motors and its first EV sedan named the Lucid Air. So I started the blog a couple weeks ago mostly because I wanted to start something brand new from scratch again and see how it goes. It will help me with context for my SEO writing, of course, but also will be fun to just start something new.
So I asked John if he recommends you submit new URLs as you publish them through the Google Search Console URL Inspection tool, request indexing feature? This is for a new blog, with no links to it, with an XML sitemap.
John responded that links are the best method (hence the link above) to get Google to index your content. He said “there is no disadvantage” to using the request indexing feature. He said “If it is a new site that we have no signals and no information about it at all, then at least telling us about the URL is a way of getting the initial foot in the door. But it is not a guarantee that we will pick it up.”
Then he joked that I do know some blogs that I can link from, saying “so that is something where probably you know someone else who is blogging and you can kind of work together with them and maybe get a link to your site – something along those lines. That will probably do a lot more than going to Search Console any saying I want this URL indexed.”
So I said, nah, I want to see this happen naturally. So this might be the first link to the Lucid Insider blog but it is getting traffic right now through social media. The Lucid community reminds me of the early days of the SEO community – so the insiders know about the blog now.
Here is the video embed of this 90 second conversation:
Forum discussion at YouTube Community.
