How to Index with Search.gov

<!DOCTYPE html> <html lang="en"> <head>  <meta charset="utf-8"> <meta http-equiv="X-UA-Compatible" content="IE=edge">  <meta name="HandheldFriendly" content="True"> <meta name="MobileOptimized" content="320"> <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0">  <link rel="apple-touch-icon" sizes="180x180" href="https://search.gov/assets/img/favicons/apple-touch-icon.png"> <link rel="icon" type="image/png" sizes="32x32" href="https://search.gov/assets/img/favicons/favicon-32x32.png"> <link rel="icon" type="image/png" sizes="16x16" href="https://search.gov/assets/img/favicon-16x16.png"> <link rel="manifest" href="https://search.gov/assets/img/favicons/site.webmanifest"> <link rel="mask-icon" href="https://search.gov/assets/img/favicons/safari-pinned-tab.svg" color="#5bbad5"> <link rel="shortcut icon" href="https://search.gov/assets/img/favicons/favicon.ico"> <meta name="msapplication-TileColor" content="#da532c"> <meta name="msapplication-config" content="https://search.gov/assets/img/favicons/browserconfig.xml"> <meta name="theme-color" content="#ffffff">  <link type="text/css" href="/assets/css/styles.css" rel="stylesheet" />  <script>(function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start': new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0], j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src= 'https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f); })(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-N56JXGD');</script>   <title>How to Index with Search.gov | Search.gov</title> <meta name="generator" content="Jekyll v4.3.2" /> <meta property="og:title" content="How to Index with Search.gov" /> <meta property="og:locale" content="en_US" /> <meta name="description" content="Related: Are you ready to index with Search.gov? See our step-by-step description of the Search.gov indexing process for your website. When you're ready to index your domain with our service, please reach out to us by email at search@gsa.gov so we can discuss and coordinate. View our indexing workflow here." /> <meta property="og:description" content="Related: Are you ready to index with Search.gov? See our step-by-step description of the Search.gov indexing process for your website. When you're ready to index your domain with our service, please reach out to us by email at search@gsa.gov so we can discuss and coordinate. View our indexing workflow here." /> <link rel="canonical" href="https://search.gov/indexing/" /> <meta property="og:url" content="https://search.gov/indexing/" /> <meta property="og:site_name" content="Search.gov" /> <meta property="og:type" content="article" /> <meta property="article:published_time" content="2019-04-09T00:00:00+00:00" /> <meta name="twitter:card" content="summary" /> <meta property="twitter:title" content="How to Index with Search.gov" /> <script type="application/ld+json"> {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BlogPosting","dateModified":"2019-04-09T00:00:00+00:00","datePublished":"2019-04-09T00:00:00+00:00","description":"Related: Are you ready to index with Search.gov? See our step-by-step description of the Search.gov indexing process for your website. When you're ready to index your domain with our service, please reach out to us by email at search@gsa.gov so we can discuss and coordinate. View our indexing workflow here.","headline":"How to Index with Search.gov","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://search.gov/indexing/"},"url":"https://search.gov/indexing/"}</script>   <meta name="searchgov_custom1" content='["indexing",,"seo"]'>  </head> <body>  <noscript><iframe sandbox src="https://www.googletagmanager.com/ns.html?id=GTM-N56JXGD" height="0" width="0" style="display:none;visibility:hidden"></iframe></noscript>  <a class="usa-skipnav" href="#main-content">Skip to main content</a> <div class="usa-banner"> <div class="usa-accordion"> <section id="gov-banner-header-section" aria-label="USA Gov banner section header" class="usa-banner__header" > <div class="usa-banner__inner"> <div class="grid-col-auto"> <img src="/assets/uswds/img/us_flag_small.png" class="usa-banner__header-flag" alt="U.S. flag" /> </div> <div class="grid-col-fill tablet:grid-col-auto"> <p class="usa-banner__header-text"> An official website of the United States government </p> <p class="usa-banner__header-action" aria-hidden="true"> Here鈥檚 how you know </p> </div> <button class="usa-accordion__button usa-banner__button" aria-expanded="false" aria-controls="gov-banner" > <span class="usa-banner__button-text">Here's how you know</span> </button> </div> <div class="usa-banner__content usa-accordion__content" id="gov-banner"> <div class="grid-row grid-gap-lg"> <div class="usa-banner__guidance tablet:grid-col-6"> <img src="/assets/uswds/img/icon-dot-gov.svg" class="usa-banner__icon usa-media-block__img" alt="Dot gov" /> <div class="usa-media-block__body"> <p> <strong>Official websites use .gov</strong><br />A <strong>.gov</strong> website belongs to an official government organization in the United States. </p> </div> </div> <div class="usa-banner__guidance tablet:grid-col-6"> <img src="/assets/uswds/img/icon-https.svg" class="usa-banner__icon usa-media-block__img" alt="Https" /> <div class="usa-media-block__body"> <p> <strong>Secure .gov websites use HTTPS</strong><br />A <strong>lock</strong> ( <span class="icon-lock" ><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="52" height="64" viewBox="0 0 52 64" class="usa-banner__lock-image" role="img" aria-labelledby="banner-lock-title-default banner-lock-description-default" focusable="false" > <title id="banner-lock-title-default">Lock</title> <desc id="banner-lock-description-default">A locked padlock</desc> <path fill="#000000" fill-rule="evenodd" d="M26 0c10.493 0 19 8.507 19 19v9h3a4 4 0 0 1 4 4v28a4 4 0 0 1-4 4H4a4 4 0 0 1-4-4V32a4 4 0 0 1 4-4h3v-9C7 8.507 15.507 0 26 0zm0 8c-5.979 0-10.843 4.77-10.996 10.712L15 19v9h22v-9c0-6.075-4.925-11-11-11z" /> </svg> </span >) or <strong>https://</strong> means you鈥檝e safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites. </p> </div> </div> </div> </div> </section> </div> </div> <div class="usa-overlay"></div> <header class="usa-header usa-header--extended" role="banner"> <div class="usa-navbar"> <div class="usa-logo"> <em class="usa-logo__text"> <a href="/" title="Home" aria-label="Home"> <img src="/assets/images/mag-white.svg" class="logo" alt="Search.gov Logo" width="30" height="30" /> <span>search.gov</span> </a> </em> </div> <button class="usa-menu-btn">Menu</button> </div> <nav role="navigation" class="usa-nav"> <div class="usa-nav__inner"> <button class="usa-nav__close"><img src="/assets/uswds/img/close.svg" alt="close" /></button> <ul class="usa-nav__primary usa-accordion"> <li class="usa-nav__primary-item"> <button class="usa-accordion__button usa-nav__link" aria-expanded="false" aria-controls="primary-nav-1"><span>About Us</span></button> <ul id="primary-nav-1" class="usa-nav__submenu"> <li class="usa-nav__submenu-item"> <a href="/about/">About Us</a> </li> <li class="usa-nav__submenu-item"> <a href="/about/why-choose-searchgov.html">Why Choose Search.gov?</a> </li> <li class="usa-nav__submenu-item"> <a href="/about/customers.html">Customers</a> </li> <li class="usa-nav__submenu-item"> <a href="/about/policy/">Search.gov in Policy</a> </li> <li class="usa-nav__submenu-item"> <a href="/about/updates/year-in-review/">Year in Review</a> </li> <li class="usa-nav__submenu-item"> <a href="/about/security.html">Security and Compliance</a> </li> <li class="usa-nav__submenu-item"> <a href="/about/updates/roadmap/">Our Product Roadmap</a> </li> <li class="usa-nav__submenu-item"> <a href="/about/updates/releases/">Release Notes</a> </li> <li class="usa-nav__submenu-item"> <a href="/about/updates/newsletters/">Newsletters</a> </li> <li class="usa-nav__submenu-item"> <a href="/about/feedback.html">Share Your Feedback</a> </li> <li class="usa-nav__submenu-item"> <a href="/developer/">For Developers</a> </li> </ul> </li> <li class="usa-nav__primary-item"> <button class="usa-accordion__button usa-nav__link" aria-expanded="false" aria-controls="primary-nav-2"><span>Get Started</span></button> <ul id="primary-nav-2" class="usa-nav__submenu"> <li class="usa-nav__submenu-item"> <a href="/get-started/">Get Started With Search.gov</a> </li> <li class="usa-nav__submenu-item"> <a href="/get-started/account.html">Sign Up/Create an Account</a> </li> <li class="usa-nav__submenu-item"> <a href="/get-started/site-launch-guide.html">Site Launch Guide</a> </li> <li class="usa-nav__submenu-item"> <a href="/get-started/go-live.html">Going live with Search.gov: Checklist</a> </li> <li class="usa-nav__submenu-item"> <a href="/admin-center/display/hosted-vs-api-results.html">Results Page Feature Comparison</a> </li> <li class="usa-nav__submenu-item"> <a href="/get-started/searchgov-for-cloudgov-pages.html">Cloud.gov Pages Integration</a> </li> <li class="usa-nav__submenu-item"> <a href="/get-started/learn.html">Training and Resources</a> </li> <li class="usa-nav__submenu-item"> <a href="/indexing/redesign.html">Website Redesign Tips</a> </li> </ul> </li> <li class="usa-nav__primary-item"> <button class="usa-accordion__button usa-nav__link" aria-expanded="false" aria-controls="primary-nav-3"><span>Manage Your Search Site</span></button> <ul id="primary-nav-3" class="usa-nav__submenu"> <li class="usa-nav__submenu-item"> <a href="/admin-center/index.html">Full Help Manual</a> </li> <li class="usa-nav__submenu-item"> <a href="/admin-center/dashboard/users.html">Add or Remove Users</a> </li> <li class="usa-nav__submenu-item"> <a href="/admin-center/dashboard/add-site.html">Add a Site</a> </li> <li class="usa-nav__submenu-item"> <a href="/admin-center/content/domains.html">Add Domains</a> </li> <li class="usa-nav__submenu-item"> <a href="/admin-center/analytics/index.html">Manage Your Search Analytics</a> </li> <li class="usa-nav__submenu-item"> <a href="/get-started/site-launch-guide.html#add-features">Add Search Features</a> </li> <li class="usa-nav__submenu-item"> <a href="/indexing/redesign.html">Website Redesign Tips</a> </li> </ul> </li> <li class="usa-nav__primary-item"> <button class="usa-accordion__button usa-nav__link" aria-expanded="false" aria-controls="primary-nav-4"><span>Index With Search.gov</span></button> <ul id="primary-nav-4" class="usa-nav__submenu"> <li class="usa-nav__submenu-item"> <a href="/indexing/indexing-with-searchgov.html">Start Here</a> </li> <li class="usa-nav__submenu-item"> <a href="/indexing/what-searchgov-indexes.html">What We Index</a> </li> <li class="usa-nav__submenu-item"> <a href="/indexing/ranking-factors.html">Relevance Ranking</a> </li> <li class="usa-nav__submenu-item"> <a href="/indexing/sitemaps-to-search-sites.html">How a Page Becomes a Search Result</a> </li> <li class="usa-nav__submenu-item"> <a href="/indexing/indexing-workflow.html">Indexing Step-By-Step</a> </li> <li class="usa-nav__submenu-item"> <a href="/indexing/metadata.html">Metadata and Tags</a> </li> <li class="usa-nav__submenu-item"> <a href="/indexing/pdf-metadata.html">PDF Metadata</a> </li> <li class="usa-nav__submenu-item"> <a href="/indexing/redesign.html">Website Redesign Tips</a> </li> </ul> </li> <li class="usa-nav__primary-item"> <a class="usa-nav__link" href="/support.html"><span>Support</span></a> </li> <li class="usa-nav__primary-item"> <a class="usa-nav__link" href="/developer/"><span>For Developers</span></a> </li> </ul> <div class="usa-nav__secondary"> <ul class="usa-button-group"> <li class="usa-button-group__item"> <a href="/status.html" class="usa-button usa-button--unstyled system-status">System Status</a> </li> <li class="usa-button-group__item"> <a href="https://search.usa.gov/signup" class="usa-button usa-button--unstyled sign-in">Sign up</a> </li> <li class="usa-button-group__item"> <a href="https://search.usa.gov/sites" class="usa-button login">Login</a> </li> </ul> <form id="search_form" class="usa-search usa-search--small" action="https://find.search.gov/search" accept-charset="UTF-8" method="get"> <input name="utf8" type="hidden" value="✓" /> <input name="affiliate" type="hidden" value="usasearch" /> <label class="usa-sr-only" for="search_form">Search</label> <div role="search"> <label class="usa-sr-only" for="extended-search-field-small">Search suggestions</label> <input class="usa-input usagov-search-autocomplete" id="extended-search-field-small" type="search" name="query" autocomplete="off"> <button class="usa-button" type="submit"> <img src="/assets/uswds/img/usa-icons-bg/search--white.svg" class="usa-search__submit-icon" alt="Search"> </button> </div> </form> </div> </div> </nav> </header> <div class="usa-layout-docs usa-section"> <div id="main-container" class="grid-container"> <div class="grid-row grid-gap"> <aside class="sidenav" id="page-side-navigation" aria-label="Section navigation"> <ul class="site-sidenav usa-sidenav"> <li class="usa-sidenav__item"> <a href="/about/"> About </a> </li> <li class="usa-sidenav__item"> <a href="/get-started/"> Get Started </a> </li> <li class="usa-sidenav__item"> <a href="/admin-center/"> Admin Center </a> </li> <li class="usa-sidenav__item is-current"> <a href="/indexing/"> Manage your index </a> <ul class="usa-sidenav__sublist"> <li class="usa-sidenav__item is-current"> <a href="/indexing/what-searchgov-indexes.html"> What Search.gov Indexes From Your Website </a> </li> <li class="usa-sidenav__item is-current"> <a href="/indexing/ranking-factors.html"> How Search.gov Ranks Your Search Results </a> </li> <li class="usa-sidenav__item is-current"> <a href="/indexing/sitemaps-to-search-sites.html"> How a Page on a Sitemap Becomes a Search Result </a> </li> <li class="usa-sidenav__item is-current"> <a href="/indexing/indexing-workflow.html"> A Step-By-Step Indexing Workflow </a> </li> <li class="usa-sidenav__item is-current"> <a href="/get-started/training.html#how-engines-index">How Search Engines Index Your Website (Webinar)</a> </li> <li class="usa-sidenav__item is-current"> <a href="/indexing/sitemaps.html"> All About XML Sitemaps </a> </li> <li class="usa-sidenav__item is-current"> <a href="/indexing/robotstxt.html"> /robots.txt Files </a> </li> <li class="usa-sidenav__item is-current"> <a href="/indexing/metadata.html"> Metadata and Tags You Should Include in Your Website </a> </li> <li class="usa-sidenav__item is-current"> <a href="/indexing/pdf-metadata.html"> How to improve PDF discoverability </a> </li> <li class="usa-sidenav__item is-current"> <a href="/indexing/how-search-engines-index-content-better-discoverability.html"> How to Get Search Engines to Index the Right Content for Better Discoverability </a> </li> </ul> </li> <li class="usa-sidenav__item"> <a href="/support.html"> Support </a> </li> <li class="usa-sidenav__item"> <a href="/developer/"> For Developers </a> </li> </ul> </aside> <article class="usa-layout-docs__main desktop:grid-col-9 usa-prose article"> <main id="main-content"> <h1 class="title">How to Index with Search.gov</h1> <div class="searchgov-content-block"> <div class="usa-accordion usa-accordion--bordered"> <h2 class="usa-accordion__heading"> <button class="usa-accordion__button" aria-expanded="false" aria-controls="indexing-short">Related: Are you ready to index with Search.gov? </button> </h2> <div id="indexing-short" class="usa-accordion__content usa-prose"> See our <a href="/indexing/indexing-workflow.html">step-by-step description</a> of the Search.gov indexing process for your website. When you're ready to index your domain with our service, please reach out to us by email at <a href="mailto:search@gsa.gov">search@gsa.gov</a> so we can discuss and coordinate. View our indexing workflow <a href="/indexing/indexing-workflow.html">here</a>. </div> </div> </div> <h2 id="how-does-all-this-work">How does all this work?</h2> <ul> <li><a href="/indexing/what-searchgov-indexes.html">What Search.gov indexes from your website</a>.</li> <li><a href="/indexing/ranking-factors.html">Relevance Ranking: How Search.gov ranks your search results</a>.</li> <li><a href="/indexing/sitemaps-to-search-sites.html">How A Page on a Sitemap Becomes a Search Result</a>.</li> <li><a href="/indexing/indexing-workflow.html">A step-by-step indexing workflow</a>.</li> <li>How search engines index your website: a general overview of Search.gov and commercial search engines. <ul> <li><a href="/get-started/training.html#how-engines-index">Webinar</a> (48 mins)</li> <li><a href="https://search.gov/files/HowSearchEnginesIndexYourWebsite.pdf">Slides</a></li> </ul> </li> </ul> <h2 id="domain-level-seo-supports">Domain Level SEO Supports</h2> <ul> <li><a href="/indexing/sitemaps.html">All about XML sitemaps</a>.</li> <li><a href="/indexing/robotstxt.html">Robots.txt files</a>.</li> </ul> <h2 id="page-level-seo-supports">Page Level SEO Supports</h2> <ul> <li><a href="/indexing/metadata.html">Metadata and tags you should include in your website</a>.</li> <li><a href="/indexing/how-search-engines-index-content-better-discoverability.html">How to get search engines to index the right content for better discoverability</a>.</li> </ul> </main> </div> </div> </div> </div> <footer> <div id="survey-goes-here"></div> <section class="usa-section site-links"> <div class="grid-container"> <div class="grid-row flex-row flex-justify"> <div class="tablet:grid-col-3"> <h2>Our Service</h2> <ul> <li><a href="/about/">About Us</a></li> <li><a href="/about/customers.html">Customers</a></li> <li><a href="/about/policy/">Search.gov in Policy</a></li> <li><a href="/about/feedback.html">Submit Feature Requests</a></li> </ul> </div> <div class="tablet:grid-col-3"> <h2>Our System</h2> <ul> <li><a href="/about/updates/releases/">Release Notes</a></li> <li><a href="/about/updates/roadmap/">Product Roadmap</a></li> <li><a href="/about/security.html">Security and Compliance</a></li> <li><a href="/developer/">For Developers</a></li> <li><a href="/about/policy/tos.html">Terms of Service</a></li> </ul> </div> <div class="tablet:grid-col-3"> <h2>Contact Us</h2> <ul> <li><a href="mailto:search@gsa.gov">Email</a></li> </ul> </div> <div class="tablet:grid-col-3"> <h2>More TTS Services</h2> <ul> <li><a href="https://digital.gov/guides/dap/">Digital Analytics Program</a></li> <li><a href="https://cloud.gov/pages/">Cloud.gov Pages</a></li> <li><a href="https://cloud.gov/">Cloud.gov</a></li> <li><a href="https://login.gov/">Login.gov</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.gsa.gov/about-us/organization/federal-acquisition-service/technology-transformation-services/tts-solutions">More TTS Solutions</a></li> </ul> </div> </div> </div> </section> <div class="usa-identifier"> <section class="usa-identifier__section usa-identifier__section--masthead" aria-label="Agency identifier"> <div class="usa-identifier__container"> <div class="usa-identifier__logos"> <a href="https://www.gsa.gov" class="usa-identifier__logo"> <img src="/assets/images/gsa-logo.svg" class="usa-identifier__logo-img" alt="GSA logo" role="img" />  </a> </div> <div class="usa-identifier__identity" aria-label="Agency description"> <p class="usa-identifier__identity-domain">search.gov</p> <p class="usa-identifier__identity-disclaimer"> An official website of the GSA's <a href="https://gsa.gov/tts">Technology Transformation Services</a> </p> </div> </div> </section> <nav class="usa-identifier__section usa-identifier__section--required-links" aria-label="Important links"> <div class="usa-identifier__container"> <ul class="usa-identifier__required-links-list"> <li class="usa-identifier__required-links-item"> <a href="https://www.gsa.gov/about-us" class="usa-identifier__required-link"> About GSA </a> </li> <li class="usa-identifier__required-links-item"> <a href="https://www.gsa.gov/website-information/website-policies#accessibility" class="usa-identifier__required-link"> Accessibility </a> </li> <li class="usa-identifier__required-links-item"> <a href="https://www.gsa.gov/reference/freedom-of-information-act-foia" class="usa-identifier__required-link usa-link"> FOIA requests </a> </li> <li class="usa-identifier__required-links-item"> <a href="https://www.gsa.gov/website-information/website-policies#privacy" class="usa-identifier__required-link usa-link"> Privacy policy </a> </li> <li class="usa-identifier__required-links-item"> <a href="https://www.gsa.gov/website-information/website-policies" class="usa-identifier__required-link usa-link"> Website policies </a> </li> </ul> </div> </nav> <section class="usa-identifier__section usa-identifier__section--usagov" aria-label="Government information and services"> <div class="usa-identifier__container"> <div class="usa-identifier__usagov-description">Have a question about government services?</div> <a href="https://www.usa.gov/" class="usa-link">Contact USA.gov</a> </div> </section> </div> </footer>  <script id="_fed_an_ua_tag" src="https://dap.digitalgov.gov/Universal-Federated-Analytics-Min.js?agency=GSA&subagency=TTS" ></script> <script src="/assets/js/app.js"></script> <script src="/assets/js/uswds-init.js"></script> <script src="/assets/js/uswds.js"></script> <script> var usasearch_config = { siteHandle: "usasearch" }; </script> <script async src="https://search.usa.gov/javascripts/remote.loader.js" type="text/javascript"></script> <script src="https://touchpoints.app.cloud.gov/touchpoints/b5daa2ee/js" async></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="//script.crazyegg.com/pages/scripts/0007/9651.js" async="async"></script> </body> </html>

CINXE.COM

How to Index with Search.gov | Search.gov