Quick answer
To get your website on Google Search, add it to Google Search Console, verify that you own it, submit your sitemap in the Sitemaps report and request indexing of your homepage with the URL Inspection tool. Google says it can take a few weeks to notice a new site, and it doesn't accept payment to crawl a site more frequently, or rank it higher.
Nation, an AI store builder, publishes this page. It is pre-launch, with a waitlist on withnation.ai, and this guide covers Google's own tools only. See where Nation fits.
How to get your website on Google, in short
Google finds most sites without help. Its own guide says you usually don't even need to do anything except post your site on the web. A new shop site is the exception: few other sites link to it yet, so Google has no path to it. Google says it can take a few weeks to notice a new site or a change to an existing one.
You can shorten that wait with Google Search Console, Google's own tool for site owners. Add your site, prove you own it, hand Google your sitemap, and ask it to look at your homepage. Then check whether your pages are in the index and fix what blocks them.
No one can buy their way in. Google doesn't accept payment to crawl a site more frequently, or rank it higher, and it can't guarantee that the content will be crawled, indexed or served. Anyone who sells guaranteed indexing or a guaranteed first-page spot is selling something Google itself does not offer.
How to get your website on Google with Search Console
These are the steps Google publishes for a site owner. You need a Google account and access to your store's settings or your domain provider.
Check whether Google already has your site
Search Google for site:yourshop.com, with your own domain. If pages come back, Google has already found you. If nothing comes back, carry on. The site: search doesn't necessarily return all the URLs that are indexed, so treat it as a quick look and not a full count.
Open Search Console and add a property
Sign in to Search Console with a Google account and add your site as a property. A Domain property covers that domain and all subdomains and protocols (http/https). A URL-prefix property covers only URLs with the specified prefix, including the protocol (http/https). One account can hold up to 1,000 properties.
Verify that you own the site
Search Console asks you to prove the site is yours. A DNS record at your domain provider is the only way to verify a Domain property. A URL-prefix property also accepts an HTML file upload, an HTML tag, a Google Analytics tracking code or a Google Tag Manager snippet. Google notes that editing the page code Might not be possible on a site hosting platform, so check your store builder's help pages for the method it supports.
Submit your sitemap
Find your sitemap address in your store builder's help pages and open it in a browser to make sure it loads. You need owner permissions on the property. Then paste it into the Add a new sitemap box in the Sitemaps report, then click Submit. Submitting is merely a hint, so Google still decides when to read it.
Request indexing of your homepage
Paste your homepage address into the URL Inspection tool at the top of Search Console and click Request indexing. You need to be an owner or full user of the property. There is a daily limit on these requests, and asking again for the same page won't get it crawled any faster.
Wait, then check the reports
Search Console shows little at first: it takes a few days for data to start to build up. Come back after that and read the Page indexing report and the Sitemaps report to see which pages Google has added.
What each Google tool does for a new site
Search Console has many reports. A new shop needs four things from it, plus one plain Google search. The table lists each one with the limit Google states for it.
How to submit a sitemap to Google
A sitemap is a file that lists the pages you want Google to know about. For a shop, that means the homepage, collection pages, product pages and policy pages. It does not need to list cart, checkout or account pages, since those should stay out of search.
Most store builders make the sitemap for you. Google's help page says that if you use a hosting service such as Squarespace or Wix, they probably manage your sitemap for you, so check your platform's help pages for the address before you build one. If you do build your own, Google's rules are short: the file must be UTF-8 encoded, use fully-qualified, absolute URLs, and stay under 50MB (uncompressed) or 50,000 URLs. Larger sites split the list into several sitemaps.
Google ignores the priority and changefreq values that some generators add, so do not spend time tuning them. It uses the lastmod date only if it's consistently and verifiably (for example by comparing to the last modification of the page) accurate.
Two more things to know. Google says a sitemap is merely a hint, so listing a page does not make Google index it. And if Google cannot load the file, it will retry for a few days and then stop, so fix the error and submit the sitemap again.
- In Search Console: open the Sitemaps report, paste the sitemap address and click Submit. The report then shows when Google read the file and lists any errors.
- In robots.txt: add a line that starts with Sitemap: followed by the full sitemap address. Google says it will find it the next time we crawl your robots.txt file.
- Small sites: Google says you might not need a sitemap if your site has about 500 pages or fewer and Google can reach every important page by following links starting from the home page. Submitting one costs nothing, though.
How to check that Google has indexed your pages
Start with a site: search on Google for your domain, then for one product page address. Because the site: search doesn't necessarily return all the URLs that are indexed, a missing page there is a reason to look closer, and not proof that the page is missing from Google.
For a firm answer, paste the page address into URL Inspection. The indexed result shows whether the page is on Google and the Google-selected canonical, which is the address Google treats as the main one. The live test fetches and examines the URL in real time, which helps after you fix something.
The Page indexing report in Search Console splits the pages Google knows about into indexed and not indexed, with a reason for each page left out. Google lists fine reasons to be left out, such as an expected robots.txt rule on your site, a noindex tag on the page, a duplicate URL. Product pages you want found should not be in the not indexed group.
Why a new shop site does not show up on Google
Google says it's inevitable that some sites will be missed, and it lists the usual reasons on its Get on Google page. Each one has a fix you can check in a few minutes.
- The site is new. Google says it can take a few weeks. Submitting the sitemap and requesting indexing of the homepage tells Google the site exists.
- No other site links to it. Links are how Google discovers pages. A link from your social profiles, a Google Business Profile or a supplier's stockist page gives Google a path. Google asks site owners: please don't pay them to link to you.
- Google gets an error when it tries to crawl. Google says the most common causes are that you have a login page for your site, or that your site blocks Google. A store still behind a launch password page counts, so remove the password when you open.
- A setting blocks search engines. Check that your platform's option to hide the site from search engines is off, and that product pages have no noindex tag.
- The pages give Google little to read. Google asks you to use text, not just images or video on your site. Write a real description for each product.
Where Nation fits
Nation
Category: an AI store builder
Nation says one description of what you make builds the store, then agents handle orders, customers and delivery and run ads, content and social posts, with you approving the work. This guide covers Google's own tools, which work the same for any shop site.
Limits today
- Status: pre-launch, with a waitlist on withnation.ai.
- Pricing and fees: not announced yet.
- Shopper marketplace: no shopper marketplace has been announced.
- Track record: no independent reviews or public stores yet.
Nation publishes this page. The steps come from Google's own documentation and do not depend on any store builder.
Describe what you makeQuestions about getting your website on Google
How long does it take for a new website to show up on Google?
A new website can take a few weeks to show up on Google, according to Google's own guide. Submitting a sitemap and requesting indexing of the homepage in Search Console tells Google the site exists. Google still decides when to crawl, and it can't guarantee that the content will be crawled, indexed or served.
How do I submit a sitemap to Google?
To submit a sitemap to Google, add and verify your site in Search Console, open the Sitemaps report, paste your sitemap address and click Submit. Your store builder's help pages give the sitemap address. You can also add a Sitemap: line with the full address to your robots.txt file.
Is it free to get my website on Google Search?
Getting a website on Google Search costs nothing in fees to Google. Google doesn't accept payment to crawl a site more frequently, or rank it higher, and it can't guarantee that the content will be crawled, indexed or served. Google Ads is a separate paid product for ads, and buying ads is not a way to get your pages into the index.
Do I need a sitemap if my store builder makes one?
You do not need to build a sitemap if your store builder makes one. Google says they probably manage your sitemap for you. Submitting that existing sitemap in Search Console is still worth doing, because the Sitemaps report shows when Google read it and lists any errors.
Why is my website not on Google after I submitted it?
A website can be missing from Google after submission because a sitemap is merely a hint and Google decides when to crawl. Check URL Inspection for errors, make sure the store has no password page or noindex tag, and wait: Google says new sites can take a few weeks.