How to Submit Your Blog to Search Engines: A Step-by-Step Guide
Publishing a blog post does not automatically mean it will appear in search results. For many UK SMEs, this gap between publishing and visibility is where otherwise strong content loses reach, relevance, and return.
This guide explains how to submit your blog to search engines properly, not as a one-off task, but as a system. You’ll learn how search engines like Google discover blog posts, what helps them get indexed, and how to set things up so new content is found consistently without further intervention.
The focus is practical and realistic. No shortcuts. No myths. Just a clear process you can rely on.
What “Submitting to Search Engines” Actually Means
Despite how it’s often described, submitting a blog post is rarely about manually sending individual web pages to Google or Bing.
Modern search engines use automated programs called search engine crawlers to discover and revisit sites. Your role is not to push every blog post at them, but to:
allow crawlers to access your site
show them where your content lives
signal when something new or important has been published
When people talk about website submission today, they’re usually referring to a combination of:
sitemaps and feeds
webmaster tools such as Google Search Console and Bing Webmaster Tools
occasional manual URL submission for priority pages
Understanding this distinction matters, because it shifts your focus from chasing visibility to building a system that supports it.
Why This Matters for UK SMEs
For small and medium-sized businesses, blog content often underperforms despite good intentions. The content exists, but may not appear consistently in results because search engines were not clearly guided to it.
Common consequences include:
blog posts that remain undiscovered for months
inconsistent indexing across major search engines
time spent rewriting content that was never the problem
Submitting your site to search engines correctly helps them understand your structure, prioritise your important pages, and return your content in relevant search results. Done once, properly, it reduces effort over time and improves confidence in what you publish.
Step 1: Make Sure Search Engines Are Allowed to Access Your Blog
Before submitting anything, confirm that search engines are permitted to crawl your site.
Two technical settings commonly block discovery without anyone realising.
Check Your Robots.txt File
Your robots.txt file tells search engine crawlers which parts of your site they can and cannot visit.
yourwebsite.com/robots.txt
Look for lines that block your blog area, such as:
Disallow: /blog
If your blog is disallowed, crawlers will ignore it entirely. To fix this, remove or amend the blocking rule in your robots.txt file, then save and republish the file so search engines are permitted to access your blog section.
Remove Accidental Noindex Tags
A meta tag can tell search engines not to index a page.
Open a blog post, view the page source, and search for:
noindex
In your content management system, this is often caused by “Discourage search engines” being enabled, or SEO plugin settings applied globally or by template.
If noindex appears on blog posts, they cannot be successfully indexed. To fix this, turn off the noindex setting at post or site level in your CMS or SEO settings, then save the change so search engines are explicitly allowed to include the page.
Step 2: Use Internal Links to Support Discovery
Search engines follow links. If a blog post is published but not linked from anywhere meaningful, it may never be found.
For every blog post:
link to 2–3 other relevant posts
ensure your blog homepage or main navigation links to recent content
avoid isolated posts that only exist via their URL
Internal linking helps search engines understand how your individual web pages relate to one another, and which ones matter.
Step 3: Create or Confirm Your XML Sitemap
An XML sitemap is a structured list of your important URLs. It acts as a map for search engines, showing them all the pages you want indexed.
Check If You Already Have One
Visit:
yourwebsite.com/sitemap.xml
If you see a list of URLs, you’re set. If not, enable sitemap generation in your CMS settings or SEO panel, then publish the sitemap so search engines have a clear list of your pages.
Platform Notes
Most modern CMS platforms, including WordPress, Squarespace, Wix and Shopify, generate an XML sitemap automatically. In many cases this is enabled by default or available via a simple SEO or site settings panel. Manual XML file creation is rarely required for standard business websites.
Why This Matters
Sitemaps don’t guarantee indexing, but they significantly improve coverage, especially for new sites, new blog posts, or sites with complex navigation.
Step 4: Find Your RSS Feed
An RSS feed lists your most recent posts and updates whenever new content is published. Search engines check these feeds frequently.
Common feed locations include:
/feed/ /rss/ /blog/feed/
Most blogging platforms provide an RSS feed by default. Check your platform’s help documentation if you’re unsure, and once located, keep the feed URL unchanged so search engines can rely on it consistently.
While sitemaps show all the pages, RSS feeds highlight what’s new. Used together, they improve discovery of new or updated content.
Step 5: Connect Your Site to Google Search Console
Google Search Console is one of the primary ways to communicate your website to Google, which remains the leading search engine for UK SMEs.
It shows which pages are indexed, reports crawl and indexing issues, allows sitemap submission, and supports limited manual URL submission.
Once connected, Google will automatically revisit your feeds when new content is published. If pages do not appear after several weeks, use Search Console reports to identify crawl or quality issues rather than resubmitting repeatedly.
Step 6: Submit Your Site to Bing and Other Search Engines
Bing powers multiple other search engines, including DuckDuckGo. Submitting your website to search engines beyond Google improves overall coverage.
Using Bing Webmaster Tools, verify your site and submit your sitemap and RSS feed. This ensures your site is included in Bing’s search index and visible across other search platforms that rely on it. If pages are missing, check sitemap status and crawl reports before attempting manual submission.
Step 7: Enable Automatic Notifications With IndexNow
Manual URL submission is not scalable. IndexNow provides a better alternative by notifying supported search engines immediately when new or updated content goes live.
Many platforms support IndexNow natively or via a simple integration. Where available, it can usually be enabled once and left to run automatically.
Instead of waiting for crawlers to revisit your site, you proactively signal changes. If IndexNow is unavailable on your platform, rely on sitemaps and internal links rather than trying to force updates manually.
Step 8: Publish Blog Posts With Indexing in Mind
Before publishing a new blog post:
confirm the post is not marked noindex
add internal links to other relevant posts
ensure the post is accessible on mobile devices
write for your target audience, not search engines
High-quality content remains the strongest signal. Submitting websites repeatedly will not compensate for thin or duplicated posts.
Step 9: When to Use Manual URL Submission
Manual URL submission should be used selectively.
In Google Search Console, the URL Inspection Tool allows you to request indexing for individual URLs. Use this only for cornerstone content, key announcements, or critical updates.
Your sitemap, feeds, and internal links should do most of the work. If manual requests fail, it usually indicates an underlying access, quality, or duplication issue rather than a submission problem.
Step 10: Monitor Indexing Consistently
Checking search results daily is unnecessary, a weekly review is enough.
In Google Search Console, review indexing reports for discovered but not indexed pages, crawl issues, or blocked URLs.
In Bing Webmaster Tools, use Site Explorer and URL submission reports to confirm activity.
Indexing takes time. Patience, paired with clear diagnostics, is more effective than repeated resubmission. Focus on resolving reported issues before taking further action.
Common Assumptions That Cause Confusion
Submitting guarantees ranking, it doesn’t.
More submissions mean faster results, they don’t.
Thin content just needs a push, it needs improvement.
Search engines prioritise usefulness and authority. Submission helps search engines understand your site, but they still choose what to index.
Bringing It All Together
Submitting your blog to search engines is something you do once and then just have to gently maintain over time.
When done well, new blog posts are discovered automatically, service pages receive appropriate attention, and you spend less time troubleshooting and more time publishing with confidence.
At Ysobelle Edwards, we help businesses design these systems clearly and sustainably, translating search behaviour into practical solutions, without overcomplication.
If you’d like support refining your structure, content strategy, or indexing foundations, we’re here to guide you.
Frequently Asked Questions
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There is no fixed timeframe. For an established site, a new post may appear in search results within days. For newer or lower-authority sites, it can take several weeks. The key factors are whether the post is accessible, included in your sitemap, internally linked, and considered useful enough to be added to the search engine index.
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No. In most cases, you should not submit individual URLs manually. Once your sitemap and feeds are connected to tools like Google Search Console and Bing Webmaster Tools, search engines can discover new content automatically. Manual submission is best reserved for particularly strategic pieces.
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If you have a new website, indexing usually takes longer. Focus first on allowing search engines to crawl the site, submitting your sitemap, and linking key pages together clearly. Early visibility comes from clarity and structure rather than repeated submissions.
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Yes. A WordPress website follows the same principles as any other platform. WordPress simply automates some elements, such as sitemap generation and feeds. The underlying process of helping search engines discover, understand, and index your content remains the same.
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The simplest way is to use the URL Inspection tool in Google Search Console. This shows whether a page is indexed and, if not, why. You can also search Google using: yourwebsite.com/page-url to see whether the page appears in the Google index.
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