Whether your store is new or long established it usually takes days and even weeks to see changes appear in search. Why? Because the majority of websites rely on a sitemap that is not the fastest way to get indexed by Google.
That's why Google offer a solution — Google Indexing API. It helps you bypass the crawling key and sends your changes directly to Google so they are reflected in SERP faster.
Eager to find out more? Today you'll learn how to set up Google Indexing API for Shopify and discover reasons why you need to do that.
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Since Google Indexing API is not as simple as it sounds, let's define what that is first.
What is Google Indexing API?
Google Indexing API is a technology introduced by the platform to help you notify Google directly about new, updated or deleted pages. When you send an indexing request through the API, Google schedules a fresh crawl bypassing the crawling key. Since changes are sent to Google directly, content appears in search results faster.
However, Google still recommends you submit the XML sitemap along with using the Indexing API.
Note: by default Google Indexing API has a limit of 200 requests per day. If need to send more per day, increase the Google Indexing API quota and make sure your Google Indexing App plan works with that amount of requests.
Reasons to Use Google Indexing API
Although you already might have some ideas why you need to use Google Indexing API, let's sum it up here.
- Update URLs — notify Google when you create a new page or update an existing one.
- Remove URLs — tell Google to remove pages from search results, when you delete a page so it doesn't attempt calling it.
- Update/remove URLs in bulk — send multiple URLs for indexing at once.
- Get URL index status — check if Google received any indexing requests for a certain page.
How to Set Up Google Indexing API for Shopify?
It might sound like setting up Google Indexing API requires some technical background. And it might. But we'll take you there step by step.
The covers the technical part. All you need to do is create a Google Cloud project and service account if you don't have it already.
Let's get started.
Step 1: Create a Google Cloud project
Before you can send requests through the Indexing API you need to register an application and activate access to the API in the Google API Console.
Note: you'll be asked to confirm the Terms of Service if you haven't worked with Google Cloud before.
Navigate to the Google Cloud Console and hit the Create Project button.
Then fill out the Project name, choose Organization, set a Location and click Create.
Note: choosing an organization is not obligatory when creating a project. But you can read more about it in Google documentation.
Once you fill out all the project details you are redirected to the dashboard where you need to Confirm it. Just click Next here.
Finally, Enable the API to create a project.
Step 2: Create a service account
Go to the Google Cloud Service account and choose your project if asked.
Find and click the +Create Service Account button.
Fill out the following details and hit Done:
- Service account name
- Service account ID
- Service account description
Note: two other steps include granting this service account access to the project and allowing certain users access to this service account. They are optional so you can just skip them.
Finally, once you create a service account, you need to create keys. So next go to Actions > Manage keys.
Do to the Keys > Add key and Create a new key.
Select JSON as a key format and click Create.
This will download the JSON file with private keys to your device. You'll need them later.
Step 3: Add your service account as a website owner
Since the indexing is done through the Google Search Console (GSC) you need to confirm you're the website owner there. That's why next you need to add your service account as the website owner in GSC.
That's the step you've probably gone through when creating an XML sitemap for your Shopify store.
So, go to the Google Search Console settings > Users and permissions and click on the Add User button.
Specify the Email Address of the user and give them the Owner Permission. For that open the JSON file you downloaded earlier and find the email in the client_email field.
A new user should appear in the users' list.
Step 4: Upload your private key to Shopify
The last step to set up Google Indexing API for Shopify is to upload your JSON file to Shopify.
Navigate to Apps > Magefan Google Indexer > Configuration > Credentials and upload your private JSON key.
Hit Save once you upload the file, and you're all set. You can now send your pages directly to Google, one by one, in bulk or automatically.
Using the Indexing API is one of the fastest ways to get indexed by Google since it bypasses the queue. Stop waiting for Google to discover your pages, send them to it directly.
