Imagine you’ve just built a sleek, modern website. It’s mobile-optimized, loads in under a second, looks beautiful on all devices, and your content? Top-notch. But you launch it… and there’s silence. No traffic, no impressions, no clicks. Why? Because search engines don’t know your website exists, yet.
In 2025, search engines will be more sophisticated than ever. But even the smartest crawler can’t read your mind. That’s why submitting your website manually is still one of the first critical SEO steps. It’s how you signal to search engines like Google, Bing, and others that your website is live and ready to be indexed. This guide walks you through every step, in simple English, with clear file paths, plugin options, and pro-level advice, even if you’re brand new to this.
Why Submitting Your Website Still Matters in 2025
Even though search engines can crawl millions of pages every day, manual submission accelerates your visibility. Think of it like introducing yourself at a networking event instead of waiting for someone to find your LinkedIn profile. It speeds up indexing and gives you control over what you submit, especially crucial when you’ve just launched or made structural changes.
Also, in 2025, with AI-driven indexing algorithms being more selective, submission ensures your core content and technical SEO are noticed fast and accurately.
Get Your Website Ready First
Before inviting search engines in, make sure your website is clean and organized:
Clean URL Structure
Use SEO-friendly, descriptive slugs.
Mobile-First, Always
- Use responsive designs and test with Google’s Mobile-Friendly Test. 2025’s search algorithms are heavily weighted toward mobile UX.
HTTPS Is Non-Negotiable
- Not having SSL is a red flag to both users and search engines. Cloudways offers free 1-click SSL certificates, which takes care of this in seconds.
Speed Optimization
- Use modern caching (Cloudways supports LiteSpeed Cache, Redis, and Varnish) and minify CSS/JS. A 2025 standard: <2s load time on 4G.
Robots.txt File
- Located at /robots.txt, this tells crawlers what to index. For example:
User-agent: * Disallow: /private/ Allow: / Sitemap: https://yourdomain.com/sitemap.xml
XML Sitemap
This is your site’s blueprint. If using WordPress then generate sitemaps automatically with plugins like:
- Rank Math (best all-in-one SEO suite)
- Yoast SEO (great for beginners)
- SEOPress (lightweight, flexible)
You can check the URL as: yourdomain.com/sitemap.xml or /sitemap_index.xml
Submit Your Website to Google
You can easily submit your website to Google by following the steps below:
Step 1: Sign Up for Google Search Console
- Visit Google Search Console
- Click “Add Property” → Use URL prefix for easier plugin-based verification.
Step 2: Verify Ownership
- Choose HTML Tag method
- Paste it inside your <head> tag. Use:
- Insert Headers and Footers plugin
- OR via Rank Math’s Webmaster Tools section
Step 3: Submit Your Sitemap
- Go to Indexing > Sitemaps, paste in:
https://yourdomain.com/sitemap.xml
- Click “Submit.” & you’re in, simple.
💡Troubleshooting Tip: If it shows errors, open the sitemap URL in your browser. If it doesn’t load or shows 404, your plugin isn’t generating it correctly, check the settings.
Submit Your Website to Bing (and Yahoo)
While Google is the biggest player in search, Bing is still important—especially in 2025. Why? Because Bing powers Yahoo Search, DuckDuckGo results, and even search features inside Microsoft products like Windows 11/12, Microsoft Edge, and Cortana. So, by submitting your site to Bing, you’re actually expanding your reach across multiple platforms automatically.
Step 1: Sign Up for Bing Webmaster Tools
- Go to Bing Webmaster Tools.
- Click the “Sign In” button at the top right.
- You can log in using a Microsoft account, Google account, or Facebook—whichever is easiest for you.
- Once you’re in, you’ll land on your dashboard.
- If this is your first time, you’ll be prompted to add a site right away.
Step 2: Add Your Website & Verify Ownership
Once you’re logged into your Bing Webmaster dashboard, you can choose any of the desired options to verify your website ownership.
Option A: Import from Google Search Console
Bing offers a super easy option to import your site directly from Google Search Console.
This saves time because Bing can pull in your site URL and sitemap automatically, plus it skips manual verification.
Just click “Import” and follow the prompts. It will ask you to sign in to your Google account, then show a list of your verified properties. It’s recommended if you’ve already submitted your site to Google.
Option B: Manual Verification
If you prefer (or haven’t used Google Search Console yet), you can verify ownership manually. Bing gives you 3 (three) methods:
1. Meta Tag Method
- Copy the <meta> tag Bing provides to you.
- Paste it into the <head> section of your website’s HTML.
- If you’re using WordPress, you can easily do this with plugins like:
- Insert Headers and Footers
- Rank Math
- Once the tag is added, go back to Bing and click Verify.
2. XML File Upload
- Download the verification file from Bing.
- Upload it to your website’s root directory using an FTP client or your hosting file manager.
- Then click Verify.
3. DNS Record (CNAME)
You add a small CNAME record to your domain’s DNS settings (done via your domain registrar).
This option is more advanced, but also very reliable.
Don’t worry, you only need to choose one method. Once you verify ownership, your website will appear in your Bing Webmaster dashboard.
Step 3: Submit Your Sitemap
Now that Bing knows your website exists, the next step is to tell it where all your pages are.
That’s what a sitemap does, it’s like giving Bing a full list of your site’s content so it can start indexing everything faster. Here’s how to submit it:
- In your Bing Webmaster dashboard, look at the left-hand menu.
- Click on “Sitemaps” under the “Configure My Site” section.
- In the field that appears, paste your sitemap URL. Most of the time, it looks like this:
https://yourdomain.com/sitemap.xml
- Or, if you’re using SEO plugins (like Rank Math or Yoast), it might be:
https://yourdomain.com/sitemap_index.xml
- Click Submit.
- Once submitted, Bing will start crawling your sitemap and indexing your content.
What About Yahoo?
You don’t need to do anything extra for Yahoo. As of 2025, Yahoo Search is powered entirely by Bing, which means, submitting your site to Bing automatically covers Yahoo Search as well.
So with one submission, you’re reaching users from Bing, Yahoo, DuckDuckGo, and even search tools built into Windows and Edge browsers.
What About DuckDuckGo, Brave, and Others Search Engines?
If you are targeting English users, you’re covered with Google + Bing. But if you’re targeting non-English audiences specifically in Russia or China, you will need to look for the following search engines as well.
- DuckDuckGo & Brave: No submission needed. These pull results from Bing, Yandex, and their own crawlers.
- Ecosia: Uses Bing results.
- Yandex (Russia): Submit at Yandex Webmaster
- Baidu (China): Submit via Baidu Webmaster Tools
Create and Submit Your Website’s Sitemap Using Plugin
Creating and submitting the sitemap for your website is quite easy now as there are multiple free plugins available to help you with the process. You can choose the plugin of your choice and get started. Here are couple of plugins recommended for your help:
- Yoast SEO – Great for content-heavy sites
- Rank Math – Best for WooCommerce, Schema, and advanced SEO
- SEOPress – Lightweight, clean UI
Each generates a sitemap and auto-updates it when you add new posts or pages.
Do You Need to Submit Your Website Again?
This is the question we ask as beginners a lot, we technically the answer is, Yes. Now the question should be when exactly it is required to be submitted again? Here are couple of things to keep in mind, if you performed any of the following then re-submission is required:
- Add a bunch of new content
- Restructure your website
- Change domain or permalink settings
💡Pro Tip: Use tools like Screaming Frog (free up to 500 URLs) to audit your sitemap for broken links.
Common Mistakes to Avoid Before Submitting Website to Search Engines
We can make a couple of mistakes while submitting our website which can lead us to negative results, but that’s alright. You can keep the following pointers in mind before submitting your Website to Search Engines:
- Robots.txt Blocking Crawlers: Check it by visiting yourdomain.com/robots.txt. Make sure important pages aren’t disallowed.
- Sitemap Not Found: Test sitemap URL in browser.
- Make sure it’s accessible (200 status): Check that you’re submitting the full path of your domain such as (https://yourdomain.com/sitemap.xml).
- Submitting Before Your Site Is Ready: Don’t rush to publish the website or it’s content. Please make sure pages aren’t under construction or filled with placeholder text.
- Using Old or Unsupported Plugins: Some sitemap plugins haven’t been updated for 2025 standards. Choose actively maintained ones.
Best SEO Tips for your Website
You can follow the key points shared below for improving SEO against your website for better performance and better crawling.
Keep Publishing Fresh Content
- Content freshness is directly effective for more crawling, eventually positive results.
Internal Linking
- Helps bots discover deeper pages. Avoid orphan pages (ones with no internal links pointing to them).
Optimize Core Web Vitals
- Use Google Search Console → Page Experience report to improve LCP, CLS, and FID metrics.
Use Structured Data (Schema)
Add schema markup for articles, products, events, etc. You can use the following for help:
- Rank Math (auto-includes schema types)
- Google’s Rich Results Test to verify
Monitor Search Console
It looks for the following pointers:
- Indexing errors
- Mobile usability issues
- Keyword impressions and clicks
Why Hosting on Cloudways Gives You a Head Start?
Choosing the right web hosting server affects everything, speed, security, uptime, and SEO crawlability. Cloudways makes all of that simpler, especially in 2025 where performance-first websites win.
Why Choose Cloudways Platform?
- Free SSL & Auto-Renewal
- LiteSpeed Support (faster PHP performance + QUIC.cloud CDN)
- Staging Environments for safe testing
- Automatic Backups you can schedule daily/hourly
- 24/7 Support & Monitoring Tools that help even non-tech users stay confident
Plus, it plays well with every plugin mentioned here. Whether you’re hosting a WooCommerce store, a blog, or a portfolio, Cloudways is built to scale and optimize.
Conclusion
A potential explanation why your website is not displaying in search results is that you have not yet requested that search engines visit your website. When you submit your website, it’s effortless and free, and it dramatically boosts your chances of being spotted in search results. It’s similar to turning on the welcome sign and opening your website’s front entry.
When you combine it with Cloudways quick and safe hosting, you’re doing more than just submitting your website, you’re setting it for progressive results. With tools, performance, and support built for 2025 standards, Cloudways gives your site a home where SEO thrives. Ready to be found? Go submit your website now.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: Do I need to resubmit after every update?Only if you make big changes to content, URLs, or structure.
Q: Can I see which pages are indexed?
Yes. Use Google Search Console → Pages > Indexed status.
Q: How often does Google re-crawl?
Depends on your site activity. High-update sites are crawled more often.
Q: What happens if I don’t submit?
You’ll still be indexed eventually, but it may take weeks or months.
Q: Can I submit local business info too?
Yes! Use Google Business Profile for local SEO visibility.
Salwa Mujtaba
Salwa Mujtaba is a Technical Content Writer at Cloudways. With a strong background in Computer Science and prior experience as a team lead in Cloudways Operations, she brings a deep understanding of the Cloudways Platform to her writing. Salwa creates content that simplifies complex concepts, making them accessible and engaging for readers. When she's not writing, you can find her enjoying good music, reading a book, or spending quality time with her family.
