📘 This article explains how to set up the Inform IndexNow destination in SmartIndex. SmartIndex is part of Botify's Activation Suite, available with a Botify Pro or Enterprise plan.
Inform IndexNow is a SmartIndex destination that helps you get all your strategic pages indexed and regularly refreshed through Bing’s IndexNow.
Configuring an Inform IndexNow destination includes the following steps:
Begin with the instructions in Configuring SmartIndex Destinations.
Verifying URL Ownership
You must prove ownership of your pages before you can push new and updated content to IndexNow. Do this by generating a key with Bing Webmaster Tools and add it to the IndexNow destination in SmartIndex settings.
Navigate to https://www.bing.com/indexnow/getstarted and click the Generate button.
Click the download button to download a text file containing the key.
Place the text file where the pages to be pushed to IndexNow are located. We recommend placing it at the root of your website to make all pages eligible to be pushed. You can define exceptions to identify keys for specific paths or subdomains.
In SmartIndex, paste the key into the Key field.
Optionally add an exception to push URLs in a subdirectory or another path.
❗️ Do not remove the key after configuring Inform IndexNow; it needs to remain in the settings for SmartIndex to push the pages to IndexNow.
Adding Exceptions
Exceptions define the location and key for files you want to push that are not in the same location as the destination’s primary key. Define exceptions to use IndexNow's "option 2" for verifying ownership, identifying the path where the key is located.
To add an exception:
Click Add exception below the key field.
Type the path or subdomain where the files to be pushed are located.
Generate a new key as explained in Verifying URL Ownership.
Select the "Link all subdomains” option to enable a subdomain with the same key as the main domain to inherit the key.
For domains or subdomains with another key, you must add an exception and select the "Modify the key location" option.
Click Add.
About Linking Subdomains
Since subdomains do not inherit the key from the main domain, the "Link all subdomains" option enables you to share the exception rule with all domains and subdomains that have the same IndexNow key. For domains and subdomains with a different key, you must create a new exception.
Identifying Decision Rules
Configure decision rules to determine which pages to push to IndexNow based on the HTTP status code they return.
Select the sections to push to the destination or push to all sections.
Set the rules for each section, then save. When these conditions are met, pages will be pushed to the destination.
Optionally identify custom decision rules.
Rules
Status Code: The status codes selected here identify the pages to be pushed to the destination based on the latest crawl.
200: 200 status code + no canonical or self-canonical
200 duplicated: 200 status code + non-self-canonical
200 No index: 200 status code + noindex tag
Redirect: 301, 302, 307, or 308 status code
Not found: 404 or 410 status code
Force push after (days): The number of days after which pages will be pushed to the destination, even when no updates are detected.
❗️Remember to save your destination configuration.
See also: