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Automate Google Indexing for Your Next.js Website

In this blog post we will look into how to automate Google indexing for your Next.js website using AutoIndex. First, we will cover the steps you need to take in order to setup sitemaps and prepare your NextJS site and then we’ll show how you can connect them to AutoIndex and start improving your Google search visibility.

Enhance the visibility of your Next.js website on Google by implementing automatic indexing for every page. This is essential for websites like blogs, portfolios, e-commerce stores, and business sites that aim to appear in pertinent search results. AutoIndex provides a straightforward and efficient method to ensure all pages are indexed quickly and checks regularly for new content. By letting AutoIndex manage the indexing, you can dedicate more time to crafting engaging content for your visitors.

We can break up everything you need to do in just 4 steps: adding sitemaps, connecting you website to Google Search Console is you didn’t already and importing your website to AutoIndex. Let’s look into all these steps one-by-one.

Step 1: Generate a Sitemap for Your Next.js Site

To begin, ensure your Next.js site generates an XML sitemap. The next-sitemap package simplifies this process:

1. First, install next-sitemap package:

yarn add next-sitemap

or

npm install next-sitemap

or

pnpm add next-sitemap

2. Create a configuration file named next-sitemap.config.js in your project root:

/** @type {import('next-sitemap').IConfig} */
module.exports = {
  siteUrl: process.env.SITE_URL || "https://example.com",
  generateRobotsTxt: true, // (optional)
  // ...other options
};

3. Add the following postbuild step to your package.json file:

{
  "build": "next build",
  "postbuild": "next-sitemap"
}

Now you can deploy the new version of your website. After deploying, your sitemap will be accessible at https://example.com/sitemap.xml.

Step 2: Connect Your Website to Google Search Console

This is a straightforward process, but you might need to verify your website ownership if you haven’t already:

1. Sign in to Google Search Console.
2. Click the Add Property button and enter your website URL.
3. Choose a verification method (HTML file upload, HTML tag, Google Analytics, Google Tag Manager, or domain name provider).
4. Follow the instructions to verify your website.
5. Once verified, you can access your website’s performance data, index status, and other valuable insights.
6. Submit your sitemap to Google Search Console by navigating to the Sitemaps section and entering the URL of your sitemap.

Step 3: Connect Your Website to AutoIndex

Once your website is verified in Google Search Console and your sitemap is submitted, you can connect your website to AutoIndex. To do that, follow these steps:

1. Sign in to AutoIndex at dash.autoindex.app with your Google Account and grant permissions to import Google Search Console websites.
2. AutoIndex will sync your websites from Google Search Console (GSC) and you will see all your properties in the dashboard.
3. Locate your new website in the list of GSC properties.
4. Add your special service account as an “Owner” in Google Search Console. This is required for AutoIndex to request indexing on your behalf.
5. Enable indexing by clicking “Enable” button.
6. That’s it! Now AutIndex will sync all the pages, check their status in Search Console and will send all un-indexed pages to Google.

With auto indexing activated, AutoIndex will regularly check your sitemap daily for unindexed pages and initiate the indexing process. You’ll receive email notifications whenever new pages are successfully indexed.

By following these steps and leveraging AutoIndex, you can ensure your Next.js website’s pages are swiftly indexed by Google, increasing visibility and driving relevant traffic to your site.