Content indexing consists of creating indexes or references that, in one way or another, point to the contents of Internet web pages.
In other words, content indexing consists of each search provider (Google, Bing, etc) storing a summary of the content of the websites that make up the Internet so that they can later be listed in their results.
The simplest and most immediate example is the index of a book that contains a list of the sections that make it up along with a reference (page where it begins) to the content itself.
That Google has indexed our blog means that, in a very simplified way, it is able to list all the links to our blog posts in addition to being able to relate each link to a series of keywords.
The indexing process can be carried out automatically or manually.
Automatic content indexing
It is carried out by web agents or web spiders. They are programs that are dedicated to searching the Internet, automatically indexing content.
They carry out the process by indexing each page they find (obtaining, among other things, keywords from them and relating them to the page) and following all the links on it to discover new pages.
This method takes longer than the manual method but does not require our intervention. Only for this reason we should avoid this indexing method.
It must be taken into account that spiders are not capable of automatically indexing everything and, therefore, if we want to make their work easier we must avoid elements that harm SEO On Page, which are, among others:
- Javascript.
- Dynamic content.
- Pop-ups.
- Adobe Flash Player.
- Everything that is behind a login.
Manual content indexing
Manual content indexing is carried out by a person through the generation, configuration and/or sending of a series of files known as sitemaps to web search engines to indicate the content of a website.
It is the method that takes the least time although, on the other hand, it requires work on our part. If we use this method with Google, for example, our content will be indexed in about 48 hours. That is why it is the recommended indexing method compared to the automatic one.
