By default, new websites and blogs hosted on UCI Sites block search engines from indexing the content. This is to give you time to set up your site and add your content. When you are ready for Google and other search engines to index your site, follow the steps below.
Allow Google and other search engines to index your site
- In the Admin Panel, click on Settings > Reading.
- Click Save Changes
- Google and other search engines will now be allowed to index the site to make it searchable. It may take 6 weeks or more for search engines to revisit your site and discover new content. We. have no control over when Google or other search engines index your site.
See Site Privacy Options to learn about the other site visibility options.
Submit your site to Google by verifying site ownership
You can submit your site to Google to speed up the process. Verifying your site ownership in Google Search Console triggers Google to crawl and index your site.
CampusPress has a help page explaining in detail how to submit your site to Google.
Check to see if Google can index your site
If you have changed the settings above, you can check to see if Google is indexing your site.
- Go to google.com
- In the search box, type site:yoursiteurl. For example, site:sites.uci.edu/sbass/
- If Google is able to index your site, you should see results.
- If Google has not indexed your site, you will see a message that there are no search results.
- If Google has not indexed your site, check your settings (see above).
- Read about how Google Search works.
Google can index my site, but I still can’t find my site.
If your website is searchable, but you still can’t find it easily it may be low in the search results. Here are some tips to make your site rise in the rankings.
Content is Key
Make sure your content is relevant. Make sure your content includes the search terms you think people will use including your name, your lab name, etc. Update your site often. Sites that are kept up to date also rank higher in search results.
Link to the website from other appropriate locations
You can link to your website from other websites like the UCI Directory, your Faculty Profile, your school or department’s website, and your social networking sites like LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook.
UCI Directory
- Login to PhUpdate
- Put your website in the home_page_url field.
- Click Submit Change Request
- Now when people search for you in the campus directory, they will also be able to find your site.
We hope these tips help. It can take some time before your website starts showing up and rising in the search results. Keep writing and publishing new content. The more relevant your content is, the more people will find it.