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INDEXNOW_SETUP.md

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IndexNow Setup Guide

IndexNow is a protocol that allows websites to instantly notify search engines (Bing, Yandex, Seznam.cz, Naver, etc.) about content updates for immediate indexing.

Setup Steps

1. Generate IndexNow Key

Generate a unique API key (UUID format recommended):

# Using Node.js
node -e "console.log(crypto.randomUUID())"

# Or use an online UUID generator
# https://www.uuidgenerator.net/

Example key: a1b2c3d4-e5f6-7890-abcd-ef1234567890

2. Add Key to Environment Variables

Add to your .env.local file:

INDEXNOW_KEY=your-generated-uuid-here

3. Create Public Key File

Create a text file in the public/ directory with your key as the filename:

# File: public/a1b2c3d4-e5f6-7890-abcd-ef1234567890.txt
# Content: a1b2c3d4-e5f6-7890-abcd-ef1234567890

The file should contain ONLY the key (no extra whitespace or newlines).

Important: Add this file to Git and deploy it to production.

4. Verify Setup

After deployment, verify the key file is accessible:

https://kanadojo.com/[your-key].txt

It should return your key as plain text.

5. Submit to Bing Webmaster Tools

  1. Go to Bing Webmaster Tools
  2. Add your site if not already added
  3. Navigate to Sitemaps & IndexNow
  4. Submit your IndexNow API key
  5. Verify that submissions work

Usage

Automatic Submission (Recommended)

Call the utility functions when content changes:

import { notifyPageUpdate, notifyPageUpdateAllLocales } from '@/shared/lib/indexnow';

// When publishing a new blog post
await notifyPageUpdateAllLocales('/academy/new-post-slug');

// When updating a page
await notifyPageUpdate('/kana');

// After adding multiple new pages
await notifySitemapUpdate();

Manual API Call

Submit URLs via the API endpoint:

# Single URL
curl -X POST https://kanadojo.com/api/indexnow \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"url": "https://kanadojo.com/kana"}'

# Multiple URLs
curl -X POST https://kanadojo.com/api/indexnow \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"urls": ["https://kanadojo.com/kana", "https://kanadojo.com/kanji"]}'

Integration Points

Consider adding IndexNow notifications to:

  1. Blog Post Publishing - When a new Academy post is created or updated
  2. Content Updates - When main pages (Kana, Kanji, Vocabulary) are updated
  3. New Features - When adding new pages or major features
  4. Sitemap Generation - After running npm run postbuild (sitemap generation)
  5. Translation Updates - When adding new localized content

Monitoring

Track IndexNow submissions:

  1. Check Bing Webmaster Tools → URL Inspection → IndexNow
  2. Monitor API responses in your logs
  3. Verify indexed pages in Bing search: site:kanadojo.com [your-new-page]

Benefits

  • Instant Indexing: Pages can be indexed within minutes instead of days/weeks
  • Cross-Engine: One submission notifies multiple search engines
  • Free: No cost, no rate limits for legitimate use
  • SEO Advantage: Faster indexing = faster rankings for new content
  • Bing Priority: Bing explicitly prioritizes sites using IndexNow

Troubleshooting

Key File Not Accessible

  • Ensure the file is in public/ directory
  • Check that the filename exactly matches your key
  • Verify the file is deployed to production
  • Check there are no extra file extensions (.txt.txt)

Submissions Failing

  • Verify INDEXNOW_KEY environment variable is set in production
  • Check that URLs are using https://kanadojo.com domain
  • Ensure the key matches the public key file
  • Review API error responses in logs

Not Seeing Results in Bing

  • IndexNow notifies search engines but doesn't guarantee immediate indexing
  • Typically takes 1-24 hours for Bing to crawl and index
  • Check Bing Webmaster Tools for crawl errors
  • Ensure your page has no robots.txt blocks or noindex tags

Resources