IndexNow for Shopify: Get Store Updates Found Faster by Bing

Introduction: The Shopify Merchant’s Problem 

As a Shopify merchant, you update, restock, or launch your product inventory frequently, but publishing a Shopify change doesn’t mean Bing sees it immediately. It has to revisit your store on its own schedule, which means you made a change today that might be unnoticed for a while. 

This is where the ‘IndexNow’ helps by notifying Bing about the specific URL that changed. It allows websites to inform Bing about newly added, changed, or deleted content, accelerating discovery and replacing the traditional pull-based discovery model with a push-notification approach. 

If you want to know more about IndexNow and get a better solution to reduce crawling and discovery delays, then this blog is for you. 

What is IndexNow: In Short

IndexNow is a protocol that tells search engines whenever you change, update, or delete a product from your Shopify store. Instead of waiting for search engines to discover changes during their regular crawls, it helps them discover updated URLs sooner. 

However, IndexNow doesn’t guarantee ranking, indexing, and traffic; it depends on your site quality, product pages, and overall SEO. Apart from this, if you want to skip the manual setup and seek an automated way that notifies Bing every time you make changes, then you can build a custom integration. Still, if this feels complicated, then an app like InstaIndex can be a great fit, allowing you to automate submissions and provide visibility into the process.

IndexNow: Detailed Version

For Shopify merchants, IndexNow is like ringing Bing’s doorbell to let it know that you have made changes in your store. So, it helps you to replace the traditional and slow method of search engines manually discovering your site. 

Let’s understand the conventional crawler ‘pull’ model and the IndexNow “push notification” model:

• The Conventional ‘Crawler’ Pull Model

This is the search engine’s old method for crawling, discovering, and indexing new or updated content. In simpler terms, Bing crawls your store once in a while, like in days, weeks, or even months, to check if anything new has come up. So, you don’t have any control over the Bing schedule. 

Whether you have added an exciting product to your Shopify store or you have removed outdated content from your store, Bing might not notice it until the next visit. 

Until then, all you can do is wait for Bing’s next crawl. 

• The ‘Push Notification’ Model

In this model, the new and effective protocol ‘IndexNow’ works by notifying Bing. You don’t need to wait for Bing to find out on its own anymore; now you can send a direct notification to Bing at the moment you do something to your store. 

So, your updates have a better chance of being discovered sooner, helping Bing evaluate the latest version of your content. Whether those pages are crawled, indexed, or ranked still depends on Bing’s own systems. 

Though it doesn’t mean Bing acts on it instantly or finds out your updates faster. Yet the processes such as crawling, indexing, and ranking depend on Bing’s own system. 

Why Bing Indexing Matters for Shopify Stores?

Not every change you make to your Shopify store has the same impact, but some updates are more important for search engines to discover quickly. Here are the situations where Bing indexing matters the most: 

• To showcase the new products you just added to your inventory
• For stock status updates, like you are updating from sold out to back in stock
• Changes in price that you have made, including discounts and corrections
• All the promotions, like a seasonal offer
• You add a new product to your collections, and also reorganize the previous ones
• When you publish blogs to announce and to help buyers understand the product’s uses and features. 
• Removal: you have removed items and deleted the content
• Redirects: when you change the URL, and you want the buyers to land on the right page

Apart from these, Bing indexing reduces the discovery delay and brings fresh information. When you restock the product for buyers, and they are searching for it on Bing, you are expecting Bing to show precise information, instead of outdated ‘sold out’ information.

Here is the practical example:

Let’s say a popular product is being sold out from your inventory for 1 week. Generally, Bing doesn’t notice changes until its next scheduled visit to your store. However, with IndexNow, you can send a notification to Bing whenever you update or restock the product. This increases the chances of visibility on Bing and also ensures fresh and accurate information about your product on it. 

This doesn’t mean that your product suddenly ranks higher and gets more traffic; it simply means that Bing has better chances to showcase your product with up-to-date information, instead of outdated ones. 

What IndexNow Can and Cannot Do

Before expecting anything, you just need to know what exactly you are getting from IndexNow and what you cannot get. Here’s what IndexNow can and cannot do. 

IndexNow Can Do	IndexNow Cannot Do
Notify Bing (and other participating search engines) about changed URLs	Guarantee that a URL will be indexed
Reduce delays in discovering new or updated content	Guarantee higher rankings or more traffic
Help search engines find fresher product information	Replace your XML sitemap
Automate the notification process (with the right tool)	Replace good product-page SEO
Communicate additions, updates, redirects, and deletions	Submit your ordinary Shopify pages to Google

How to Add IndexNow to Shopify

Now let’s look at how to add IndexNow to Shopify. Mainly, there are two different ways for it: building a custom integration and using an App. Let’s discuss them both briefly and honestly, allowing you to decide the best based on your preferences:

Option 1: Build a Custom Integration 

It is quite complicated for individuals who are unaware of coding fundamentals, but if you’re comfortable with code and can set it up manually, then you can use these steps:

• Generate an IndexNow verification key and then host it publicly on your store. With this, Bing can confirm that you own the store.  
• Detect relevant changes on your store, like pricing updates, page deletions, or product additions. Shopify itself doesn’t come to see what you have changed, so build a way to catch these changes. 
• Whenever something gets changed, you need to send correctly formatted requests to an IndexNow endpoint.
• Handling errors, retries, deletions, redirects, and localized URLs.
• Once built, don’t forget it and leave. You must align it with Shopify updates and IndexNow rules. Basically, you need to check your customised integration to ensure a smooth and error-free submission process. 

Now, the 2nd option is ‘Use a Shopify App’, which is suitable for merchants who want to skip the coding part and keep everything automated and running without any maintenance.

Option 2: Use a Shopify App like InstaIndex

An app like InstaIndex will be an end-to-end solution, allowing you to detect changes, generate and verify keys, send submissions, log results, and keep things updated as the protocol evolves. 

Simple Comparison Table:

	Custom Integration	Shopify App
Setup Efforts	High	Low
Technical Knowledge Needed	Coding/API Knowledge	None
Ongoing Maintenance	You have to maintain it	Handled for you
Monitoring & Logs	You build it yourself	Usually built in
Shopify Markets support	You handle localization	Often handled automatically
Best suited for	Developers, technical teams	Most merchants

How to Implement IndexNow with InstaIndex

When you avoid the technical setup, another option is using a Shopify app. So, to implement IndexNow with InstaIndex, you have to follow these steps carefully:

1. Install InstaIndex from the Shopify App Store 

Simply search for InstaIndex on shopify store and, use the direct app link from the listing, and add it to your Shopify store. 

2. Complete the onboarding process

Follow the onboarding or setup steps inside the app and connect it to your store. Make sure you have verified the current onboarding process before publishing. 

3. Confirm automatic submissions are enabled

Before proceeding further, confirm you have enabled automatic IndexNow submissions. This helps in notifying Bing automatically whenever you publish something. 

4. Check verification status

When you have successfully completed the above steps, your store shows a verification status.

5. Do a Small Test

Make a small change to your Shopify product, like publishing content or updating the product description, to check whether the app is in action or not. 

6. Review the submission log

Open the submission log of your app and confirm your change gets picked up and sent to Bing. 

7. Understand the response shown

Once the notification reaches Bing, the status is shown as ‘received’ or ‘acknowledged’. It doesn’t mean that the page is indexed; it simply means Bing knows the page changed. 

8. Check Bing Webmaster Tools 

After making changes, go to your Bing Webmaster Tools account and look for the IndexNow reporting section to check the submitted changes from your side. 

9. Submit your sitemap separately

IndexNow covers your new or recent changes, but for the unchanged or existing pages, you need to submit the Shopify sitemap separately.

10. Know when manual submission helps

When doing bulk changes or troubleshooting, always check whether the app allows manual submission or not. Or check the current manual submission capacity. 

Benefits of InstaIndex:

• Automatic submission to Bing when something on the store changes. 
• No custom infrastructure or verification key is needed to maintain.
• You can check your submission logs to review recent errors and changes. 
• You can avoid repeated or unnecessary submissions
• Get human support whenever you get stuck somewhere, or something looks wrong. 

How to Confirm IndexNow is Working

After implementing IndexNow with InstaIndex, you must confirm it’s working. So, here are the pointers helping you to confirm it’s working correctly:

1. Review InstaIndex Submission Logs

First, you have to review submission logs. This shows you the URLs sent to Bing, so you can check your changes there and also check when it was sent. Check for notifications like ‘received’ or ‘acknowledged’ to confirm the submission has reached Bing.

2. Use Bing Webmaster Tools’ IndexNow reporting 

In InstaIndex, log in to your Bing Webmaster Tools account and look for the IndexNow section. Here you can see submissions from Bing’s side, giving you confirmation that IndexNow is working. 

3. Use URL Inspection for Individual Pages 

Bing’s Webmaster Tools also has a URL Inspection feature used to inspect individual pages. So, if you want to check on a specific page, then you can see in this feature whether Bing has crawled that particular URL.

4. Check for Technical Blockers

Sometimes, the store itself has some technical blockers that stop pages from getting indexed, no matter how fast you have notified Bing. So, check for blockers that are blocking the page:

• Noindex tags: A setting that tells Bing not to index
• Incorrect canonical tags: It tells Bing which version of the page is the original one
• Robot directives: A set of code or rules that block the page from being crawled 

5. Monitor Impressions and Clicks Over Time

Apart from checking submission logs and notifications, also check for impressions (how often your page comes up in search) on Bing Webmaster Tools data. With this, you can not only check your store visibility, but also get a closer look at your indexing efforts. 

How IndexNow Fits Into a Wider SEO-for-Bing Strategy

Overall store performance or visibility depends on specialized SEO strategies, and when you are considering IndexNow, it is just a piece of the puzzle that can accelerate discovery. So, you should also give effort to SEO practices alongside, not replace them with IndexNow. Here are the steps that should be a part of your strategy:

1. Keep your Shopify Sitemap Submitted and Updated

Always keep your sitemap submitted and current because it gives Bing a full inventory of your store’s URLs. While, IndexNow shows recent changes, so these two are separate things that cover essential factors. 

2. Write Unique Product and Collection Copy

Bing values the product description that is written manually or contains human effort (helpful descriptions). So, always use original content for product and collection copy, instead of generic or duplicated. 

3. Use Descriptive Titles and Meta Descriptions 

People only click on the pages that have clear and accurate meta titles and descriptions. As these help both Bing and shoppers to understand what exactly the page is about. 

4. Maintain Accurate Product Structured Data

Always keep product data (price, description, reviews) structured to help both buyers and Bing understand page content more accurately. Also, with this, IndexNow can precisely tell Bing what has changed on the page. 

5. Keep Price and Inventory Data Updated

Whenever something in your store has changed, like product pricing and product availability, make sure you update it instantly on the store. This builds shoppers’ trust and helps Bing to evaluate efficiently.

To Wrap Up

If you think you can use IndexNow as a shortcut for better ranking and indexing, then it will be a misconception on your part because it is only a way to notify Bing about your store. Whether you change your product pricing, description, content, or update inventory, IndexNow can help Shopify merchants by accelerating the discovery process. 

You have two ways to implement IndexNow on Shopify: first, to build a custom integration, which may be complicated for merchants with zero coding knowledge. While the other option, a ‘Shopify app’, can be a better one, as it can automate and manage the notifications, logging, and verification. 

No matter which path you have chosen, SEO practices should always continue alongside, as IndexNow is just a piece of better performance; you can’t replace it with SEO. 

Keep IndexNow submissions automatic whenever your Shopify store changes. Install InstaIndex to connect your store with IndexNow, monitor submissions, and manage the process without maintaining a custom integration.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. What is IndexNow?

• IndexNow is a way or protocol to notify Bing or any participating search engine whenever something has changed, updated, or removed from your Shopify store. Instead of waiting for Bing to notice the changes, IndexNow can tell Bing directly at the moment you make changes. 

2. Does IndexNow guarantee that Shopify pages will be indexed?

• No, IndexNow doesn’t guarantee that Shopify pages will be indexed; it only means the notification was received. The indexing is only decided by Bing: whether to crawl or index the page. 

3. Does IndexNow improve Bing rankings?

• Not directly; IndexNow can help an updated page get discovered and evaluated rapidly, but ranking still depends on factors like content quality, relevance, and overall SEO.

4. Does Google support IndexNow?

• Not for ordinary Shopify URLs. Google doesn’t currently use IndexNow for standard website submissions. If your strategy aligns with Google, then you can use Google Search Console and your Shopify sitemap separately. 

5. Is IndexNow worth it for a Shopify store?

• It entirely depends on how often your store makes changes. If you regularly change your product prices, descriptions, update inventory, and collections, then IndexNow helps a lot by notifying Bing. However, if you make changes rarely, then the benefits are smaller.  

6. How long does Bing take to index a site?

• There is no fixed or guaranteed timeframe for indexing a site. Indexing depends on several factors, like site quality, crawl frequency, and how Bing prioritizes your store. 

7. Do I still need a Shopify sitemap?

• Yes, you need both a Shopify sitemap and IndexNow, as these both serve different purposes. Shopify sitemap gives Bing a full picture of your store’s URLs, while IndexNow notifies it about recent changes. 

8. Should I submit all existing store URLs after installing IndexNow?

• Generally, no, your sitemap already covers unchanged, existing content. IndexNow works best when used for new, updated, redirected, or deleted URLs.

9. How do I know a URL was submitted successfully?

• Check your app’s submission logs or Bing Webmaster Tools for a “received” or “acknowledged” status/notification. This confirms that your URL was submitted successfully. 

10. Can IndexNow increase organic traffic from Bing?

• It can reduce the delay before Bing discovers your changes, but traffic still depends on your page’s relevance, quality, SEO, and how competitive your niche is.