Google Finds Content Via Links & Sitemaps; In That Order

Oct 24, 2018 - 7:41 am 5 by

Captain Obvious Google

Google's Gary Illyes said at PubCon last week that Google finds content mostly through links and XML Sitemaps. He said the number one way is through links, crawling links on the web and the number two way is through XML Sitemaps.

Yes, this is obvious but hey, Google for Google to list the number one and two way they discover new content for their index.

It is also a good excuse for me to use a Captain Obvious GIF for a story header image.

Best practices is to make sure Google can discover your links both through normal links on the web and also via Sitemaps. Don't just do one or the other, definitely don't just depend on XML Sitemaps.

Give Google multiple ways to find your content.

Forum discussion at Twitter.

 

Popular Categories

The Pulse of the search community

Search Video Recaps

 
- YouTube
Video Details More Videos Subscribe to Videos

Most Recent Articles

Search Forum Recap

Daily Search Forum Recap: July 11, 2025

Jul 11, 2025 - 10:00 am
Search Video Recaps

Search News Buzz Video Recap: Google Helpful Content Recoveries With Core Update, AI Mode Expands, Hidden Ad Terms & Fewer Ad Clicks

Jul 11, 2025 - 8:01 am
Google Maps

Google Local & Business Profiles Drops June 25th - Reporting Glitch?

Jul 11, 2025 - 7:51 am
Google

Google Tests Zoom Effect In On Images Within Search Results

Jul 11, 2025 - 7:41 am
Bing Search

Bing Search Image Box Tests Explore Image & Visual Search Buttons

Jul 11, 2025 - 7:31 am
Bing Search

Microsoft Bing Tests Delivery Truck Icon In Search Ads

Jul 11, 2025 - 7:21 am
Previous Story: Google: Regional Hreflang Markup Not Coming Soon