Bulk URL Submission Guide

What is Bulk Submission?

Bulk URL submission allows you to submit hundreds or thousands of URLs simultaneously, making it ideal for large websites, content migrations, or when you need to index multiple pages quickly. This feature is especially valuable for e-commerce sites, news websites, or any platform with extensive content catalogs.

Unlike individual submissions, bulk uploads provide batch processing, comprehensive validation, and detailed reporting on the entire submission set. This approach is more efficient and cost-effective for large-scale indexing needs.

Preparing Your Data

Proper preparation of your URL data is crucial for successful bulk submissions. Taking time to organize and validate your data upfront will save time and reduce errors during the submission process.

Data Collection

Before creating your CSV file, gather all the URLs you want to submit:

• Export URLs from your content management system
• Extract URLs from your sitemap files
• Compile URLs from your analytics platform
• Create a list of manually identified important pages

Data Validation

Validate your URLs before submission to ensure they meet our requirements:

• Ensure all URLs are absolute (include http:// or https://)
• Verify URLs return 200 status codes
• Check that URLs are not blocked by robots.txt
• Confirm URLs are publicly accessible
• Remove any duplicate URLs from your list

CSV File Format

GetIndexedNow uses a simple CSV format for bulk submissions. The file should contain specific columns to provide all necessary information for each URL.

Required Columns

Your CSV file must include these essential columns:

• url: The complete URL including protocol (required)
• domain: The domain name for organizational purposes (optional but recommended)

Optional Columns

You can enhance your submissions with additional metadata:

• tags: Comma-separated tags for categorization
• priority: Submission priority (normal, high, low)
• notes: Additional context or reminders

CSV Example

Here's an example of a properly formatted CSV file:

url,domain,tags,priority,notes
https://example.com/blog-post-1,example.com,blog,normal,Featured article
https://example.com/product-page,example.com,product,high,New product launch
https://example.com/about-us,example.com,about,normal,Company information
https://example.com/contact,example.com,contact,normal,Contact page

CSV Best Practices

• Use UTF-8 encoding to handle special characters
• Include a header row with column names
• Use commas to separate values
• Enclose values in quotes if they contain commas
• Keep file sizes manageable (5,000-10,000 rows per file)
• Use consistent formatting throughout the file

Uploading Your CSV File

The upload process includes validation and preview steps to ensure your data is ready for submission.

1. Navigate to the Tasks section in your GetIndexedNow dashboard
2. Click on 'Bulk Upload' to access the bulk submission interface
3. Click 'Choose File' and select your prepared CSV file
4. Review the file information displayed (row count, file size, etc.)
5. Click 'Upload and Validate' to begin the validation process

Validation Process

During validation, our system checks each URL for common issues:

• URL Format: Ensures URLs are properly formatted and absolute
• Accessibility: Verifies URLs are publicly accessible
• Status Codes: Checks that URLs return appropriate HTTP status codes
• Robots.txt: Confirms URLs are not blocked by robots.txt
• Duplicates: Identifies duplicate URLs within your file

Validation Results

After validation, you'll see a summary of your results:

• Valid URLs: Number of URLs ready for submission
• Invalid URLs: Number of URLs with issues that need fixing
• Duplicates: Number of duplicate URLs found
• Total Rows: Total number of rows in your CSV file

Reviewing and Fixing Issues

If validation finds issues with some URLs, you'll have the opportunity to review and fix them before proceeding with the submission.

Common Validation Errors

• INVALID_URL_FORMAT: URL is not properly formatted
• HTTP_ERROR: URL returns an error status code
• BLOCKED_BY_ROBOTS: URL is blocked by robots.txt
• TIMEOUT: URL takes too long to respond
• DUPLICATE_URL: URL appears multiple times in the file

Fixing Issues

For each error type, you can take appropriate action:

• Correct URL formatting issues in your CSV file
• Remove or fix URLs that return errors
• Update robots.txt to allow access to blocked URLs
• Remove duplicate entries from your file
• Re-upload the corrected CSV file

Submitting Your Batch

Once validation is complete and you're satisfied with the results, you can proceed with the bulk submission.

1. Review the validation summary to confirm the number of valid URLs
2. Check that the estimated credit usage is within your available balance
3. Click 'Submit Batch' to begin the submission process
4. Monitor the submission progress in real-time
5. Review the final submission report

Submission Progress

During submission, you can monitor progress through several indicators:

• Progress Bar: Shows overall submission completion percentage
• Status Counts: Real-time counts of successful, failed, and pending submissions
• Processing Speed: Number of URLs processed per minute
• Estimated Completion: Time remaining until all URLs are processed

Credit Consumption

Credits are consumed as URLs are successfully submitted:

• One credit per successfully submitted URL
• Failed submissions do not consume credits
• Credits are deducted in real-time as submissions complete
• You can monitor credit usage during the submission process

Monitoring and Reporting

After submission, you can track the performance of your bulk submission through various monitoring tools.

Submission Report

A comprehensive report is generated after bulk submission completion:

• Total URLs Submitted: Number of URLs successfully queued
• Success Rate: Percentage of URLs successfully submitted
• Failed Submissions: List of URLs that encountered errors
• Processing Time: Total time taken to process all URLs
• Credit Usage: Total credits consumed during submission

Ongoing Monitoring

Track the status of your bulk submissions over time:

• Use the Tasks section to view individual submission status
• Filter by submission date to focus on your bulk submission
• Monitor success rates and identify any patterns in failures
• Export data for external analysis and reporting

Best Practices for Bulk Submissions

Following these best practices will help you maximize the success of your bulk submissions and optimize your workflow.

File Organization

• Split large datasets into manageable files (5,000-10,000 URLs per file)
• Use descriptive filenames that include date and content type
• Keep backup copies of your original CSV files
• Organize files by domain, content type, or submission priority

Timing and Scheduling

• Submit during off-peak hours for faster processing
• Avoid submitting the same URLs multiple times in short periods
• Space out large bulk submissions to avoid overwhelming the system
• Consider the timing of your content updates when scheduling submissions

Quality Control

• Always validate your URLs before bulk submission
• Use consistent tagging conventions for better organization
• Review failed submissions to identify and fix recurring issues
• Monitor success rates to optimize your submission strategy

Troubleshooting Bulk Submissions

Even with proper preparation, you may encounter issues during bulk submissions. Here are common problems and solutions.

Common Issues

• File Upload Errors: Check file format and size limits
• Validation Failures: Review and fix URL issues before resubmitting
• Processing Delays: Large files may take longer to process
• Credit Shortages: Ensure sufficient credits before starting

Solutions

• Verify CSV format and encoding before upload
• Fix validation errors and re-upload corrected files
• Split large files into smaller chunks for faster processing
• Monitor credit usage and upgrade your plan if needed

Who Is This Guide For?

This guide is ideal for marketers, SEO specialists, founders, and developers who want a reliable, repeatable process for bulk url submission guide with minimal friction.

Prerequisites

• An active GetIndexedNow account
• A modern web browser (Chrome, Edge, Firefox, Safari)
• Owner or editor access to your website or CMS
• Basic familiarity with URLs and sitemaps

Detailed Steps

1. Open your GetIndexedNow dashboard and verify your project/website is selected.
2. Navigate to the relevant module for this task (Dashboard, URL Submitter, Sitemaps, or API).
3. Complete the input fields carefully—double‑check domain, protocol (http/https), and trailing slashes.
4. Click the primary action (Submit / Validate / Sync) and wait for a confirmation response.
5. Review status badges, logs, or activity feed to confirm successful processing.
6. If you see warnings, use the Troubleshooting section below to resolve them immediately.
7. Document your process so your team can repeat it consistently.

Best Practices

• Keep URLs clean, canonical, and accessible (no login walls for public pages).
• Use concise, descriptive titles and meta descriptions for faster search understanding.
• Batch similar actions (e.g., submit a set of new pages together).
• Avoid resubmitting unchanged URLs too frequently to prevent throttling.
• Maintain a changelog of edits and submissions to support audits.

Troubleshooting

• 403/401 errors: The destination blocks automated access—confirm robots and firewall settings.
• 404/410 errors: The URL doesn’t exist—fix the path or update internal links.
• 5xx errors: The site/server is unstable—retry after stabilizing hosting or CDN settings.
• Mixed content: Ensure all assets load over HTTPS to avoid blocked indexing.
• Slow responses: Optimize server performance or use a CDN to reduce TTFB.

FAQs

• How long does indexing take? It varies by search engine, crawl budget, and site authority. Many see results within hours to days.
• Can I undo a submission? No, but you can update or remove the page and submit changes.
• Is there a daily limit? Rate limits may apply—batch and prioritize important URLs.

Glossary

• Canonical URL: The preferred version of a page for indexing.
• Crawl Budget: The number of pages a crawler is willing to fetch on your site.
• Sitemap: A machine‑readable file listing URLs for discovery.