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I recently registered a new domain, pointed it to my existing server, and set up a minimal page just saying "test" and nothing else.

I just discovered tonight that the page is already indexed in Google! There are no links to the site (I haven't even told anyone about the domain since I haven't done anything with it yet).

Is Google trawling WHOIS records or something?

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  • Are you sure you didn't do something that might automatically expose the URL in some way, like mention it in an e-mail to a list(that might get republished), browse directly from there to some other site that might have public logs or a referer widget, etc.?
    – Su'
    Nov 21, 2011 at 1:45
  • @Su not to my knowledge. I barely even visited the site after I threw up the test page.
    – DisgruntledGoat
    Nov 21, 2011 at 2:37
  • @TRiG I have already mentioned that same question exist but there is no perfect answer so i asked.
    – sheshadri
    Jul 24, 2015 at 10:35
  • You did nothing to make this question different, though. It's just exactly the same question.
    – TRiG
    Jul 24, 2015 at 10:36
  • @TRiG Yes question is same but in that question no perfect answer.
    – sheshadri
    Jul 24, 2015 at 10:41

3 Answers 3

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There are at least 3 ways:

  1. Links to your site.
  2. Using Google Webmaster Tools (now called Search Console)
  3. Registrar dumps, triggers, and other options.

Google will find many new sites quickly from some registrars. For example, Google found one domain name I registered using GoDaddy, indexed it, and began sending search results within 20 minutes of registering the domain name. But this will not happen for all registrars.

There may be other ways as well, but these are the most common.

If you want Google to know about your site quickly, the best option is to submit it using Google Webmaster Tools (now called Search Console).

@zigojacko brought up a great point(!) in the comments that really should live within the answer. If you have a Google+ account, you can simply link to your website and Google will honor that immediately. It is at least as fast as creating a WMT account if not faster!

[Hint]

Sitemaps and robots.txt files have nothing to do with domain discovery. In fact, sitemaps are useless for most sites with the exception of extremely large sites, sites that cannot be crawled completely because not all pages are linked, sites with a paywall, or sites with a login. Sitemaps have nothing to do with search performance short of the reasons mentioned above. As well, it is always advisable to create a robots.txt file even if it is empty.

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  • 1
    @sheshadri Anytime!! We are here for you and have some real experts here. This is one site that Google and other authoritative sites pay attention to and respond to.
    – closetnoc
    Jul 24, 2015 at 5:37
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    @sheshadri Many larger registrars share new registration information with Google almost in real-time.
    – closetnoc
    Jul 24, 2015 at 5:39
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    To throw one more idea into the mix in addition to @closetnoc's correct answer is to link to the website from Google+. This seems to trigger something at Google to send a visit from Googlebot very quickly, sometimes as quick as within the hour, although some are longer.
    – zigojacko
    Jul 24, 2015 at 7:15
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    Google are also a domain registrar themselves, so I presume as a registrar they must have access to all the domains that have been registered.
    – Max
    Jul 24, 2015 at 8:43
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    @zigojacko Great point!! I often forget about Google+ since I do not do the social thing.
    – closetnoc
    Jul 24, 2015 at 14:59
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They are a registrar. I don't see why they couldn't use it to find new sites to index.

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  • Ha, I love the paragraph in that article rumouring that they are making a web browser and operating system! Anyway, your answer seems logical - to be a registrar you must have full access to every domain that's been registered.
    – DisgruntledGoat
    Nov 21, 2011 at 2:45
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If you use Google Toolbar and have Page Rank info activated, it will inform Google about the page URL (in order to get the Page Rank number) and this can lead to your page getting indexed.

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    Nope, don't use this, or anything similar.
    – DisgruntledGoat
    Nov 21, 2011 at 12:14
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    One has nothing to do with the other. The toolbar database and search database are completely and wholly separate from each other. The toolbar database is updated from aggregate agents.
    – closetnoc
    Jul 24, 2015 at 14:55
  • Not to mention that the Google TBPR has been nulled for ages now anyway so it probably doesn't do anything in the slightest any longer.
    – zigojacko
    Jul 24, 2015 at 16:30

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