How to verify Squarespace ownership with IndexNow

Hey everyone! I recently delved into using IndexNow to speed up the indexing of Squarespace sites. Here's a guide below detailing how to set it up effectively!

Learn more about IndexNow and its benefits for quicker site indexing at https://www.indexnow.org/documentation

How to verify Squarespace ownership with IndexNow

I have tried this multiple times and it does not work for me. I've tried the 301 with the .txt file; I've tried a keyLocation variation. In all cases, I get a 202 response. How long does verification take normally? I want to make sure I'm not being impatient.

FYI. I tried Ahrefs tool, and even they do not validate the key, despite the automatic link they provide downloading the key just fine. I can only assume that the basic rules of IndexNow apply: the key must line up with the domain it is tied to, and the Squarespace redirects ultimately lead to a https://static1.squarespace.com, not (in my case) https://poochkingdom.com.

8 hours ago, PoochKingdom said:

I have tried this multiple times and it does not work for me. I've tried the 301 with the .txt file; I've tried a keyLocation variation. In all cases, I get a 202 response. How long does verification take normally? I want to make sure I'm not being impatient.

FYI. I tried Ahrefs tool, and even they do not validate the key, despite the automatic link they provide downloading the key just fine. I can only assume that the basic rules of IndexNow apply: the key must line up with the domain it is tied to, and the Squarespace redirects ultimately lead to a https://static1.squarespace.com, not (in my case) https://poochkingdom.com.

Quote

Squarespace redirects ultimately lead to a https://static1.squarespace.com, not (in my case) https://poochkingdom.com.

All Squarespace static asset will be redirects to their CDN, include the file on my domain beyondspace.studio, I can send the verification URL of my domain to your PM for confirming

Quote

How long does verification take normally

Almost instantly for me, at least, but I think the time will vary for different site

It did work for me, either I used direct HTTP request, pageIndexer,io or an internal SEO tool, it still accept the key on 301 redirection. 202 mean the key is pending on verification, suggestions are:

- Wait a bit until try again

- If it not working, use Bing Indexnow to regenerate the key - Remove the old redirect and upload new key

- Use the asset direct URL, as instructed on this post in Option 2 - use XML file, when verify with Bing webmaster, I had to use the real path of the file, instead of /s/ in URL mapping

This instruction link has slightly different method to mimic root directory upload, that it track the /s/file to its source and use the direction directly from `/file.xml -> static1.squarespace/file.xml 301`

Let me know how it goes....

Thanks for the detailed reply. I tested with Postman and just a verify with Firefox, too. I'll update you later this evening with my results.

My key is loaded to /s/<key.txt>, and I have a 301 redirect from / to -> /s/, which in turn leads to https://static1.squarespace.com/static/..../<key>.txt. If I hit the URL from a browser, the key is downloaded.

I have a second version of the same key loaded to /s/MyKey-<key.txt>, and I have a 301 redirect from / to -> /s/, which in turn leads to https://static1.squarespace.com/static/..../MyKey-<key>.txt. If I hit the URL from a browser, the key is downloaded.

Tests and results from Postman:
 

From Postman
GET https://ssl.bing.com/indexnow?url=https://<host>.com&key=<xxx> returns HTTP 202
GET https://api.indexnow.org/indexnow?url=https://<host>.com&key=<xxx> returns HTTP 202
GET https://yandex.com/indexnow?url=https://<host>.com&key=<xxx> returns HTTP 202
GET https://ssl.bing.com/indexnow?url=https://<host>.com&key=<xxx>&keyLocation=https://<host>.com/[<key.txt>|<MyKey-<key.txt>] returns HTTP 202
GET https://api.indexnow.org/indexnow?url=https://<host>.com&key=<xxx>&keyLocation=https://<host>.com/[<key.txt>|<MyKey-<key.txt>] returns HTTP 202
GET https://yandex.com/indexnow?url=https://<host>.com&key=<xxx>&keyLocation=https://<host>.com/[<key.txt>|<MyKey-<key.txt>] returns HTTP 202

Failures
GET https://ssl.bing.com/indexnow?url=https://<host>.com&key=<xxx>&keyLocation=https://static1...com/[<key.txt>|<MyKey-<key.txt>] returns HTTP 422
GET https://api.indexnow.org/indexnow?url=https://<host>.com&key=<xxx>&keyLocation=https://static1.com/[<key.txt>|<MyKey-<key.txt>] returns HTTP 422
GET https://yandex.com/indexnow?url=https://<host>.com&key=<xxx>&keyLocation=https://static1.com/[<key.txt>|<MyKey-<key.txt>] returns HTTP 422
The error is Invalid Key Location, which is to be expected as they key is not delivered from the same host as the url specified

From Firefox
https://ssl.bing.com/indexnow?url=https://<host>.com&key=<xxx> returns HTTP 202
https://api.indexnow.org/indexnow?url=https://<host>.com&key=<xxx> returns HTTP 202
https://yandex.com/indexnow?url=https://<host>.com&key=<xxx> returns HTTP 202

I guess I wait and see if I get verified overnight.

My Bing Webmaster was verified through Google Search Console; Bing says I have nothing more to do on that front. Thanks again for your advice.

Got it! Thanks. I missed that nuance.

That did it! It never occurred to me to 301 to the static page directly. You guys are awesome! Thanks!

2 minutes ago, PoochKingdom said:

That did it! It never occurred to me to 301 to the static page directly. You guys are awesome! Thanks!

I will update the method accordingly, seems like the simple redirect to /s/ is not stable enough

I just tested a POST to https://api.indexnow.org and it worked with no problem. The body is JSON

{
    "host": "<host>.com",
    "key": "<key>",
    "keyLocation": "https://<host>.com/<key>.txt",
    "urlList": [
        "https://<host>.com/home",
        "https://<host>.com/about",
		...
        "https://<host>.com/..."
    ]
}

That's great! Thanks for confirming, Key verification is just starter step, we still need to regularly notify IndexNow endpoints about the changed pages. Hope Google will adapt this protocol soon in the future

Agreed, though Google already has a bulk submission API that's OAuth based. I am not sure if they will adopt IndexNow, because they are pretty set in their ways; I worked with Google on early OAuth 1.0a projects in 2009, so that's their preferred method.

1 minute ago, PoochKingdom said:

Agreed, though Google already has a bulk submission API that's OAuth based. I am not sure if they will adopt IndexNow, because they are pretty set in their ways; I worked with Google on early OAuth 1.0a projects in 2009, so that's their preferred method.

You worked with Google!? That's impressive

I was a lead technical consultant for a software integration startup that was a low-code solution. We were asked to see if we could pull from Google's Gadget API (brand new in 2008/2009) and get/put data into SAP and Salesforce. I had to learn and implement OAuth 1.0a in our platform. It was a challenge then, and is still a challenge now for headless integration; we were an appliance-based solution.

I face the same challenge today, because I'm trying to figure out how to implement the Google My Business API in our site without exposing the keys, and use it to serve up all the reviews from our Google Business listing. It requires OAuth 2.0, but I don't want any user interaction where you have to approve logins, etc. That's for another day...