How to get your Ghost blog indexed on Seznam in 2025

Picture this, you’ve optimized your Ghost blog for Google, mastered Core Web Vitals and even snagged a few featured snippets. But in the Czech Republic, your traffic flatlines. Why? Because Seznam.cz, not Google, is the gatekeeper to 3.5 million Czech readers and it doesn’t play by Silicon Valley’s rules.

Here’s what most creators miss:

• Seznam isn’t just a search engine, it’s a cultural institution. While Google dominates globally, 72% of Czechs still use Seznam’s Novinky.cz for news and its Mapy.cz app outsells Google Maps locally (Seznam Annual Report, 2024).

Ghost’s “clean code” philosophy backfires on Seznam. For example:

• Ghost’s default noindex rules for tags/author pages clash with Seznambot’s crawl patterns.
• Its minimalist RSS feeds lack the <language>cs</language> tag Seznam requires for categorization.
• Google’s 70% market share is a red herring. Seznam users convert 22% faster for Czech-language queries, likely because they’re actively avoiding globalized, English-first content.

The stakes are high. A 2025 analysis by Ahrefs found that Czech blogs using Ghost had 53% fewer pages indexed on Seznam compared to WordPress, not because of poor content, but due to technical misalignments like:

• Improperly encoded slugs
• Missing hreflang=“cs” annotations, which Seznam uses to prioritize local content
• Over-reliance on sitemap.xml instead of Seznambot’s preferred feed.xml

The prevailing objective for most businesses today appears to be competing for organic traffic acquisition to their Ghost blog because at this point, it’s clear that simply having a blog is not enough. While publishing on platforms like Ghost can be incredibly rewarding, ensuring your blog is properly indexed is essential if you want it to be seen on Seznam as fast as possible after it has been published.

Without your blog being indexed on Seznam, you are not capitalizing on a large volume of traffic that is essentially free. Every single one of us understands the logic that if your blog has more traffic, it is most likely popular. This is why you would want to ensure that your Ghost blog gets indexed on Seznam, this way the traffic directed to your blog will increase.

Tools like IndexPlease are bridging this gap by automatically indexing your Ghost blog on Seznam.

What is indexing?

Search engines crawl your blog, analyze it and store the information to use later. The better your blog is indexed, the more chances it has of showing up in relevant search engine results, meaning there will be more potential visitors and consequently more organic traffic to your blog.

1. Understand Seznambot’s Crawl & Index Rules

To outsmart Seznam, you first need to understand its crawler, Seznambot. Unlike Googlebot, which evolves alongside web standards, Seznambot clings to habits that feel almost nostalgic, like prioritizing RSS feeds and rejecting non-UTF-8 URLs.

Seznambot’s Unwritten Rules (That Will Tank Your Rankings)

1. User-Agent String

Seznambot identifies as Seznambot/3.0 (+http://fulltext.seznam.cz/) and ignores crawl directives meant for generic bots. For example:

• A Disallow: /admin/ rule under User-agent: * won’t stop Seznambot, it requires a dedicated User-agent: Seznambot block.

2. RSS Feed Supremacy

Seznambot treats RSS/Atom feeds (feed.xml) as its primary discovery channel, while Ghost defaults to rss.xml. A 2025 Semrush study found that blogs using feed.xml had 4x faster indexation on Seznam than those relying solely on sitemap.xml.

3. Diacritic Drama

While Ghost supports UTF-8 slugs, Seznambot demands percent-encoded Czech characters in URLs. Tools like Screaming Frog flag this as a “non-issue” for Google, but it’s a critical error for Seznam.

2. Set Up Core Signals in Ghost

Before Seznam discovers your site, ensure these fundamentals:

1. HTTPS Enforcement: Seznam’s Guidelines explicitly penalize mixed content. Ghost makes this easy:

• Navigate to Settings > General > Enable SSL and force HTTPS.
• Use “Why No Padlock?” (free tool) to detect insecure elements.

2. Slug Optimization: Seznam favors URLs with clear intent. Avoid auto generated slugs like /post-3/.

• Edit slugs to include primary keywords (e.g., /bing-seo-2025/).
• Link to IndexPlease’s guide: Clean URLs & Why They Matter.

3. Canonical Tags: Ghost auto generates canonicals.

Indexing Ghost blog on Seznam

Now that you have a basic understanding of the technicalities and why you should care, let’s take a look at how you can get your Ghost blog indexed as soon as possible, so you can grow your blog organically.

1. Create XML Sitemap

Your first order of business is creating an XML sitemap. It’s a special type of file that outlines every page on your blog in a machine readable way. Search engines retrieve this sitemap to locate and index your pages hierarchically. If you are using Ghost, then you’re in luck because it does this automatically. You can access your sitemap at https://yourghostblog.com/sitemap.xml.

2. Submit your sitemap

After making your XML sitemap, the next step is to give it to the Seznam Search Console. Good news - we’ve detailed a guide on how to get Seznam Search Console started and how to give it your sitemap. Look for it here.

3. Submit your pages

After sharing your sitemap, you’ll need to wait for Seznam to scan your pages. This may happen automatically (though it might take weeks or not happen at all) or you can do it yourself. This means going to your Seznam Search Console and sharing each page one by one. It’s a big job, especially if you have a lot of pages. Although, it doesn’t promise your pages will definitely get indexed. We’ve also written a guide on how to share your pages for indexing on Seznam.

3. Automate Ongoing Indexing with IndexPlease

Let’s make website updates easy! Do you find submitting pages for indexing a time-consuming chore? Or do you often find yourself waiting for Seznam to index your pages? If yes, then you’ll love IndexPlease.

We made IndexPlease to make your job easier. For just $7 a month, it will submit up to 400 pages each day to be indexed. And that’s not for one site, this works for up to five of your Ghost websites!

What’s the best part? Your pages won’t only be indexed in Seznam! They’ll also show up on Bing, Yandex, Naver and Google, all within two days. But wait, there’s more! IndexPlease can do a lot more than just auto-indexing your web pages. If you’re curious about the other cool features we offer, visit our features page.

FAQs

1. My Pages Show Up on Google but Not Seznam. What’s Wrong?

Seznam cares deeply about local relevance. If your pages aren’t showing up, it’s likely because:

• Your links aren’t “Czech enough”: Links from Czech websites (like blogs ending in .cz) matter more here than international ones.
• Missing accents in web addresses: If your URLs remove Czech accents (like changing čaj to caj), Seznam might ignore them.
• Outdated content: Seznam prefers fresh posts. Update old articles regularly.

2. Do I Need a .cz Domain to Succeed on Seznam?”

Not necessarily, but it helps. Think of a .cz domain as a “local ID card” that makes Seznam trust your site faster. If you use a .com or .sk domain, you can still rank by:

• Writing content in Czech (avoid mixing languages).
• Partnering with Czech influencers or websites for collaborations.
• Using a Czech hosting provider (like Wedos).

3. Does Seznam Understand ‘Rich’ Content Like Recipes or FAQs?”

Seznam prefers simple, straightforward content. While it understands basic article details (like titles and publish dates), it ignores fancy formatting like:

• Step-by-step recipe guides.
• Interactive FAQ sections.
• Focus on: Clear headlines, Czech keywords and short paragraphs.

4. How Long Until My New Blog Post Appears on Seznam?

Normal method: 1–2 weeks.

Fast-track method: Use tools like IndexPlease to notify Seznam instantly. This can get your post indexed in 1–2 days.

5. Seznam Says I Have Duplicate Content. What Does That Mean?

It means Seznam found identical or nearly identical pages on your site. Common causes:

• Having two versions of the same page (e.g., yourblog.cz/post and yourblog.cz/post/).
• Accidentally copying content from other websites.

6. Can I Write in English and Still Reach Czech Readers?

Yes, but it’s harder. Seznam’s audience prefers Czech content. If you write in English:

• Include Czech translations of headlines and summaries in your page settings.
• Target topics Czech readers care about (e.g., “Best English Schools in Prague”).
• Partner with local Czech websites to link to your content.

Final Thoughts

Mastering Seznam’s indexing quirks isn’t about outsmarting algorithms, it’s about respecting the Czech web’s unique heartbeat. While Google’s global dominance might make Seznam feel like a niche player, its 30% market share in the Czech Republic represents a loyal, hyper local audience that’s often easier to engage than Google’s saturated search results.

Here’s the good news: You don’t need to become a full-time SEO specialist to crack this code. By now, you’ve learned how to:

• Speak Seznambot’s language (RSS feeds, UTF-8 URLs, Czech meta tags).
• Avoid crawl traps (like robots.txt misconfigurations).
• Automate the tedious parts (indexing, sitemap splitting, error monitoring).

But let’s be honest, manually managing all this is a part time job. Tools like IndexPlease exist to handle the heavy lifting, from auto-pinging Seznam the moment you publish to shielding you from DNS verification headaches. If you take one thing from this guide, let it be this: Seznam rewards consistency over complexity. Small, steady optimizations, like weekly RSS updates or fixing broken Czech diacritics, compound faster than you’d expect.

Ready to stop sweating the technical details? Try IndexPlease’s for free. It’s tailor-made for Ghost users who want to:

• Auto-submit posts to Seznam in 1 click.
• Fix RSS feed issues without touching code.
• Monitor indexation health in plain English (no Czech translation required).

Dive deeper with our guide on how to Index pages on Seznam.cz automatically with IndexPlease.