Website not showing on Google: how to find out why

The test to do now

Type site:yourdomain.com into Google, with no space after the colon. Google shows some of the pages of your site that it holds in its index. This is a first indication: the list can be incomplete, so the confirmation for each page comes from URL Inspection in Search Console.

• Nothing comes up: the site is probably out of the index. The reason is usually technical and quick to fix.
• Very little comes up, say only the home page: Google may know the site, but hasn't kept the other pages.
• Everything comes up: the site is there, but other sites rank ahead of it for the searches you care about. This job takes longer.
• Pages in Japanese or about pharmacy products you never wrote: the site has been attacked, see the page on the hacked website.

If the site is out of the index

The most common cause is one line. The site was built with the search-engine block on, to keep it hidden during the work, and nobody removed it at launch. On WordPress it is the "Discourage search engines from indexing this site" box, under Settings, Reading.

Other causes I find:

• a noindex in the pages, or a robots.txt that blocks everything;
• pages answering Google with an error, sometimes because of an overly strict firewall;
• a rebuilt site with new addresses and no redirects from the old ones;
• the www version and the one without it competing for the same pages.

In Search Console the Pages report gives the reason for each address. "Excluded by noindex tag" is the easy case. "Discovered, currently not indexed" means Google knows the address and hasn't read it yet. "Crawled, currently not indexed" means it read the page and left it out, often because the page is too thin or too similar to others.

If the site is there, but far down

Usually a page that answers the search is missing. A site with "Services" and "About us" will rarely rank for "boiler repair in Cantù": it needs a page about exactly that, with your own words and real details. Speed on phones, titles written in the words customers use and links from other sites count too.

For a local business the first thing to do is the Google Business Profile: it is free, and for "plumber near me" Google shows profiles ahead of websites.

What I do

1. I look at the site and at Search Console, if you have it, and tell you which case you are in. If it is one line to remove, I tell you straight away.
2. I fix the technical blocks and check that Google reads the pages again.
3. If the problem is content, we pick the searches that bring you customers and write the pages that are missing.

I show you the results in Search Console, with real searches and clicks. The rest of the work is on the SEO and AI visibility page. To appear in AI answers as well, read how to get your company on ChatGPT.

Frequently asked questions

How long does Google take to show a new website?

Usually from a few days to a few weeks. A new page gets in faster if the site is connected to Search Console and has a sitemap. Climbing to useful positions takes much longer, often months.

Do I have to pay Google to appear?

No. Normal results are free and nobody can buy them. You only pay for Google Ads, which appear while there is budget. They can help while the site grows, but they don't lift it in the normal results.

Someone promised me first place on Google. Is that real?

Nobody can guarantee it, because Google decides the results. I would be wary of that promise, especially in an unsolicited email.

I appear on one phone and not on another. Why?

Google changes results by location, language and what you searched before. Your real average position is in Search Console: a search typed on your own phone says little.

Read more

• The service: SEO and AI search
• More pages like this: Websites with a problem