Why is my website not showing up on Google?

Step one: is Google aware of your site?

Type site:yourwebsite.co.uk into Google, using your own address. If a list of your pages appears, Google has them, and the question is why they do not rank. If nothing appears, Google has not indexed the site.

For a precise answer, set up Google Search Console, it is free, and use its inspection tool on any page. It tells you whether the page is indexed and, if not, why.

If Google does not have your site

1. It is too newGoogle has to discover a site before it can show it. Submit your sitemap in Search Console and allow a few days to a few weeks.
2. It is telling Google to stay awayA “noindex” setting, often left on from when the site was being built. On WordPress, look under Settings, then Reading, for the box that discourages search engines.
3. It is blocked by the robots fileA file called robots.txt can shut crawlers out of the whole site. One stray line is enough.
4. It cannot be reachedServer errors, a lapsed domain or a security certificate problem.
5. It has been removed by GoogleRare. Search Console lists any manual action against the site and what to do about it.

If Google has it but you cannot find it

1. There is no page for that searchA site with one “Services” page cannot rank for each service. Every search you want needs a page that answers it.
2. The competition is aheadOther sites have more content, more reviews and more links. This is the ordinary work of SEO.
3. Your pages compete with each otherSeveral pages aimed at the same search split the credit, and none does well.
4. You moved or redesigned the siteIf old addresses were not redirected to the new ones, the rankings they held were lost. See our redesign checklist.

If the business is missing from the map

That is a different system. The map shows Google Business Profiles, not websites. If your business does not appear there, see how to rank on Google Maps.

A ten-minute check

• Search site: with your address. Do pages appear?
• Search for your exact business name. Do you appear?
• Open the site on a phone. Does it load, and quickly?
• In Search Console, check for pages marked as not indexed.
• Check there is no manual action listed.
• Check each main service has its own page.