Website not showing up on Google: causes and fixes

The website is online, but it does not show up on Google. That is annoying, but it happens a lot, especially with new sites. Usually one of a handful of reasons is behind it. Here you will learn how to check whether Google knows your website at all, which causes are typical and what you can do yourself. Everything is based on Google's official documentation, the links are at the end.

How Google finds a website

Google works in three steps. During crawling, a program called Googlebot fetches pages on the web. It finds new pages mainly through links from pages it already knows. During indexing, Google analyses the content and stores the page in its index. Only then can it appear in search results.

Important: Google does not guarantee any of these steps. Not every page gets crawled, and not every crawled page gets indexed.

Step 1: check whether the website is indexed

Type site:yourdomain.com into Google, for example site:smith-painting.com. If results appear, Google knows at least some of your pages. According to Google, that list is not necessarily complete.

The free Google Search Console is more precise. Its "Pages" report shows which pages are indexed and which are not, each with a reason. The URL Inspection tool shows for a single address whether Google knows it. How to set up Search Console is explained in Set up Google Search Console.

The most common causes

The website is still too new

According to Google, it can take several weeks before a new website or a change is noticed. If you published your site yesterday, you need some patience.

Hardly any links from other websites

Google names this as one of the typical reasons: the site is not well connected from other sites on the web. Googlebot has a hard time finding a new page that no link points to. Google also says it sometimes simply misses smaller sites.

A "noindex" is still active

With a noindex instruction, a page tells Google: please do not add me to the index. That makes sense during development but is often forgotten at launch. In WordPress the setting is under "Settings" and "Reading": "Discourage search engines from indexing this site". In Search Console such a page shows up as "Excluded by 'noindex' tag".

The robots.txt locks Google out

The robots.txt file states which areas search engines may fetch. A wrong rule can block the whole website. By the way, Google advises against blocking pages via robots.txt to keep them out of the index, because then Google cannot see a noindex on the page at all.

Google cannot reach the content

According to Google, Googlebot sometimes gets an error, often because a page is only reachable after a login. A setup where content and links are only created by scripts can also make crawling harder. Google generally only follows links that are a normal HTML element with an address in the code.

"Discovered, currently not indexed"

Many owners of new websites see this status in Search Console. It means Google knows the address but has not fetched the page yet. According to Google, crawling was postponed, for example so as not to overload the server. It is not an error you have to fix, but a sign that Google does not yet consider the pages urgent.

"Crawled, currently not indexed"

Here Google has fetched the page but not added it. According to Google, it may still be indexed later and there is no need to resubmit it. It is worth looking at the content: if the page is very short, almost identical to another one or offers no real value, it has a harder time.

Indexed but not found

Sometimes the website is in the index but does not appear for the search terms you want. That is a different problem. First try a search for your exact business name. If you find yourself there, the website is indexed. For general searches such as "painter Ansbach" you then have to compete with other businesses. For local searches, your Google Business Profile counts as well as your website, see Set up a Google Business Profile.

What you can do

• Set up Search Console and check the "Pages" report.
• Make sure no noindex and no block in robots.txt is active.
• Submit a sitemap. According to Google it mainly helps new websites with few external links.
• Test important pages with URL Inspection and click "Request indexing". There is a daily limit, and inclusion is not guaranteed.
• Link every important page from at least one other page of your website, with link text that says what it is about. Google explicitly recommends this.
• Make sure others link to you: business directories, your trade guild or association, partner businesses, the local municipality.
• Write content that really helps your customers instead of many short, similar pages.

What you do not need

Offers that sell a paid "submission to Google" or to hundreds of search engines are unnecessary. According to Google, you usually do not need to do anything except publish your website. You also cannot buy a place in Google's regular search results.

Frequently asked questions

How long does it take for my website to appear on Google?

According to Google it can take several weeks. If you request indexing for a single page, Google's help pages mention anything from a day to two weeks, without a guarantee.

Does it cost anything to be listed on Google?

No. Inclusion in the regular search results is free. Only ads are paid, and they are labelled as ads.

Do I have to submit every new page to Google individually?

No. Google finds new pages through links and the sitemap. Individual requests make sense for a few important pages, for example after relaunching the website.

Why do I see my website in search but a customer does not?

For local searches, according to Google, the distance to the searcher plays a role. Someone searching from another place therefore sees different results. Better check the status in Search Console rather than only with your own search.

My website used to be easy to find, now it is not. Why?

Often after a relaunch, when old addresses disappear without a redirect or a noindex from development goes live. What to watch out for is in the website relaunch checklist.

Sources

• How Google Search works: developers.google.com/search/docs/fundamentals/how-search-works
• Get your website on Google: developers.google.com/search/docs/fundamentals/get-on-google
• Page indexing report: support.google.com/webmasters/answer/7440203
• URL Inspection tool: support.google.com/webmasters/answer/9012289
• Sitemaps: developers.google.com/search/docs/crawling-indexing/sitemaps/overview
• noindex: developers.google.com/search/docs/crawling-indexing/block-indexing
• Crawlable links: developers.google.com/search/docs/crawling-indexing/links-crawlable