Why Your Website Isn't Showing Up on Google (and What to Fix First)

You launched your website, searched for your business on Google, and nothing. Or you show up when you type your exact business name, but not for "plumber in Austin" or "hair salon near me." Both are common, and both are usually fixable.

Here's how to find out what's going on, and what to fix first, in the order I'd check it.

Step 1: Is Google aware of your site at all?

Go to Google and search for:

site:yourdomain.com

(Replace yourdomain.com with your actual domain, with no space after the colon.)

• If you see your pages listed, Google has indexed your site. Skip to step 4; your problem is ranking, not being found.
• If you see nothing, Google hasn't added your site yet, or something is blocking it. Keep going.

Step 2: Check you aren't blocking Google by accident

This sounds unlikely, but it's one of the most common causes I find, especially on sites built during a "coming soon" phase.

• WordPress: go to Settings → Reading and make sure "Discourage search engines from indexing this site" is unchecked. Builders often tick it during development and forget it.
• "noindex" tags: a developer or SEO plugin can set pages to noindex, which tells Google to leave them out. Ask whoever built the site to check.
• robots.txt: visit yourdomain.com/robots.txt. If you see Disallow: / under User-agent: *, the whole site is blocked.
• Password protection or a maintenance page: if visitors (and Google) see a login or "under construction" page, there's nothing for Google to index.

Step 3: Tell Google your site exists

Google finds new sites eventually, but you can speed it up for free with Google Search Console:

1. Go to search.google.com/search-console and add your domain. It will ask you to verify that you own it, usually by adding a record at your domain registrar. Your web developer can do this in a few minutes.
2. Submit your sitemap, a file that lists all your pages. Most modern sites have one at yourdomain.com/sitemap.xml.
3. Use URL Inspection on your homepage and click Request indexing.

Then give it time. A brand-new site can take anywhere from a few days to a few weeks to appear. Search Console will also tell you about pages Google couldn't index, and why.

Step 4: You're indexed but don't rank. Start with your Google Business Profile

If you serve a local area, this is the most important step on the list. When someone searches "electrician near me", the map results at the top come mainly from Google Business Profiles, not websites.

• Create or claim your profile at google.com/business, and complete every field: category, services, service area, hours, photos.
• Choose the most accurate primary category ("Plumber", not "Contractor").
• Link the profile to your website, and make sure the business name, address and phone number match your site exactly.
• Add real photos and keep the hours up to date.

Step 5: Get reviews, steadily

Reviews influence both where you appear and whether people click. Ask every happy customer, ideally right after the job, with a direct link to your review page. A few new reviews a month is better than twenty in one week and then nothing. Reply to every review, good or bad, politely and briefly.

Step 6: Make each page clearly about one thing

Google needs to understand what each page is for. Check the basics:

• Page titles: each page has its own title with the service and the area, for example "Drain Cleaning in Austin, TX | Smith Plumbing". Not "Home" or "Untitled".
• Headings: the main heading on the page says the same thing in plain words.
• Real content: a short, specific description of the service, not one sentence and a stock photo.
• Your area named: mention the towns you serve on the pages where it's natural.

If all your services are crammed onto one page, split your main ones into their own pages.

Step 7: Make sure the site works well on phones

Most local searches happen on phones. Open your site on your own phone and check: does it load quickly? Can you read it without zooming? Is the phone number easy to tap? You can also run your site through Google's free PageSpeed Insights tool (pagespeed.web.dev) to see a speed score and a list of fixes.

Step 8: Be patient, and be realistic about competitive searches

A new website on a new domain starts with no history. Searches with lots of competition, like "web design" or "lawyer" in a big city, can take many months or longer, and depend on other websites linking to yours. Searches that are more specific and local ("emergency plumber in Round Rock") are where a new site can win first.

What to fix first: a summary

1. Search site:yourdomain.com to see if you're indexed.
2. Remove anything blocking Google (WordPress setting, noindex, robots.txt, password page).
3. Set up Search Console, submit your sitemap, request indexing.
4. Complete your Google Business Profile, with details matching your site.
5. Start collecting reviews every week.
6. Give each main service its own clear page and title.
7. Check the site on your phone and in PageSpeed Insights.

If your site is fine on all of these and you still don't show up after a couple of months, the problem is usually the site itself: thin content, slow pages or a confusing structure. Every site we build comes with clean page titles, a sitemap, structured data and fast mobile loading from day one. See our packages, or send me your site and I'll tell you what I'd fix.