“Why Is My Website Not Showing Up on Google?”
Have you also been asking this question for quite some time? The reality is that not finding your website on the search results of Google, even after searching for it using different methods, can demotivate you. It can be even more frustrating when you don’t know the reason behind it.
But you don’t need to worry as you’re not alone in this and facing this situation. There are so many website owners whose websites don’t show up on Google. There are several reasons why this could be happening. Having a thorough understanding of these issues will help you in fixing them as well.
In this in-depth blog post, you’ll learn about the ten potential causes that are playing their part in ensuring your website doesn’t show up in the search results. So, let’s begin with the first cause and its probable solution.
1. Your Website Isn’t Indexed By Google
Google can take even a week to index your website. In case you aren’t able to find your website, there’s a high chance that Google hasn’t indexed it yet.
If you’re wondering what indexing is, it’s nothing but the process where the Googlebots find out, analyze, and store your website in its search index. Once your web page is indexed, it can then be displayed in the search results as and when someone searches for it.
To check whether your web page is indexed or not, you can utilize the “site:” command in Google Search. Another approach can be to opt for the URL Inspection Tool in Google Search Console.
There can be several reasons why your website isn’t indexed. Some of them are that your website is quite new, or it’s blocked by the robots.txt file.
Solution: You can use Google Search Console to check whether there are crawling or indexing issues. You can also inspect the URLs or go through the Page Indexing report to get the fixes you need.
2. Poor On-Page SEO Optimization
Without the right type of on-page SEO optimization, there is a high chance that your website will find itself in oblivion.
Some of the most common issues that can contribute to this are poorly optimized meta tags and a slow loading speed of the website.
If you haven’t targeted the right type of keywords or used duplicate content, then you might not be able to find your website on Google.
Solution: To fix poor on-page optimization, you can optimize the meta tags and target the most appropriate keywords as per your niche. Alongside this, you need to craft the best quality content for your website.
3. Technical SEO Issues
Technical SEO issues are like those invisible bacteria which can ruin the health of your website.
Some common examples of technical SEO issues are crawling errors in Google Search Console, broken links on your website, and even poor mobile usability.
Furthermore, if there are web pages that have 404 errors or in case HTTPS is not implemented, that can also hamper your website.
Solution: A probable fix for the technical SEO issues will be to focus on website speed, mobile optimization, and fixing broken links along with the errors.
4. Weak Backlink Profile
Google uses backlinks to determine the reputation of any website.
It might not be wrong to say that quality backlinks are one of the biggest ranking factors of Google.
In case you have a weak backlink profile, your website will have lower rankings. The worst case scenario is that your website might not appear on Google because of it.
Solution: You can develop good-quality content and provide insights into your content to get backlinks from trustworthy websites in your niche. You need to understand that link building can be competitive and even one of the most difficult aspects of SEO optimization. But it’s also one of the most beneficial things that you can do for your website. That’s why you need to focus on it!
5. Low-Quality Content
Have you ever given a thought to what’s the thing on your website that ranks on Google? You don’t need to think too much about it as it’s none other than the content present on your website.
If your web content doesn’t provide unique value or it has low quality, your website will never rank.
Google wants to provide the best results to the searchers in terms of helpful and trustworthy content. They give the highest priority to these aspects while indexing and listing websites in search results. So, that can explain why your website with low-quality content isn’t ranking on Google.
Solution: You should write unique and high-quality content for your website. The insights that you have, along with your experience, must be reflected in that content as well. It will really entice your target audience and ensure that you become the authority in your industry.
6. Google’s Penalties or Manual Actions
Did you know that manual or algorithmic penalties can make a website invisible on Google and that, too, in a matter of a day?
You can check for Google’s penalty on your website with the help of Google Search Console. To check for a manual penalty, you can use the manual actions report and know about the algorithmic penalty in the performance report.
Solution: You can read the documentation and make the right type of site edits so as to resolve penalties. A manual action might require guidance related to what needs to be improved so as to get your place back in Google’s index. Compared to it, the algorithmic penalty will rely on Google’s ideal practices for search.
7. Competitor Outranking Your Website
There’s no business owner who doesn’t want their website to rank in the first position for their niche.
But, it’s a common scene that your competitors might be outranking your website, whereas yours is nowhere to be seen.
The clear thing that’s lacking is your website’s high authority and a foolproof strategy.
Solution: You can have a thorough re-evaluation of where you’re lacking in terms of your SEO efforts. You can also consider targeting long-tail keywords that are more specific. By investing in the right type of link acquisition tactics, you’ll be able to build a website which is capable of ranking for a lot more competitive terms.
8. Incorrect Domain Settings or Site Migration Errors
The incorrect domain settings or site migration issues can have a huge impact on the search engine rankings of your website.
They can cause issues such as broken links and difficulty for Google to crawl and index the site. It’s bound to lead to a drop in the organic traffic and visibility of your website.
Solution: To resolve these issues, you can verify the DNS records and make sure that you have the proper file permissions. Alongside this, you can update the database URLs and clear caches.
9. Local SEO Not Optimized
At the end of the day, the majority of the sales that you’re going to generate are going to be from your area.
If your website isn’t optimized for local SEO, there’s no chance of it appearing in the local search results.
Solution: You can register on Google My Business profile and list your website there. In this way, you’ll show up on Google Maps. Furthermore, you can register your website on different directories.
10. Content Doesn’t Match With The Search Intent
Google has a strict policy of ranking only the most relevant and useful results for any search query.
So, basically, it means that Google expects you to align your website’s content with what searchers want to see and read. That is what’s known as search intent.
In case your website’s content isn’t as per the search intent, your website isn’t going to rank for the search queries that you want to rank for.
Solution: To ensure that your website’s content aligns with the search intent, you can analyze the search results for your target keywords. Alongside this, you can identify the most used content formats in your niche and create content as per the requirements of your users.
Conclusion
If your website isn’t ranking on Google’s search results, you need to address this issue as soon as you can.
There’s a high chance that you’ll also face any of the ten common reasons(listed above) why your website isn’t ranking on Google. You can find out which of the reasons are contributing to it and then follow the given solution as well.
In this way, you’ll be all set to find your website in the search engine results in no time. The best part is that you’ll not just get traffic but plenty of leads as well for your products or services by following the solutions corresponding to the issues that you face.
Are you asking, “Why is my website not showing up on Google?” If your answer is in the affirmative, SEO Toronto Experts can be of much help.
We have helped many clients in the past who were facing similar issues. We found out the obstacles that had made their websites invisible on Google and removed those issues. As a result, their websites started ranking at the top of the search results, boosting their website and business.
We can do the same for you as well. You just need to get in touch with us, and we’ll take care of the rest. Contact us now!
FAQs:
Q1: How long does it take for a website to show up on Google?
The time for a website to show up on Google depends upon a lot of factors. It can range from a few days to even several weeks. The websites that are newly launched and the ones that doesn’t have a good amount of backlinks might take even longer to show up on Google.
Q2: How can I manually submit my website to Google?
Google’s crawlers can easily discover the websites in an organic method but you can expedite this process by manually submitting the sitemap. It can be done with the help of Google Search Console.
Q3: Does Google penalize duplicate content?
Yes, Google has penalized several websites in the past that had a huge amount of duplicate content. In case, your website has duplicate content which is manipulating the search ranking, then there are high chances that your website will be penalized by Google in the not so distant future.
Q4: What tools can I use to check if Google has indexed my website?
There are different tools available that can be utilized to check if Google has indexed your website or not. However, the simplest approach will be to use the “site:” search operator on Google. It will help you in knowing the web pages that have been indexed by Google.
Q5: Can I fix indexing issues without the help of a developer?
Yes, there are many indexing issues that can be solved without the help of a developer. If you’re comfortable with your website’s backend, it’ll become quite easy to fix your website’s indexing issues on your own. The major tool that you can use for this purpose is Google Search Console. It will provide you with easy-to-understand reports on indexing errors like “page not found.” You can fix these issues by editing your robots.txt file, updating the broken links or submitting your sitemap.
Q6: Is having a sitemap necessary for Google visibility?
Having a sitemap isn’t necessary but it is highly recommended to have a better visibility on Google. A sitemap will act as a guide which will help the Google’s crawlers to understand the structure of your website and find out all of your pages. It is quite beneficial for the larger websites or the ones that have complex navigation.
Q7: Will Google rank my site higher if I run Google Ads?
No, implementing a Google Ads campaign won’t improve your website’s organic search rankings. Organic search results and Google Ads are two separate things. Paid ads will find a place at either the top or bottom sections of search results pages. Whereas, organic rankings depend upon Google’s algorithms, which are based on factors such as content relevancy, website authority, and user experience.
Q8: Why Is My Website Not Showing Up on Google?
There are many reasons why your website might not be showing up on Google. Some of them are that your site isn’t indexed by Google, the on-page optimization is poor, or there are technical SEO issues. Other reasons can be a weak backlink profile, low-quality content, Google’s penalty, high competition, incorrect domain settings, local SEO isn’t optimized, or misunderstanding search intent.
