If you have a website, you probably want it to show up on Google’s search engine. After all, that’s where most people go when they’re looking for information. But if your website doesn’t show up when you do a search, don’t worry – there are things you can do to fix that. In this article, we’ll answer “why is my website not showing up on Google” and what you can do about it.
9 Reasons Why Your Website Isn’t Showing Up On Google
1. Website is Brand New
If your website is brand new, it’s normal for it not to show up in Google search results right away as Google might not know that your site exists. Instead, it can take a few weeks or even a few months for your site to be indexed by Google and start appearing in search engines. In this case, you’ll want to head to your Google search console account and submit your website’s sitemap to request indexing. This will help Google find and index your website faster so that you show up on Google search engines.
2. Google Crawler is Blocked
When Google’s crawler (also known as a “bot” or “spider”) tries to access your website, it looks at your site’s robots.txt file to see if there are any instructions on what pages it should and shouldn’t crawl. If you accidentally block the Google search engine crawlers, it won’t be able to index your website – which means your website won’t show up in Google search results. To fix this, you’ll need to edit your robots. txt file or HTML code and remove any instructions, such as the word “BLOCKED,” that are restricting the Google crawler. Double-check with your Google search console account to ensure you’re not being blocked.
3. You have the NOINDEX Tag on Your Pages
The NOINDEX tag tells search engines not to index a specific page on your website. This is often used if you have a page that you don’t want people to find through search engines which will discourage search engines from showing your website on google search results. However, if you have this tag on your website’s homepage or other key web pages, it will prevent those pages from being indexed – which means your website as a whole won’t show up on Google. To fix this, you’ll need to remove the NOINDEX tag from any pages where you want them to be indexed and double-check with your Google search console to ensure there are no issues with your pages.
4. Your Site Is Considered Duplicate Content
Search engines like Google want to provide their users with original, high-quality content. So if your website is made up of a lot of duplicate pages (for example, if you have several very similar blog post pages), it’s likely that your website won’t show up in search results and it will impact your site ranking. You’ll need to make sure your website has unique, original content on every page to fix this. Utilize an online plagiarism checker to help you with this.
5. Not Enough Backlinks
Backlinks are links from other websites to your website. They act as a vote of confidence, telling search engines that your website is trustworthy and relevant. So if you don’t have many backlinks, it’s likely that your website won’t show up on Google. One way to get more backlinks is to reach out to other website owners and ask them to link to your site. You can also create high-quality content that other people will want to link to.
6. Your Domain Has a Google Penalty
If your domain has Google penalties, it means that Google’s algorithm has manually decided to lower your website’s ranking in search results. This can happen if you violate one of Google’s webmaster guidelines. If you think your domain might have a penalty, you can check through your Google search console account. Once you know for sure, you can start the process of getting the penalty removed by fixing the specific issues and sending a reconsideration request through your Google search console which can help your website rank higher.
7. Targeting Highly Competitive Keywords
If you’re targeting highly competitive keywords or irrelevant keywords, it can be difficult to show up on Google search engine results, even if you have a great website. This is because there are already so many other websites that are trying to rank for those same keywords. For example, if you’re a small business owner trying to rank for the keyword “SEO”, it will be very difficult to compete with the large SEO companies that are already ranking at the top. In this case, you may want to focus on less competitive keywords that you have a better chance of ranking for such as long-tail keywords.
To find the right keywords for your website, you can use a tool like Google AdWords Keyword Planner or Ahrefs Keyword Explorer to find keywords that are relevant to your business and have a lower level of competition.
8. Your site doesn’t provide a good user experience (UX)
The goal of search engines is to provide their users with the best possible experience. So if your website has a poor user experience, it’s likely that it won’t show up on Google. A good user experience includes factors like easy navigation, mobile friendliness, and fast loading times. Don’t forget about your website’s SEO, such as including a meta tag on each web page, inbound links, proper headings, and creating valuable content featuring your target keywords on all your pages. For a free SEO audit, consider using the Yoast SEO plugin for a quick analysis of your content.
9. Your website lacks “Authority”
Last but not least, if your website is new or doesn’t have much “authority,” it can be difficult to rank on Google. Authority is basically a measure of how trustworthy and credible your website is. It’s determined by factors like the age of your domain, the quality of your content, and the number of backlinks you have.
One way to build authority for your website is to create high-quality content that people will want to link to. You can also try to create a guest blog post for other high-authority websites in your industry. As you build up more authority, it will be easier to rank in Google.
Conclusion
If your website isn’t showing up on Google’s search engines or your search traffic is low, there could be a number of reasons why. Whether you have a new website that hasn’t shown up in the Google algorithm, or you’re dealing with a manual penalty for failing to meet Google’s quality guidelines, there are plenty of things you can do to increase your rankings on Google’s search engine results pages.
By troubleshooting the specific issues on your site and checking your Google search console for further information, you can fix the problem and get your website to start ranking again.
