It is one of the questions I hear most: "We made a website, but nobody finds us on Google." Most of the time the reason is simple and can be fixed in a day. But first we need to know which one it is.
Before the reasons, one distinction that changes everything. A site that does not appear at all is a different problem from a site that appears, but on the second or third page of results. The first is nearly always technical. The second is about competition and content.
To see which case you are in, type site: followed by your address, with no space, into Google: if your site were example.com, you would type site:example.com. Google suggests this check itself to see whether your pages are in its index. If nothing comes up, read reasons 1 to 3. If pages come up, go straight to reason 4.
1. It is new and Google has not found it yet
Google is not told when a new website goes live. It finds sites by following links from other pages, and in its own words, it can take a few weeks for Google to notice a new site. If nobody links to you, you may wait a long time.
What to do: Sign up for Google Search Console (it is free), confirm the site is yours, and submit your sitemap, the list of all your pages. Also put your address on your Google Business Profile and your social media. Every link helps Google find you.
2. The page tells Google not to show it
There is a small instruction in the code called noindex. When Google finds it, it drops the page entirely from its results. It is used, rightly, while a site is being built, and then someone forgets to remove it.
In WordPress it is a checkbox under Settings, Reading, that discourages search engines. When it is ticked, WordPress adds exactly this instruction to every page. It is one of the most common reasons I see when a brand-new site "disappears".
Check: Open your home page on a computer, right-click and choose "View page source" (or Ctrl+U), then Ctrl+F and type noindex. If you find it, that is your reason.
3. robots.txt shuts the door
Most sites have a small file called robots.txt that tells search engines which addresses they may visit. If it says Disallow: /, Google reads none of your pages. It may still show your address, but with no description, so nobody clicks.
Check: Type your address followed by /robots.txt into the browser, for example example.com/robots.txt. If you see Disallow: / under User-agent: *, it needs fixing.
4. You appear, but for different words
If site: shows pages, Google knows you. The question is: for which searches? When you type your name, you should come first. When you type "taverna Thessaloniki", you are competing with dozens of tavernas, booking platforms and guides, and that position is earned with time and good content.
Two things often confuse people. First, results are not the same for everyone: Google takes into account the location, language and settings of the person searching. What you see on your own phone is not what a visitor searching from Munich sees. Second, for searches like "near me", the map comes before the websites. There, your Google Business Profile matters more than the website.
What to do: Every main service or product needs its own page with real text, in the words your customers use, not just one home page full of photos.
5. Google cannot read what you wrote
Google reads text. Among the most common reasons a site does not appear, it lists sites that rely on images and video instead of text, and pages that need a login to open. In practice I often see:
- A restaurant menu only as a photo or a PDF.
- Prices and opening hours written on top of images.
- A whole home page that is a video with a logo.
Check: Try to select the text on the page with your mouse. If it will not select, it is an image, and Google does not read it the way you do.
6. Things are missing on mobile
Google uses the mobile version of a page to index and rank it. If you hid text, sections or pages to make the site "fit" on a phone, for Google they simply do not exist.
Check: Open the site on your phone and compare it with the computer. The main content should be the same on both.
7. A problem only Google sees
Sometimes the site looks fine to you, but not to Google. Two cases:
- A change of address without redirects. If you moved from an old domain to a new one and the old addresses do not lead to the new ones, you lose what you had built up on Google.
- A manual action. When a Google reviewer decides that pages break its spam policies, some or all of the site may not be shown. It also happens to sites that were hacked without the owner knowing.
Check: In Search Console, the Manual actions report shows a green check mark if all is well. If there is a problem, Google notifies you there.
The 5-minute check
| Step | What you do | What it tells you |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Search site: plus your address |
Whether Google knows you exist |
| 2 | Search your exact business name | Whether you appear at least for yourself |
| 3 | Ctrl+U on the home page, search for noindex |
Whether the page asks not to be shown |
| 4 | Open /robots.txt |
Whether the door is shut |
| 5 | Select text with the mouse, open the site on your phone | Whether Google can read what you wrote |
For a definite answer, the URL Inspection tool in Search Console shows, for each page, whether it is on Google and, if not, why. You can also request indexing from there, although Google does not guarantee it will accept it.
The takeaway
If you do not appear at all, the problem is nearly always one of the first three, and it is quick to fix. If you appear but low down, the fix is slower: a separate page for each thing you do, text in your customers' words, and a properly set-up profile on the map.
If you run the check and something does not add up, send me your address through the contact form and I will tell you what I see.