Website Not Showing on Google? 10 Checks and Fixes

Quick answer: Search site:yourdomain.com and inspect your home page in Google Search Console to see whether Google has indexed it. If it hasn't, the usual culprits are a "discourage search engines" setting, a leftover noindex tag, a robots.txt block, password protection or a wrong canonical tag. Fix the blocker, submit a sitemap and request indexing.

"My website isn't on Google" usually means one of two different problems. Either Google hasn't indexed the site at all, which is a technical fault you can often fix in an afternoon, or the site is indexed but doesn't rank for the searches that matter, which is an SEO problem that takes longer. The ten checks below separate the two, starting with the quickest.

How do you check whether Google has indexed your website?

Use a site: search for a quick look, then Search Console's URL Inspection tool for a definite answer.

Check 1: run a site: search and inspect the URL. Type site:yourdomain.com into Google. If nothing appears, the site probably isn't indexed. If some pages appear, note which are missing. The count shown is a rough estimate, so don't read too much into the number.

Then verify your site in Google Search Console, ideally as a domain property so every version is covered, and paste your home page URL into URL Inspection. You'll see either "URL is on Google" or "URL is not on Google" with a reason. The Pages report under Indexing lists every excluded URL, grouped by cause. Those reasons point to the checks below.

Is a setting telling Google not to index your site?

Very often, yes. A setting left over from the build is the most common reason a brand-new site is invisible.

Check 2: your CMS visibility setting. In WordPress, look under Settings, then Reading, for "Discourage search engines from indexing this site". Developers tick it during the build and sometimes forget to untick it. Wix, Squarespace and Shopify have similar options, and a Shopify store with its password page switched on is hidden from everyone.

Check 3: noindex tags. View the page source and search for noindex. It may sit in a robots meta tag, or be sent as an X-Robots-Tag header. SEO plugins can apply it to whole sections, such as all pages or all products.

Check 4: robots.txt. Open yourdomain.com/robots.txt. A line reading Disallow: / under User-agent: * blocks crawling of the whole site. Note that a robots.txt block stops Google reading the page, so it also can't see a noindex tag on it.

Check 5: password protection, staging domains and duplicate versions. Make sure the live site isn't behind a login, that you're checking the real domain rather than a staging copy, and that the http, https, www and non-www versions all redirect to one address.

Check 6: canonical tags. A canonical tag tells Google which URL is the main version. If every page points to the home page, or to the old staging domain, Google may index nothing else.

Check 7: JavaScript-only content. In URL Inspection, use "Test live URL" and view the rendered page. If the main text is missing from Google's view, your content depends on scripts Google can't run or isn't allowed to load.

How long does a new website take to appear on Google?

Google's own documentation says crawling can take anywhere from a few days to a few weeks. You can't force it, but you can help Google find the site sooner.

Check 8: your sitemap and discovery links. Submit your XML sitemap in Search Console and check it reads without errors. Then give Google paths to the site: link it from your Google Business Profile, social profiles, business listings and any partner or supplier sites. A brand-new domain with no links pointing at it is easy to overlook.

Why does Google crawl a page but not index it?

Usually because Google judged the page not valuable enough to index right now, often because it's thin, duplicated or barely linked. Two statuses in the Pages report cause the most confusion:

• Crawled – currently not indexed: Google fetched the page and chose not to index it for now.
• Discovered – currently not indexed: Google knows the URL exists but hasn't crawled it yet, often because the site has many low-value URLs competing for attention.

Check 9: thin and duplicate pages. Look for near-identical location pages, tag and archive pages, filtered URLs and pages with only a few lines of text. Improve the useful ones, merge or remove the rest, and link your important pages from the home page and menus. Mass-produced location pages are a common cause; our guide to suburb pages and doorway risk explains the clean-up.

Check 10: manual actions and security issues. Both have their own reports in Search Console. They're rare for small businesses, but a hacked site injecting spam pages or a manual penalty will hold back indexing until you fix it and request a review.

For crawler access beyond Googlebot, including AI crawlers, see our technical SEO checklist for AI crawlers.

Why does your site show for your business name but not your services?

Because being indexed isn't the same as ranking. If a search for your business name finds you, indexing works. Not appearing for "physiotherapist Indiranagar" or "bathroom renovations Geelong" is an SEO problem.

Typical causes and fixes:

• No dedicated service pages. One "Services" page listing everything rarely ranks for any of them. Give each main service its own page.
• No location signals. State where you work in titles, headings, contact details and content.
• Weak local presence. A complete Google Business Profile matters as much as the site for local searches; work through our Google Business Profile optimisation checklist.
• Stronger competitors. Established sites with more reviews, links and content take time to overtake.
• Slow or awkward pages. Speed and stability on phones affect experience and conversions; our explainer on Core Web Vitals covers what to measure.

Our guide to the SEO basics every service business needs is the place to start.

How do you get pages indexed faster after fixing them?

Tell Google you've fixed it, then give it time.

1. Run "Test live URL" in URL Inspection to confirm the blocker has gone.
2. Click "Request indexing" for your most important pages. There's a quota, and repeated requests for the same URL won't speed anything up.
3. Resubmit your sitemap.
4. In the Pages report, use "Validate fix" on the issue you resolved.
5. Add internal links to the fixed pages from pages that are already indexed.
6. Recheck in a week, then again in a fortnight.

Frequently asked questions

Why is my new website not showing up on Google?

Either Google hasn't found it yet or something is blocking it. Check for a "discourage search engines" setting, noindex tags, a robots.txt block or password protection, then submit a sitemap in Search Console and request indexing for your home page.

How long does Google take to index a new website?

Google says crawling can take from a few days to a few weeks. A submitted sitemap and links from your Google Business Profile, social profiles and listings help it find the site sooner.

How do I submit my website to Google?

Verify the site in Google Search Console, submit your XML sitemap under Sitemaps, and use URL Inspection to request indexing for key pages. There's no separate submission form beyond that.

What does 'crawled, currently not indexed' mean?

It means Google fetched the page but decided not to add it to the index for now. It usually points to thin, duplicate or low-value content, or a page with few internal links. Improve or merge the page, then request indexing again.

Why does my website only show when I search its name?

Your site is indexed, but it isn't yet strong enough to rank for service searches. Build a dedicated page for each service, show where you work, complete your Google Business Profile and earn reviews and links over time.

Want someone to find the blocker for you?

Send us your domain and we'll tell you whether it's an indexing fault or an SEO gap, and what fixing it involves. If a rebuild turns out to be the better option, we make websites built to be indexed from launch day. Get in touch or book a free call.