Why Doesn't My Website Appear on Google?

A website not showing up on Google isn’t something strange but it’s still a critical issue. Your website appearing on Google is almost equivalent to search engine success.

This translates to more traffic and consequentially more conversion rate. But sometimes you might feel like you have done everything right yet you are still failing to get the visibility that you so much need. Well, below is an overview of some of the top reasons that can cause this issue and how you can fix them.

Your Website is Still New

Your website not showing up on Google could be due to the fact that it’s still new. If you launched it a few hours ago, then you need to wait. It takes quite some time before Google discovers a website and its web pages.

However, you can check whether Google recognizes the existence of your website is by running a search on site: yourwebsite.com. In case you get at least one result, then your website is recognized by this search engine.

It takes time for Google to recognize new websites because they still don’t have lots of inbound links. It’s worth noting that Google usually considers the number as well as the quality of inbound links before ranking websites.

But once you build your online authority, it becomes easier for your website to rank higher. If you don’t get any result after doing a Google check, then do a manual submission by creating a sitemap and then submitting it through Google Search Console.

The whole process involves:

1. Search Console

2. Sitemaps

3. Input Sitemap URL

4. Submit.

Low-Quality Backlinks and Lack of Authority

Your site might not be new but it may still fail to show up in Google due to the low quality of backlinks. Google is a popular search engine platform and it requires website owners to still prove why they deserve its recognition and high ranking.

Understand that there are definitely other factors that determine your ranking and they’re based on an algorithm. However, backlinks are among the most essential factors. Sites with quality backlinks tend to get more recognition easily since they are considered “authoritative”.

You can fix this problem by using other prominent resource pages. It’s also advisable that you use content in your web pages with approved formats that are proven to effectively generate quality links.

Publishing high-quality content is also critical for generating great backlinks. It has been previously mentioned in brief how you can improve the quality of your backlinks by using resource pages with authority.

However, much of Google’s search result is also based on how authoritative your website is. If your backlinks are okay, then there could be other factors meddling with your web pages.

Generally, Google needs to trust your website for you to get better results. Links from other websites with good Google relevance can quickly boost your credibility and authority.

Well, they act like references that indeed your website can be trusted to deliver quality and relevant information. There are several ways that you can use to find websites that can directly link back to you:

Searching for guest blogging opportunities: do your research and find other bloggers in your niche that need guest bloggers. While delivering your content, don’t forget to insert a link to your website and encouraging readers to check it out.
Look out for certification and membership groups: there are certain organizations that will readily link out to your site, especially if you are going to pay a membership fee.
Look out for sites linking to your competitors and then approach them: you are in business and allowed to use all the approved ways possible to get a good search engine ranking. In case you notice your competitors’ sites are doing well, there are definitely several sites that are linking to them. So, approach them for a possible collaboration.

Note: a tool such as Ahrefs SEO toolbar can come in handy in helping you get the right information regarding bloggers and websites that need guest posts. But while searching, make sure that you do your research and only choose sites that have a good Domain Ranking (DR).

To check your website’s DR, go to Ahrefs Site Explorer which has a scale that runs from 0 to 100. This means that the higher the DR results, the more authoritative your website is.

Some websites still have high DR scores but still don’t rank among the top websites. This usually happens because they don’t have more backlinks from authority websites at the webpage level.

With the help of BizcaBOOM, a Houston SEO company, you don’t have to stress out about your rankings on Google and just leave it up to the experts to give you the results you want.

You May Have a Google Penalty

You don’t need to ask yourself “Why doesn’t my website appear in Google?”, especially if you know that you have a penalty.

This search engine usually administers two types of penalties:

Algorithmic penalty: the search engine’s algorithm will suppress your webpage or website from appearing in search results due to quality issues related to your content. Algorithmic issues are usually computer-based as per the programmed codes.
Manual penalty: this search engine decides to take action to demote or remove your site completely from search engine results. A manual penalty is usually done by a human being. A Google employee has to manually review your website and if it doesn’t comply with the Webmaster Guidelines, you risk removal or demotion.

However, manual penalties, unlike algorithmic penalties, are so rare. In case you get it, then you would have certainly made something that’s significantly wrong. You can find information related to manual penalties on Search Console’s Manual Penalties tab.

On the other hand, it isn’t easy to identify algorithmic penalties since don’t issue alerts for the same. The only way you are likely to quickly notice this problem is when you experience a serious recent drop in your organic traffic.

If you suspect that’s the case, you can use a tool such as Penguin to determine your website’s algorithmic changes based on Google Analytics traffic.

Your Webpages Have Duplicate Content

There is a cliché that states “Content is King” and that’s 100% true. When we talk about this, it simply means that you need to produce original, and fresh content for your site to get the relevant recognition it needs.

When you produce duplicate content, it means that there are one or more web pages that have similar content even though they have different URLs for access. If this is the case, then Google won’t index your website.

This is because the search engine is always trying to minimize space in its indexing system and so it won’t try to add similar content since it will lead to the unnecessary occupation of space.

Basically, this means that it could be storing similar copies of the same document. Google needs different and distinguishable information and that’s why you should over the best version of your content. However, you can determine if you have published duplicate content by using Ahrefs Site Audit.

It will crawl through your website to determine the quality of your work. you can find the report on “Content Quality”. You can fix this problem by canonicalizing or redirecting the duplicates.

Your Content Quality is Low

You don’t have any duplicates, penalties, or haven’t blocked the crawlers from accessing your webpages but you’re still not getting visibility? Well, chances could be that your original content still sucks. If that’s the case, then your site won’t be visible in search results.

Google is a top-rated search platform that considered quality. It will quickly consider sites that provide the relevant and high-quality type of content that is able to match the intent of the searcher and effectively satisfy their search queries.

So, when you are preparing content for publishing, you need to do comprehensive research. This way, you will leave no questions unanswered and as a result, you will get better results.

It’s worth noting that you don’t need to create long user guides in order to get good search engine results. the goal is to provide customers with the right information that will keep them engaged as they go through your website.

In case you can’t fix this problem yourself, then seek the services of qualified and experienced SEO experts. There are multiple content-creating agencies that can help you create attractive and marketable customized content for your website.

Note: when outsourcing content creation services, it’s important to consider an agency that understands your niche and target audience. This way, you will end up getting value for your money.

Also, remember that people are always looking for fresh and relevant content that they can’t easily find anywhere else. So, give them the best quality possible.

Poor Keyword Research

Your website needs to “speak the language” of your target audience. This refers to the type of keyword used. For starters, don’t use keywords that your target audience isn’t familiar with.

This will be considered to be jargon. If you are writing about Cameras that your keywords should definitely have this term (e.g., affordable canon camera, beginner-friendly camera, YouTube canon camera, etc.) rather than the technical terms.

Don’t come with new terms because you want your business to be different since your site will remain unrecognized. Secondly, don’t use extremely broad keywords such as “camera” alone.

Notice in the above example the type of keyword used is specific i.e., YouTube canon camera. When a keyword is too broad, then it becomes too competitive. If you try to solely use such a term as your keyword, you will end up competing with bigger brands and this will leave your business seeing flames.

For effectiveness and easier recognition by this search engine, consider retargeting and using specific longtail keywords. It should have at least three keywords to ensure that you stand out.

Generally, long-tail keywords are less competitive and they have significantly low search volumes per month. as a result, you stand a better chance of ranking high and getting recognition quickly from Google.

Specific keywords also target a certain intent and that’s why you are more likely to get a specific audience. You can fix your keyword problems by using 3rd-party tools such as KeywordsFX and Keyword Tool.

Google also has a Keyword Planner that’s highly effective. These tools can help you search for the best longtail keywords that complement the contents of your web pages.

You Are Blocking Google from Crawling Your Web Pages

Crawling is a kind of discovery process where search engines, with the use of robots known as crawlers, go out to find new or updated web content. The type of content can be text, video, image, PDF, or simply a while webpage.

Websites have robots.txt. file that’s used by search engines to find new or update content. So, if you have blocked your certain web pages from getting crawled in, then Google definitely won’t have access to that type of content.

As a result, it won’t be recognized and your website won’t be indexed. If you submitted your sitemap through Google Search Console, then you should get an alert regarding the issues related to Crawling.

You can check the report by going to – Coverage report and then check the crawling errors in the “submitted URL-blocked by robots.txt”.

Note: you can get the crawling error reports if Google already recognizes the visibility of your website and it has, therefore, attempted to crawl the URLs found in your sitemap.

However, if your website is still new or if you recently submitted your sitemap, then you can still check it manually by going to > yourdomain.com/robots. Txt.> Generally, robots.txt files aren’t easy to decode. If you are not sure of what to do and how to fix the crawling issues, then you need to find an expert to do it for you.

You Are Blocking Google from Indexing Your Web Pages

Just like crawling, if you block Google from indexing your webpages then they won’t show in search results. If your page has a meta tag with “noindex”, then it hasn’t been indexed.

This can happen even if you have created and submitted a sitemap through Google Search Console. An unindexed can’t be found by search crawlers and they are deemed not to have an adequate quality of the relevant search phrases.

But if Google has already used its spiders to crawl your sitemap, then you will get the right information about nonindexed pages. You can obtain this report in the “Coverage” section of the Google Search Console.

A Poorly Optimized Site

You know the type of specific keywords to use in order to attract your target audience and reduce competition, right? Well, do you know where you should place them?

Well, keywords need to be placed in the right places if they are to provide desirable results. You simply can’t throw them anywhere since there are specific parts of web pages that crawlers tend to focus on.

If your website has several web pages, then each of these pages should have its own specific phrase of keywords. This will easily direct your target audience where they need to be. When it comes to keyword placement for specific web pages, here’s how you should go about it:

The Title Tag

It’s one of the most important places where you should consider putting the main keyword. This is because the title tag usually appears outside your webpage. It’s actually what people get to see in Google search results, usually in the form of a hyper-visible blue link.

Meta Description

Meta Description: it’s the few words that a searcher is likely to read below the Title Tag on search engine results. meta descriptions don’t usually appear on web pages. However, they play a crucial role in capturing the readers’ attention and determines if they will go to your webpage.

Headings and Subheadings

They are commonly known as the H1-H6 tags. They are usually bolder and bigger than other forms of text. Ensure that they contain the keywords and phrases since Google usually scans through them.

The Body

The Body: it’s an overview of what your content is all about. A body can be under the heading or the subheading. However, it also needs to have the appropriate key phrases.

If you are using the keyword in the first paragraph, then it should be within the first two sentences. Thereafter, you can use it throughout the content as you see fit.

ALT Tags

Alt-tags: they are usually “hidden” in images. It’s important to use keywords or phrases in Alt-tags because it helps to Guide Google when it comes to image search.

Final Thoughts

From weak authority, few backlinks, duplicate content, to a new website, there are actually lots of factors that may result in your website not showing up on Google. However, all of these issues can be fixed and you should definitely fix them.

This is because Google search engine ranking is critical if you are to withstand or even beat the competition. Some of these problems are technical e.g., “noindex” and may require the assistance of experts. However, most of them are easy to fix, you only need to identify the cause.