Why your site does not show on Google: a checklist

“My site does not show on Google” can mean very different things. Google may not know it, may know it and have set it aside, the site may be stopping Google from seeing it, or it may appear but far from where you are looking. Each case has its own answer, and nobody can promise you a place in the results. What can be done is to eliminate, in order, what depends on you.

The list, in order

1 Does the site really open, for everyone? Domain pointing to the right place, valid certificate, no 5xx errors. If the site comes and goes, Google cannot read it. See what to check first when your site is down.
2 Is it asking not to be indexed? In Settings, Reading, in WordPress, and on the individual pages of your SEO plugin, look for “noindex” options. The robots.txt file may also be shutting the door. See robots.txt and sitemap.xml.
3 Does Google know it? Search for site: followed by your domain. If nothing shows, or only a few pages do, the site may be new to Google. In Search Console, the page indexing report gives each address’s status and the reason.
4 Did you hand over the sitemap? Submit it in Search Console. It does not oblige Google to index, but it gives it the list. See getting your site into Search Console.
5 Is there a duplicate version? The same content on http and https, or with and without www, with no redirect, splits Google’s attention. Keep one address and redirect the others: 301 redirects.
6 Does the content have a reason to be there? Near-empty pages, text copied from other places, or mass-produced text nobody reviewed are what Google leaves out most. See AI-written content and Google.
7 Is there a security warning? Search Console shows whether the site was flagged as unsafe or compromised. If it was, deal with that first: how to tell if your site has been compromised.

What Search Console usually says

Status What it usually means
Excluded by “noindex” tag The page itself asks not to be indexed. Check the SEO plugin and WordPress settings.
Blocked by robots.txt robots.txt is shutting the path.
Discovered, currently not indexed Google knows the page exists but has not visited it yet.
Crawled, currently not indexed It visited and, for now, chose not to store it. Improve the page and the links to it.
Page with redirect The address redirects elsewhere: the indexed one is the destination. Normal.
Be wary of anyone selling you first place. Nobody controls Google. Promises of a “guaranteed first page” or of indexing in fixed timeframes are the sign of a bad service. What is within your reach is a site that opens, that can be read and that has something useful to say.
Being indexed is not being on top. A page can be on Google and only surface for someone searching your business name. For generic searches, competition is greater, and the road is useful content and links from other sites, over time.

Does the site fail for Google but open for you (errors, blocks, certificate)? Tell us the address and what Search Console shows.

Open a support ticket

SEE ALSO

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