There are usually three reasons. Google has not found the site, Google has been told to keep out of it, or it has been found and is sitting below everyone else. They are different problems with different fixes, and you can work out which one you have in about two minutes.

The two-minute test

Open Google on your phone or your laptop. In the search box, type the word site, then a colon, then your web address, with no spaces anywhere.

Like this:

site:yourbusiness.co.uk

Three things people get wrong, so worth being precise:

  • No space after the colon. site: yourbusiness.co.uk will not work.
  • Leave off the https:// and the www. Just the domain as you would say it out loud.
  • Use the ending your site actually has. If your address is .com, type .com. If it is .co.uk, type that.

So a garage at www.smithsgarage.co.uk would type:

site:smithsgarage.co.uk

Press search. What comes back is not a normal Google result. It is pages from your site and nothing else.

Treat it as a good indication rather than a complete inventory. Google has never promised it returns everything it holds. But it answers the question you are asking, which is whether Google has your site at all.

Nothing comes back. Google does not have your site. That is problem one or two below.

Some pages come back, but not all of them. Google has part of your site. Worth finding out which pages are missing.

Everything comes back, but you still cannot find yourself normally. Google has your site and has decided other pages answer the question better. That is problem three.

Problem one: Google has not found it

Google finds pages mainly two ways. It follows links from sites it already knows, and it reads a file you give it called a sitemap.

A brand new website with nothing linking to it and no sitemap submitted can sit there for months. Google is not ignoring you. It has never been told you exist.

The fix is to tell it. Set up Google Search Console, submit the sitemap, and request indexing on the homepage. Free, and about ten minutes.

Problem two: something is telling Google to stay out

Every website has a small file called robots.txt. It tells search engines which parts of the site they may look at. It usually also carries a line pointing at the sitemap.

One distinction matters here, and almost everyone has it the wrong way round.

robots.txt controls crawling, which is whether Google may read a page. It does not control indexing, which is whether a page can appear in results. Google’s own documentation is explicit: a page disallowed in robots.txt can still be indexed if it is linked to from other sites, and the address can appear in results even though Google has never read the page. Telling Google not to list something is a separate instruction called noindex, which lives on the page itself, and Google does not support putting it in robots.txt at all.

So a robots.txt that blocks everything does not neatly hide a site. It stops Google reading it, which is usually worse, because Google can end up listing an address it knows nothing about.

While a site is being built, blocking crawling is correct. What is supposed to happen is that it gets changed at launch. Sometimes it does not.

You can check your own in ten seconds. Type your web address followed by /robots.txt. Read it. If it mentions a web address that is not yours, or disallows everything, that is worth looking at.

Problem three: you are there, but nobody sees you

If your pages are in Google and you still cannot find yourself, the site is competing and losing. That is a longer job with no single switch. The usual reasons:

  • The page does not say what you do or where. If your homepage title is only your business name, Google has very little to work with.
  • One page is trying to cover twelve services. A page about everything ranks for nothing. A page about one job has a chance.
  • There is no Google Business Profile. For local trades I would sort the profile before almost anything on the website. It is free, and it is what puts a business on the map when someone nearby searches.
  • The site is new. Some of this is just time.

How long should it take?

Once you have submitted a sitemap and requested indexing, the homepage usually appears within days rather than weeks. The rest follow over the next month or so, and not all at once. Google crawls a new site in waves.

Ranking is a different timescale. Being on page one for something competitive takes months, and for some phrases it is not realistic at all. "Plumber" on its own is not winnable. "Emergency plumber" plus your town is a different proposition.

Indexing is a switch, ranking is a slope. If you are not indexed, that is a fault and it can be fixed this week.

Common questions

Is robots.txt the same as noindex?

No. robots.txt controls whether Google may read a page. noindex controls whether it may appear in results. They are separate instructions, and blocking a page in robots.txt can stop Google seeing a noindex you have added.

How do I check my own robots.txt?

Type your web address followed by /robots.txt in a browser. Most sites have one, and it is always public.

Do I need to pay for Google Search Console?

No. It is free, and it is the only place Google tells you directly how it sees your site.

My site is new. How long before it shows up?

Once the sitemap is submitted and indexing requested, the homepage usually appears within days. Ranking for anything competitive takes months.

The one to run first

Run the site: search on your own web address. It takes ten seconds and it tells you whether you have a ten-minute job or a longer one. Better to know which.