You’ve just launched your brand-new website. You type your business name into Google, expecting to see it there — and… nothing. No sign of it. You try a few different search terms. Still nothing.

It’s frustrating, especially if you’ve spent hours building the site yourself or paying someone to get it just right.

The good news is this is really common, and it’s fixable. In this post, I’ll explain the main reasons your new website might not be showing up on Google, and how you can sort it out.

Step One: Has Google Found Your Website Yet?

Before fixing anything, it’s worth checking if Google has actually seen your site.

Open up Google and search:

“site:yourwebsite.com”

Replace yourwebsite.com with your actual domain. If no results appear, it means your site hasn’t been indexed yet. That’s why it’s not showing up in search.

There are a few common reasons this happens.

1. Your Website Is Too New

If your website only went live a few days ago, it might just be a matter of time. Google doesn’t index every new site instantly — sometimes it can take a few days, even a couple of weeks.

That said, you can speed things up by taking a few simple steps (which we’ll cover below). You don’t want to just sit and wait.

2. Your Site Is Blocking Google Without You Realising

Many platforms — like WordPress, Squarespace or Wix — include settings that can stop Google from indexing your site. They’re useful during the build phase, but they can easily be left on by mistake.

Here’s how to check:

1. Go to yourwebsite.com/robots.txt.
   If you see something like:

   “User-agent: * Disallow: /”

   then your site is telling Google not to look at anything.

2. Also check your website settings for anything like “discourage search engines from indexing this site.” In WordPress, this is under Settings > Reading.

To fix this:

• Make sure the “discourage indexing” option is unticked.

• Your robots.txt file should allow Google access — something like:

  makefile

  CopyEdit

  User-agent: * Disallow:

3. You Haven’t Submitted a Sitemap to Google

A sitemap is a file that lists all the pages on your site and helps Google understand what’s there. Without one, Google might eventually find your site — but it could miss key pages or take a lot longer.

How to do it:

1. Go to Google Search Console.

2. Sign in and add your website as a property.

3. Verify ownership (there are a few ways to do this — adding a DNS record is one of the most reliable).

4. Go to the Sitemaps section.

5. Enter your sitemap URL — usually yourwebsite.com/sitemap.xml.

Most platforms automatically generate this for you (WordPress with Yoast, Wix, Shopify, etc.).

4. No Other Websites Are Linking to Yours

Google finds new sites partly by following links from other websites. If no other site links to yours, and you haven’t submitted it manually, it may not even know your site exists.

Here’s what helps:

• Add your website link to all your social media profiles.

• Get listed in local directories like Yell, Yelp, or Google Maps.

• Ask any partners, suppliers, or friends with websites to add a link to yours.

Even one or two decent links can make a difference in helping Google discover your site faster.

5. Your Website Content Is Too Thin (or Too Similar to Other Sites)

If your site only has a couple of short pages — or worse, if it uses placeholder text or copied content — Google may not bother indexing it. It wants original, useful content that serves a purpose.

Make sure your homepage:

• Explains clearly what your business does

• Includes your location (if you’re local)

• Has real, helpful content (not just “Welcome to our site!”)

It also helps to give each page a clear page title and unique meta description. Most platforms make this easy — if you’re not sure, tools like Yoast (WordPress) or SEO settings in Wix can guide you.

6. You Haven’t Set Up a Google Business Profile

While this won’t solve indexing problems directly, having a proper Google Business Profile makes a big difference in helping people find you — especially for local searches.

If you haven’t done this yet:

• Go to google.com/business

• Add or claim your business

• Make sure your website link, contact details, hours, and services are all up to date

Once verified, this helps you appear on Google Maps and often boosts your organic rankings too.

Quick Technical SEO Checklist

If your website still isn’t showing up on Google, run through this list to make sure everything’s in place:

1. Check your robots.txt file
Make sure it’s not blocking search engines. You can find it at yourwebsite.com/robots.txt. If it says Disallow: /, that means everything is blocked — and needs to be fixed.

2. Remove any “noindex” tags
Pages may be marked as “noindex” in your site settings or SEO plugin. This tells Google not to include them in search results.

3. Submit a sitemap to Google Search Console
This helps Google understand your site structure and find your pages faster. Most sites generate a sitemap automatically — it’s usually at yourwebsite.com/sitemap.xml.

4. Use unique page titles and meta descriptions
Every page should have its own clear, relevant title and meta description. Avoid using the same ones across your whole site.

5. Make sure your website is mobile-friendly
Use Google’s Mobile-Friendly Test tool to check. A site that doesn’t work well on phones may be harder to index and rank.

6. Improve your site speed
Slow-loading pages can affect how Google crawls your site. Use tools like PageSpeed Insights to find and fix any issues.

7. Add some backlinks
Even one or two links from reputable sites (like a local business directory or your own social media) can help Google discover your site faster.

What If You’ve Done All This and It’s Still Not Showing?

Sometimes, there are deeper issues — like server misconfigurations, plugin conflicts, or indexing errors in Search Console.

If you're not sure where to look next, or you just don’t have time to dig through all the settings, that’s where we can help.

Bonus: How to Check If a Page Has Been Indexed

If you want to check whether a specific page has been indexed, go to Google Search Console and use the URL Inspection Tool. It’ll show you:

• Whether the page is indexed

• If it’s mobile-friendly

• If there are any errors blocking it

That’s usually the quickest way to get a straight answer.