Quick answer: if your site went live in the last 3 weeks, Google may not have crawled it yet, because Google says crawling can take anywhere from a few days to a few weeks. If it is older than that and still missing, the usual causes are a noindex tag left switched on, Google not knowing the page exists, or the site being indexed but ranking too low to see. Those are three different problems with three different fixes.
First, check whether Google has it at all
Search Google for site:yourdomain.co.uk, using your own domain. This lists pages Google has indexed from your site. Google notes that it does not necessarily return every indexed URL, so treat it as a yes or no test, not a full count. The Page Indexing report in Search Console gives the real numbers.
- Nothing at all? Google either cannot reach the site or has been told not to index it. Keep reading.
- Some pages listed? You are indexed. Your problem is ranking, not indexing, which is a completely different job.
This distinction matters enormously. Most people who say “I’m not on Google” are actually indexed and sitting on page five, and no amount of resubmitting fixes that.
Cause 1: the noindex tag is still on
WordPress has a setting called “Discourage search engines from indexing this site”. It exists so unfinished sites stay private, and it gets left on constantly after launch. Check Settings, then Reading, and make sure that box is unticked.
You can confirm from the front end: view your page source and search for noindex. If you find it, that is your answer, and fixing it is a single click.
Cause 2: Google does not know the page exists
Set up Google Search Console, verify your site, and submit your sitemap. On most WordPress sites it lives at /wp-sitemap.xml. Then use the URL Inspection tool on any missing page and click Request Indexing.
Search Console is also the only place you find out what Google actually thinks, including whether it crawled a page and chose not to index it.
Cause 3: you are indexed but invisible
This is the most common situation and the least understood. Being on Google is not the same as being findable. If you rank at position 30 for your own service, effectively nobody sees you, because almost nobody goes past the first page.
The fix is not technical, it is competitive: better content on the specific thing people search, local signals so you show for your own town, and a site fast enough to keep whoever clicks.
Cause 4: you are searching in a way that flatters you
Searching your own business name proves nothing, and searching while logged in and sitting at your own address shows personalised results. Try an incognito window, and search for what a customer would type: the service and the town, not your company name.
How long does it take for Google to index a new website?
A few days to a few weeks for the crawl: that is Google Search Central’s own wording, and it adds that asking for a crawl does not promise the page will be included at all, let alone straight away. There is also a quota on individual URL requests, and Google says requesting the same URL again will not get it crawled any faster, so pressing Request Indexing every morning achieves nothing.
Ranking is slower than indexing. Google’s SEO Starter Guide says some changes take effect in a few hours and others take several months, and suggests waiting a few weeks before judging whether a change worked. Anyone promising page one in a fortnight is either targeting terms nobody searches or is not being straight with you.
Why has my website disappeared from Google?
Google lists 6 causes for a drop in search traffic, and two of them can take pages out of results altogether: a spam policy breach, or a technical issue that stops Google crawling, indexing or serving them. The other four lower your traffic or your positions. Work through them in this order, because the quickest to rule out come first.
| Cause Google names | What it looks like | Where to check |
|---|---|---|
| Spam policy breach | Pages rank lower or vanish from results entirely | Manual Actions report in Search Console |
| Security threat (malware, phishing) | Google may warn visitors before they reach your site | Security Issues report in Search Console |
| Technical issue | Google cannot crawl, index or serve the pages | Crawl Stats and Page Indexing reports |
| Site move or changed URLs | Rankings fluctuate while Google recrawls | Page Indexing report, plus your redirects |
| Algorithm update | Gradual or sudden fall across many pages | Google’s list of ranking updates on the Search Status Dashboard |
| Seasonality | Fewer searches for the whole topic, not just you | Google Trends |
In our experience the commonest version of this for a small business is a rebuild: the new site goes live with the old addresses changed and no redirects, or with the “Discourage search engines” box from Cause 1 still ticked from the staging copy.
Why is my website not showing up on Bing?
Usually because nobody has added it to Bing Webmaster Tools. Google Search Console and Bing Webmaster Tools are separate, so verifying with Google does nothing for Bing until you connect the two.
The account is free, and you can sign up with an existing Microsoft, Google or Facebook account. Bing’s help pages say that if you already have a verified Google Search Console property you can import it, and imported sites are verified automatically, sitemaps included. Otherwise you verify by uploading a BingSiteAuth.xml file, adding a meta tag, or adding a CNAME record to your DNS. Then submit your sitemap: Bing accepts XML sitemaps, RSS 2.0, Atom and plain text files with one URL per line.
Do not panic at an empty dashboard. Bing says it usually takes 48 hours after a site is added for its analytics and data to appear.
Why isn’t my business showing up on Google Maps?
Often because the Business Profile is not verified yet: Google says verification reviews take up to 5 business days after you finish the steps, and a postcard code can take up to 14 days to arrive. Until then you do not own the listing and cannot make sure its details are right.
If you are verified and still missing, it is ranking. Google ranks local results on three things: relevance (how well your profile matches the search), distance (how far you are from the person searching) and prominence (how well known you are, including how many websites link to you and how many reviews you have). Google’s Business Profile help is blunt that there is no way to request or pay for a better local ranking. Distance is why a customer on the far side of town may not see you while you can see yourself.
Why is my website not loading on my phone?
Whatever the cause, fix it first, because Google uses the mobile version of your content, crawled with its smartphone crawler, for indexing and ranking. If a page breaks on a phone, that broken version is the one Google is judging.
Start by narrowing it down: try the page on mobile data and on wifi, and in a second browser. If it fails on one network only, the problem is the connection. If it fails on every phone, the problem is the site, and the usual suspects are oversized images, a plugin serving a separate mobile layout, or a redirect that only fires for phones. Our guide to checking whether your site is mobile friendly walks through the tests.
Why does my website say “Not secure”?
Because the page is loading over plain HTTP rather than HTTPS. Chrome’s own help explains the warning as the site not using a private connection, which means someone could see or change what visitors send and receive.
The fix is an SSL certificate on your hosting, then a redirect so every HTTP address forwards to its HTTPS version. If the padlock still does not appear after that, a page is usually pulling in an image or script from an http:// address, which a developer can find in minutes. A missing or expired certificate is one of the things a proper maintenance plan should catch before your customers do.
Send us the link. We will tell you whether you are indexed, what is blocking you, and whether it is a fix or a rebuild. Free, and we will say if it only needs a small change.
Get a free website review
Or get a fixed-price quote
If the answer turns out to be a rebuild, we build sites with indexing, sitemaps, HTTPS and mobile layout set up correctly from day one, at a fixed price agreed before we start, and we connect both Google Search Console and Bing Webmaster Tools at launch.
Related: local SEO for UK businesses, is your site mobile friendly, and signs a website is costing you customers.
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