Your website is live. Google has not seen it.

You paid for a website. It opens when you type the address. But when you search your own business on Google it is nowhere.

This is one of the most common worries we hear from owners.

A website being live and a website being on Google are two different things. Google has to find your pages, read them and add them to its list. Only then can it show them to people. This list is called the index.

Sometimes Google never found the site because nobody told it. Sometimes the developer left a setting on that tells Google to stay away. That setting is normal while a site is being built. It is often forgotten when the site goes live.

And sometimes the site has only one page that says a little about everything. Google does not know what to show it for.

Most of this can be checked in one afternoon.

What to check

1. Add your site to Google Search Console. It is free and made by Google. It tells you which pages Google has found and which ones it has left out.
2. Submit your sitemap. A sitemap is a simple list of all your pages. Most website tools make one for you. Paste its address in Search Console.
3. Check that Google is allowed in. Ask your developer to check that no page is blocked from search. One wrong setting can hide the whole site.
4. Make one page for each service. A dental clinic should have a page for braces, one for root canal and one for implants. Each page can then show up for its own search.
5. Use the words your customers type. Write plain words like AC repair in Dwarka instead of a fancy brand line. Put the city name in the page title.

Mistakes to avoid

• Paying for ads to show up before the free setup is done
• Putting all your services on the home page as one long list
• Using the same title on every page
• Expecting results the next morning. Google takes some days to visit new pages

Once Search Console is set up it sends you an email when something is wrong. A broken page. A page that is hard to use on the phone. Read these emails. They are free advice from Google itself.

Also make sure your Google Business Profile has your website link. The two help each other. A customer who finds you on Maps can open your site in one tap.

What to do in the next 7 days

• Day 1: Type site: followed by your website address on Google and see how many pages come up.
• Day 2: Add your website to Google Search Console.
• Day 3: Submit your sitemap and check that no page is blocked.
• Day 4 to 7: List every service you sell and plan one page for each.

Send us your website address and we will check if Google can see it. Message us on WhatsApp

When you search your business name on Google today what comes up first? Tell us below.