It takes ages to curate the perfect website. That’s why it’s disheartening when your website fails to appear on Google. A study on 11.8 million Google search results shows that there’s more to this process than you think.
Don’t worry yourself by asking, “Why is my website not showing up on Google?” Ask yourself this instead, “How can I improve my rankings?” The good news is you can quickly boost your rankings with a few simple steps. First, you need to analyze what went wrong with your website.
Keep in mind that you’re not looking for your website when typing in a specific keyword. Instead, you’re looking for a particular page. This detail is essential.
If Google doesn’t think your page deserves to be ranked, it won’t appear anywhere in the search results. To avoid this, you need to ensure you tick these three boxes:
- First, Google must know your website exists and be able to access your pages.
- Second, your page has to be relevant to the keyword you just looked up.
- Third, you must prove that your page is worth ranking for your desired search query.
Moreover, there’s a distinct difference between a website not showing up on Google and not being able to. Do you catch the drift?
If you recently launched your website, Google might not have indexed it. Your website may not be indexed because it takes some time for it to be registered.
However, Google could have excluded your website. As a result, you might have unknowingly breached Google’s guidelines. This violation resulted in your website being penalized. As a result, you are no longer in its index.
Here’s what you’ll discover in this article:
- A Quick Introduction to Search Rankings
- Why do Search Rankings Matter?
- 5+ Reasons Why Your Website Isn’t Displaying on Google
- Tips to Get Your Website Rank Higher
- Outsourcing Tools to Optimize Your Website
Without further ado, let’s delve in!
A Quick Introduction to Search Rankings
Google filters through 60 trillion web pages to find the best results every time you search for something. So, how do certain websites come out on top? It all comes down to ranking factors. Without these, the information users want cannot be found.
There are a few things Google looks into. Firstly, they pay attention to a website’s overall authority. A website’s authority strongly correlates with the website’s ranking.
A page with more backlinks will rank higher in the search results. Backlinks from numerous websites help too. Websites that have better content will outperform those without. The more you study a topic in detail, the better ranking you’ll get.
Why Do Search Rankings Matter?
Millions of users across the globe turn to Google for their queries. Why wouldn’t they? They get their results in milliseconds. That’s why it’s essential to capture the top ranks.
Did you know that 75 percent of people don’t bother clicking past the first page of Google search results? The first page alone captures around 36.4% of the traffic!
Can you imagine what you’re missing out on if your website doesn’t make it to the first page? So many people won’t find your business or brand. You miss out on traffic, qualified leads, and even revenue.
5+ Reasons Why Your Website Isn’t Displaying on Google
1) Your Website is Relatively New
Squarespace is the go-to website builder for beginners. It’s easy to use and takes little effort to master. But, despite its convenience, do you find yourself asking, “Why is my Squarespace website not showing up on Google?”
Don’t worry about it! Google takes time to discover new websites or pages.
You won’t find your page in the rankings if you’ve launched it just this morning. To know whether Google knows your website exists, search for this:
site: yourwebsite.com
If there’s a result, Google knows your website exists. If nothing appears, Google hasn’t indexed you yet.
Now, they might know about your website but not the page you’re trying to promote. In this case, search for this:
site:yourwebsite.com/a-page-you-want-to-show-up-in-google/
If a result pops up, then you’re good to go.
What if there’s no result for either? You can create a sitemap and submit it at Google Search Console.
Here are the steps you need to follow:
- Go to Google Search Console
- Click on Sitemaps
- Enter your URL
- Submit
Source: Ahrefs
A sitemap alerts Google about which of your web pages are important and how they can be found. Sitemaps also speed up the discovery process.
2) You’re Stopping Search Engines from Indexing Your Pages
Wix is an intuitive platform that designs beautiful websites. However, did you end up searching, “Why is my wix website not showing up on Google?”
There’s a likely chance your website hasn’t been indexed yet. So, what is website indexing? Simply put, websites that aren’t indexed won’t appear in search results.
Google won’t show certain pages in the search results if you specify them. You can do this with a “noindex” meta tag. The code looks like this:
<meta name=”robots” content=”noindex”/>
The pages with this code won’t be indexed even if you create a sitemap and update it on Google Search Console. Nevertheless, this is an excellent website indexing tool.
You might not even remember adding this code to your pages. However, that doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist.
For example, WordPress adds it to every page if you check this box while setting up your website.
Source: WPBeginner
Many web developers do this to stop Google from indexing their website while developing it. But, sadly, they tend to forget to remove this before publishing the site and end up questioning, “How can I keep Google from indexing my website?”
3) You Don’t Have Sufficient High-Quality Backlinks
Google needs to know your website is worthy. So, you need to prove to them that you deserve to be ranked.
Numerous factors play into Google’s ranking algorithm. Backlinks are one of them. Other web pages probably have more backlinks than yours. That could be one of the reasons why your website is not showing up in the search engines.
Also, remember that Google ranks web pages and not websites. Therefore, you might want to optimize your homepage for a specific keyword. However, pay attention to the number of backlinks to a particular web page.
Backlinks undoubtedly play a unique and crucial role in rankings, as shown in the graph below.
Source: Ahrefs
4) Your Website Lacks “Authority”
According to BackLinko, a website’s overall link authority can be correlated to Google’s page rankings. In short, the higher you go in terms of ranking, the better your domain rating will be.
Source: BackLinko
Google’s algorithm ranks based on something called the PageRank. PageRank counts the number of backlinks and internal links. Some might say that this is no longer relevant. However, Google confirmed this continues to play a crucial role in the ranking algorithm.
Unfortunately, you can no longer find what your PageRank score is. It would be an excellent way to compare your page to the top-ranking ones. So, how can you improve the authority of your webpage?
It’s simple. Just create more backlinks and internal links.
5) Your Website Doesn’t Accommodate “Search Intent”
Google will rank the most relevant searches for each keyword. That’s why your content must always align with what the people are searching for. You need to anticipate what they want to see.
Let’s say your business helps with financial planning in Toronto. Your company allows others to find better investment opportunities.
You would want your website to show up in the “best financial planning companies in Toronto.” However, you place the keyboards and see your page didn’t even make it to the first page.
Why?
Your content probably doesn’t align with what the audience is seeking. For example, instead of focusing on the types of services you provide, your website highlights different blog posts. Always try to stay relevant. Google won’t pay attention to you otherwise.
Here’s another example. Let’s say you’re looking up, “why is my website not showing up on Google search?” To get to the top of the ranks, you need to amp up your SEO content. There are numerous ways you utilize on page SEO audit tools to optimize your content.
Let’s say you run an e-commerce business and launched your website using Shopify. Shopify is an excellent platform to boost your sales. Even if you constructed the perfect website, you’re still looking up, “Why my shopify website is not showing up on Google?”
SEO helps your website get optimized. Make use of Ahrefs SEO audit to boost your rankings. You’ll get more conversions and traffic too. Even the most beautiful website won’t run without proper SEO strategies.
Source: Neil Patel
SEO plays a vital role in digital marketing. Conduct a comprehensive SEO audit for your website. You can consult brands like Flying V Group to know more. A website’s design is critical for online marketing.
What they do is clean up your website’s code and ensure that it loads quickly. Flying V Group also helps you streamline your website design. Most importantly, they know exactly which target keywords to incorporate.
6) There are Duplicity Concerns
Businesses who are unfamiliar with SEO strategies might not realize unique content prevails in this market. If a significant portion of your page has content that matches others, then you will be flagged.
A page has duplicate content when users can access similar web pages from different URLs. Google avoids indexing this because they think this takes up unnecessary space.
Look at it this way – would you have numerous copies of the same book on your shelf? No. You’ll choose to keep the most attractive version. Similarly, Google determines the most lucrative web page.
7) You Got Penalized by Google
Google penalties aren’t as common as the rest, but there’s still a possibility of them happening. There can be two types of penalties.
The first is manual penalties.
A manual penalty takes place when Google deliberately removes your website from the search results. They could also demote your rankings.
This penalty usually takes place when a Google employee reviews your website. If yours doesn’t comply with their guidelines, then it’s taken down. It’s also infrequent to get this penalty.
Unless you do something incredibly wrong, you won’t get a manual penalty. So, how do you know if you’re penalized this way? You’re usually alerted in the Google Search Console.
The other is algorithmic.
Algorithmic penalties entirely focus on quality. If the algorithm finds quality issues, it will suppress your website. This penalty acts more like a filter than a penalty.
These penalties are trickier to navigate as Google doesn’t tell you that you’re being filtered. As a result, it’s harder to identify the problems or lackings. An algorithm penalty appears when you have a drop in organic traffic too.
Tips to Get Your Website to Rank Higher
1. Perform an SEO Audit
The Google algorithm includes hundreds of factors to determine search ranking. Therefore, performing an SEO audit will help you gain a distinct advantage over your competitors.
Duplicate content issues are often correlated to technical problems. Try to use secondary keywords to avoid getting flagged. For example, you don’t want to be “one of the many pages.”
2. Optimize Your Website for Cell Phones
Google now has a mobile-first index. So, your website needs to be mobile-friendly to display on Google’s search list. What would users do on your website? How can you ensure a smooth transition? Choose the right fonts, compress your images, and use good themes.
Source: SemRush
3. Optimize Your Website for Speed and Performance
Both the mobile and desktop versions of your website must be optimized for speed. Pay attention to the image file size. The dimensions of the image must fit in your website seamlessly.
Caching plays an important role too. When people visit your website, they’re downloading a multitude of resources. If your website takes time to load, you will lose traffic.
Outsourcing Tools to Optimize Your Website
Digital marketing strategies can help your business go a long way. First, you need to find out what channels work for you. Then, how do you want to optimize your website? Finally, which combination of website indexing tools will help you get your desired rankings?
To follow digital marketing trends, you can efficiently utilize tools like Ahrefs and ConvertFlow. With the help of search engines, you can create masterful digital campaigns. You can drive up 300% more traffic to websites. Then, you can execute them with ease and optimize them for more conversions.
However, not all businesses can prioritize digital marketing strategies. For example, financial institutions have to focus on customer retention. Real estate businesses have more on-site activities. Now is when you need an SEO agency.
Digital marketing agencies like Flying V Group can help you rank your website higher with ease. With them, you can get more organic traffic and leads. This way, your team can focus more on other business activities!
It’s Time to Make a Move!
Getting your website to show up on Google Searches is a tricky process. It’s almost like playing a video game. You could face technical issues or software ones. While one is easier to detect, the other is not.
The same applies to your website. Try to sort out severe technical problems like the “noindex” tags. You want the crawlers to detect your website.
Much like video games, you also need to assess your competitors. Where do their strengths lie? What do you lack? How can you become better? On page SEO audit tools that Flying V Group provides can help you fine-tune your digital marketing strategies.
You can also never go wrong with Ahref’s SEO audit. With this, you can easily construct a website with solid backlinks and authority. You no longer need to ask, “Why is my website not showing up on Google?” Rise the ranks and find your website on Google in no time. Contact us!
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