FAQ: Why is My Business Site Not Showing Up on Google?

p>Whether you’ve just launched a brand new website or are in the initial stages of determining if you need a fresh start, it’s likely that you’ve spent some time Googling your business’s name to see where it falls in the search results. That joy may turn into frustration, however, upon realizing that it’s not ranking quite as high as you’d thought.

Or perhaps the worst case scenario has reared its ugly head, and your site isn’t showing up on Google at all.

First instincts often go toward blaming Google itself, but the reality is that the blame likely falls to you and how your site has been constructed. To rank high on Google, you need to pay more attention to SEO, which can present a challenge if you’re not properly educated on the matter.

That's understandable, but being an SEO expert isn't necessary to make a difference on your site. How you use keywords on your site matters in how all search engines crawl your site content, as well as how you’ve structured said content.

Let’s take a look at what you should scope out, and how you can fix problems easily with the aid of a quality support team.

Search Engines Don't Index Right Away

One reason you don't see your website indexed on places like Google right away is because your site is possibly too new. Once the search engines crawl your site, it can take up to a week or two before it shows up.

Be sure to provide proper inbound links to your site so indexing doesn't take longer. The way to get more inbound links is to promote your website on social media. If you already have a strong following on places like Twitter or Facebook, people will start sharing your link in a few days.

Keep in mind that inbound links aren't everything when it comes to SEO. How you optimize your site with meta content, relevant content, and proper keywords matters above all in how high you rank over time.

If you haven’t already, set up a Search Console account and submit an XML sitemap of your site. This will expedite the indexing process by telling Google exactly what it should be crawling.

Over-Competitive Keywords

There isn't any question that the world of business is more competitive than ever. Marketing online provides plenty of opportunity, yet creating keywords inevitably means a clash of the same ideas.

When your keywords compete with literally thousands (if not millions) of others around the world, it becomes a major problem. It's still solvable when you avoid the common problem of using overly general keywords. You need to find keywords that are profitable for you, and that means creating unique words related to your personal brand.

Google's Keyword Planner is one way to check which keywords are the most competitive so you can choose wisely. If you can't help but use overly competitive keywords, you can at least analyze how much competition you'll face.

Be sure to add keywords unique to you, using either one-word or long-tail ones. The latter means a keyword phrase with four or five words. Meta tags are just important, and your web developer can help you add those as a complement to your keywords.

NOTE: A good content management system (CMS) will already have tools in place to make optimizing your meta data easy. For example, every site built on the NPG framework has the option to optimize on a page-by-page basis or on a global level, which eliminates the need to tinker with code.

Real and Original Content

Google penalizes sites that don't bother to create original and relevant content for credibility. While re-purposing and curating content is always effective, filler material doesn't go unnoticed by Google and other search engines. 

The more original content you can create, the higher you'll rank within the mysterious Google ranking algorithm. Being original also does double duty in helping your reputation within your industry.

These points are really only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to being indexed by and ranking well on Google. A well-planned SEO strategy will take your site far, and help you climb the ranks faster. When all else fails, you can turn to the professionals to fill in the blanks and optimize your site’s content and code to perform as best as possible in searches.