There's a wide variety of reasons why you may not be ranking well or at all on Google-- these issues may be related to content, coding, or both. So: Why Can't I find My Website On Google?
First you must consider whether your site is not indexed at all or is just ranking poorly.
To see if your site has been indexed by Google you can enter in “site:yourdomainname.com” in Google’s search box where “yourdomainname.com” is, well, your domain name.
If you find that a few or all of your web pages appear as results, then you can take a sigh of relief-- you are in Google's index. Continue reading to learn a few common reasons why you may not be able to find your website on search engine results pages.
Google's 'Spiders" Can't Crawl Your Site
Excuse us for a moment, as we must get a bit technical. In order for Google to understand the content on your website, they have to scan through your site-- to accomplish this they send bots (a.k.a. spiders/crawlers) through your website. These bots are programmed to process words and code; however, many sites aren't constructed with search engines in mind. Plain and simple, some websites aren't very easy to crawl. For instance, if your website is flash based or experiences "code bloating" , it's not going to be crawlable. When your site isn’t crawlable, search engines know that it’s there, but they think that it’s empty, and thus, don’t give it much value.
Your Site Is Relatively New
If you've launched a new website in recent weeks, there's no need to fret-- sometimes it can take longer than a week for a search engine to update search results, which makes sense considering that your website is new and doesn't have any inbound links. If you're concerned, take a few minutes to create a Google webmaster tools account. After you register and point Google to your sitemap URL, you can request that they re-crawl your URLs. Note: Google receives many requests, so the feature may not always work immediately. Other than that, you must remember to be patient.
Your Website Code Features "No Index" Tags
When developers are working on a site, they can utilize custom code to tell search engines not to index an entire site (or individual pages). So, if you or someone who designed your site added this code, it would explain why it's not appearing in search results. Also, it's helpful to look and see whether or not a "robots.txt" file is instructing search engines to ignore the site.
Your Content Isn't Deserving Of A Top Rank
If you wrote all of your website copy with search engines in mind, you may be in trouble. Scan through your site's content: did you try to cram in as many keywords as possible, leading to unnatural phrasing? Not cool. Ideally, when you're writing content for your site, it should sound and appear natural (i.e. written for humans not robots). Be sure to avoid duplicate content as well (this is when you have the same information on multiple pages). If you believe that your website's content is lacking, take time to write new content to address your customer's most pressing pain points. Your content should be lively and informative, answering questions to educate your prospects.
Ignoring Title Tags And Meta Descriptions
Just as improper keyword usage can harm your SEO strategy, ignoring the significance of an instructive page title and meta description can detract from your hard work as well. Create unique and descriptive page titles and use your meta description as a final opportunity to provide a preview of the value of your page. Meta descriptions are used in search engine results, so make sure to create copy that grabs the searcher’s attention.
ImageWorks, LLC | CT Search Engine Optimization
While professional SEO services can offer many opportunities to your business, you should never depend on SEO alone for the growth of your business. The companies that thrive on the online world have a comprehensive approach and utilize both online and offline marketing strategies. SEO can be a big piece; however, it is only one slice of the marketing pie.
By integrating all of today's Web tools such as SEO, social media, pay per click, and blogs, ImageWorks, LLC can turn your site into a lead generation tool. And, with a little hard work, you will never have to ask yourself again, "Why Can't I Find My Website on Google?"
