Why Is My Business Not Showing Up on Google?

Article author Ben Lawless
Ben Lawless
|
May 24, 2025

In today's digital age, having an online presence is crucial for any business. Yet, many business owners find themselves asking, "Why is my business not showing up on Google?" If you've invested time and resources into building a website, only to find it's not appearing in search results, you're not alone.

We get it — ranking on Google can be confusing, technical, and time-consuming. At Lawless Digital Marketing, we help businesses like yours simplify SEO and grow online visibility without the stress. Let’s dive into why this may be happening and what you can do about it.

Understanding How Google Works

Google uses complex algorithms to decide which websites appear in search results. These algorithms consider factors like relevance, quality, and user experience. If your site isn't showing up, it may be falling short in one or more of these areas.

Google’s Crawling and Indexing

Googlebots crawl the web, discovering and indexing pages. If your website isn’t appearing in search results, it may not be indexed correctly.

Quick Tip:
To check if your site is indexed, search:
site:yourdomain.com
If no pages show, Google hasn’t indexed your site yet. Start by submitting your sitemap in Google Search Console.

Common Reasons Your Business Isn’t Showing Up on Google

1. Your Website Is New

New websites can take time to be discovered and indexed. This is sometimes called the sandbox effect — a waiting period where Google evaluates your site's trustworthiness.

How to help:

2. Your Website Isn’t Indexed

Without indexing, your site won't show up — no matter how great the content is.

Steps to Ensure Indexing:

  • Submit a sitemap via Google Search Console
  • Make sure important pages aren’t blocked by robots.txt or tagged with noindex
  • Create internal links between your pages

Need help getting set up? Our team at Lawless Digital Marketing can handle your indexing, sitemap, and technical SEO setup — so you can focus on running your business.

3. Your Website Has Technical Issues

From broken links to blocking crawlers, technical errors can keep Google away.

Tools to use:

Fix this by:

4. Your Website Lacks Quality Content

Google rewards sites that offer useful, relevant, and original content. Without it, your rankings will suffer.

What to do:

  • Write content that solves problems for your audience
  • Include visuals like images or videos
  • Update older blog posts regularly

5. You’re Targeting Highly Competitive Keywords

Broad keywords like "lawyer" or "plumber" are often dominated by large websites.

Better approach:

  • Use tools like Ubersuggest or Semrush to find long-tail keywords
  • Write blog posts targeting more specific terms

6. Your Website Lacks Backlinks

Google sees backlinks as votes of trust. The more high-quality backlinks you have, the more credible your site appears.

Ways to build backlinks:

  • Guest post on local or industry blogs
  • Get listed in relevant business directories
  • Collaborate with other businesses or organizations

How to Improve Your Google Rankings

Optimize for Mobile

Use responsive design and test your site with Google’s Mobile-Friendly Tool.

Increase Page Speed

Use PageSpeed Insights to identify and fix issues slowing down your site.

Improving speed doesn’t just boost rankings — it gives visitors a better experience and helps increase conversions.

Use Google Business Profile (formerly Google My Business)

If you're a local business, this is critical.

How to set it up:

  1. Go to Google Business Profile
  2. Claim your business
  3. Add hours, location, photos, and services
  4. Collect and respond to customer reviews

Monitor and Analyze

Use Google Analytics and Search Console to monitor what’s working, what isn’t, and where to improve.

Final Thoughts

Not showing up on Google can be frustrating — but it's fixable. SEO takes consistent effort, technical knowledge, and time. If you're feeling overwhelmed by all the moving parts, let us help.

Lawless Digital Marketing helps small businesses improve visibility, fix SEO issues, and start ranking — without wasting months trying to figure it out alone.

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