Why isn’t my website showing up on Google?

You type your trade into Google, and your website doesn’t show up. Or only on page three. Or only when you type your exact business name.

There are many possible causes, but they can be checked in a logical order: first, does Google know your site; then, does it understand it; finally, does it have reasons to show it. This guide follows that order.

One point before starting: nobody can guarantee you a position on Google. Its official documentation, Google Search Central, says so itself: even a site that follows all of Google’s guidelines isn’t guaranteed to be crawled, indexed or shown.

Step 1: check that Google knows your site

A page that isn’t in Google’s index can’t appear in any result. Two simple checks:

• Type site:yourdomain.be into Google, with your own address. If no results appear, Google has probably not indexed any page of your site
• In Google Search Console, the URL Inspection tool tells you whether a specific page is indexed and, if not, why

A brand-new site may simply not have been discovered yet: crawling takes time, and Google doesn’t commit to any timeframe.

Step 2: open Google Search Console

Google Search Console is Google’s free tool for tracking a site’s presence in its results. If your site isn’t set up there yet, that’s the first thing to do:

• Verify ownership of your site: the domain is yours, so you do it or grant access
• Submit the sitemap, which lists the pages to crawl
• Check the page indexing report: it lists pages that aren’t indexed and the reason Google gives
• Look at the searches your site already appears for, even without clicks

Step 3: look for technical blockers

Some errors prevent indexing even though everything looks normal to a visitor:

• A forgotten noindex tag, often left over from development: it asks Google not to index the page
• A robots.txt file that blocks crawling of all or part of the site
• A site still protected by a password, or shown in “maintenance” mode
• A canonical tag that points to another address as the reference page
• Pages no link leads to, reachable only through a form or an internal search

Google Search Central also explains that Google mainly uses the mobile version of a site for indexing. A page that’s complete on desktop but cut down on mobile is therefore a problem.

Step 4: get each page’s tags right

Once indexed, a page has to be understood. For each important page, check:

• A unique title (title tag) that says what the page offers: “Car servicing and repairs in Forest” rather than “Home”
• A meta description that sums up the page in one or two sentences: Google may use it as the snippet under the title
• A single main heading (H1), and subheadings that structure the content
• Images with alternative text describing what they show

Step 5: answer what your customers actually search for

This is often where it all happens. A site can be perfectly indexed and still not appear for any useful search, because it doesn’t contain the words customers use.

Take the example of a beauty salon in Ixelles. Its clients don’t type “wellbeing and serenity”: they search for “waxing Ixelles”, “facial Brussels” or “salon open on Saturday”. If the site only talks about serenity, it answers none of those searches.

Google Search Central recommends creating helpful, reliable content made for people rather than for search engines. In practice:

• One page per important service, using the words your customers use
• The municipality or neighbourhood where you work, when relevant
• Answers to the questions people ask you on the phone: starting price, opening hours, access, terms
• Up-to-date information: opening hours, offers, contact details

Step 6: your Google Business Profile

For a local business (garage, restaurant, salon, tradesperson), a large part of visibility comes from the Google Business Profile: the listing shown in Google Maps and in the local results block.

According to Google’s official Business Profile help, local ranking is mainly based on three factors: relevance, distance and prominence. Google also states there that you can’t request or pay for a better local ranking. Its advice is simple:

• Claim and verify your profile
• Fill in all the information: category, address or service area, phone, website
• Keep opening hours up to date, including special hours
• Add photos
• Reply to reviews

Step 7: consistent name, address and phone number

Your name, address, phone number and opening hours appear in several places: your website, your Google profile, directories, your social media. If they differ from one place to another (old number, old address, name spelled differently), your customers no longer know which information is right.

That’s why our local SEO method starts by aligning this information everywhere. It also includes a presence in 5 directories on top of the Google profile (default value, adjustable in the quote).

Step 8: reviews

Reviews matter to your future customers, and Google’s help lists review count and score among the elements taken into account in local ranking. What matters is having a method to ask your real customers for them, regularly:

• Ask at the right moment, just after the service
• Make it easy with a direct link to your profile
• Reply to reviews, positive and negative
• Never buy reviews or make them up: Google’s rules forbid it

Step 9: links to your site

Links to your site from other websites help Google discover your pages. The most natural ones for a small business: your suppliers, your partners, a trade federation, a traders’ association, local press.

On the other hand, Google’s spam policies forbid buying links or exchanging them to manipulate rankings. That shortcut exposes your site to penalties, with no guarantee in return.

What we can do, and what we don’t promise

Our SEO work is an obligation of means: we carry out the agreed actions with care, without guaranteeing a result that depends on Google. Be wary of any promise of the top spot: that’s Google’s call alone.

If you don’t know where to start, the pre-audit is free: a first look at your site, your visibility and your tools during the 20-minute call. To go further, the Digital Audit (€125) gives you up to three prioritised recommendations in writing, with a 30-minute call to discuss them. For a local business, see our local SEO page; for SEO in general, our GROW pillar.