Why isn't my website showing on Google?
Either Google hasn't listed your website, or it has and other pages rank above it. One search tells you which. Then it's usually one setting in your website builder.
Search Google for site:yourwebsite.com. If nothing comes up, Google hasn't listed your website, for one of three reasons: it hasn't found it yet (Google says a new site can take a few weeks), a setting is hiding it (a store password, “private” mode or “discourage search engines”), or your robots.txt file tells search engines to stay away. If your pages do come up, Google has them, and other pages are ranking above yours.
Free, no sign-up, about a minute. It flags a homepage that asks not to be listed (noindex), a robots.txt that keeps search engines off the whole site, and a missing sitemap, along with links, speed and your certificate.
Turn off the setting that hides your website.
Every builder has one, and it's often left on from before launch.
Shopify
A store in private mode is hidden from visitors and search engines. Go to Online Store, click Private, choose Public and click Update. The first time, the button says Launch store. Your sitemap is at /sitemap.xml once the store is public.
Squarespace
Site availability must be Public, which needs a paid plan. Then check two more things:
- Settings › Crawlers: “Block search engine crawlers” should be off.
- For a single page: in the Pages panel, click the gear, open the SEO tab and make sure Hide page from search results is off.
Your sitemap is at /sitemap.xml once the site is public.
Wix
Go to SEO & GEO › Tools and settings › SEO Settings and turn on Let search engines index your site. Your sitemap is at /sitemap.xml.
WordPress on your own hosting
Go to Settings › Reading and untick Discourage search engines from indexing this site. WordPress makes a sitemap at /wp-sitemap.xml, unless an SEO plugin provides its own.
WordPress.com
Go to Settings › Reading › Site Visibility, choose Public, and leave “Discourage search engines” unticked. If a paid plan runs out, WordPress.com puts the site back into “Coming Soon” mode, which hides it again. Your sitemap is at /sitemap.xml.
Then tell Google, and give it time.
- Check nothing else is blocking itRun the free check. It reads your robots.txt the way Google does and looks for a noindex tag on the page.
- Add your website to Google Search ConsoleIt's free. Submit your sitemap in the Sitemaps report. Google calls a sitemap a hint, not a promise, but it helps it find every page.
- Ask Google to read your homepagePaste its address into the search bar at the top of Search Console, then click Request indexing. There's a daily limit, so start with your most important pages.
- Wait, then search againGoogle says changes can take from a few hours to several months to show. A brand-new site usually takes at least a few weeks.
Then it's about ranking, not listing.
If site:yourwebsite.com shows your pages, Google has them. Search for your business name first; you should come up for that. For searches like “bakery near me”, a free Google Business Profile puts you on Google Maps and in local results, and it's usually the quickest win for a local business. After that, it's about pages that answer what your customers search for, and other websites linking to yours.
About getting on Google
How long does Google take to find a new website?
Google says it can take a few weeks to notice a new site, and that changes can take anywhere from a few hours to several months to show in search.
I blocked a page in robots.txt. Why is it still on Google?
robots.txt stops Google reading a page, not listing it. A blocked page can still appear, and Google can't see a noindex tag on a page it isn't allowed to read. To keep a page out, let Google read it and add noindex.
Does submitting a sitemap get my website listed?
It helps Google find your pages, but Google calls it a hint, not a promise. Pages still have to be worth listing.
My website is on Google, so why can't I find it?
It's listed, but other pages rank above it for what you searched. Search for your business name first. For local searches, a free Google Business Profile puts you on Google Maps and in local results.
Checked on 4 November 2026 against Google Search Central (getting on Google, noindex, sitemaps), Shopify, Squarespace, Wix, WordPress.org and WordPress.com. Menus move; if a step doesn't match what you see, your builder's help page has the latest.