You’ve built a website. You’ve launched it. You’ve waited. But when you search for your business or what you do, your website is nowhere to be found on Google. This is one of the most common and frustrating situations I encounter working with small businesses across Sussex and the UK.
The good news is that in most cases, it’s fixable — and once you understand why it’s happening, the steps to sort it out are quite straightforward. This guide walks you through exactly how to get your website on Google, whether it’s completely invisible right now or just not ranking where you want it to be.
I’m Spencer Thomas, a freelance web designer and SEO specialist based in Brighton. I’ve helped 55+ businesses get their websites found on Google, and this is the process I follow every time.
First: Why Isn’t Your Website Showing on Google?
Before fixing anything, it helps to understand the actual problem. “My website isn’t on Google” usually means one of three things:
- Google hasn’t found (indexed) your site yet — your pages haven’t been crawled and added to Google’s database
- Your site is blocked from indexing — a technical setting is actively telling Google not to show you
- Your site is indexed but not ranking — Google knows you exist but isn’t showing you for the searches you want
Each problem has a different fix. The steps below cover all three, in order.
Step 1: Check Whether Google Has Indexed Your Site
Start here. Open Google and type: site:yourdomain.co.uk
If results appear — even just your homepage — Google has indexed your site. You can move on to the ranking steps below.
If no results appear at all, one of two things is happening: either Google simply hasn’t found your site yet (especially likely if it’s new — new sites can take 2-8 weeks to get indexed), or something is actively blocking Google from crawling you.
Step 2: Set Up Google Search Console (Free)
Google Search Console is a free tool from Google that lets you see exactly how Google views your website. It shows you which pages are indexed, which keywords you’re appearing for, any technical errors Google has found, and much more. If you don’t have it set up, do this first — everything else depends on it.
How to set up Google Search Console
- Go to search.google.com/search-console
- Click “Add property” and enter your website URL
- Verify ownership — the easiest method is the HTML tag option if you’re on WordPress (paste a small snippet of code into your site’s
<head>section, or use a plugin like Yoast SEO to add it without touching code) - Once verified, go to “URL Inspection” and enter your homepage URL to see its indexing status
- Submit your XML sitemap — go to Sitemaps, enter
sitemap.xmland submit it. This tells Google about all your pages at once.
Your sitemap URL is usually yourdomain.co.uk/sitemap.xml — check this address in your browser to confirm it exists. Yoast SEO on WordPress generates one automatically.
Once Search Console is set up and your sitemap is submitted, Google will usually index your pages within a few days to a few weeks.
Step 3: Fix the Technical Reasons Your Site Might Be Blocked
If Google Search Console shows indexing errors, or if your site has been live for more than a month and still isn’t appearing, check for these common technical blockers:
Check your robots.txt file
Your robots.txt file tells search engines which pages they’re allowed to crawl. Visit yourdomain.co.uk/robots.txt in your browser. If you see a line that says Disallow: / under User-agent: *, that’s telling every search engine bot to stay away from your entire site. This is occasionally left turned on by accident after development.
Check for “noindex” tags
Individual pages can be blocked from Google using a “noindex” meta tag. In WordPress with Yoast SEO, you might have accidentally set a page to “No index” in the advanced settings. Check your most important pages — in Yoast, look for the “Allow search engines to show this Post in search results” toggle. It should be ON for all your core pages.
A common culprit: WordPress has a setting under Settings → Reading called “Discourage search engines from indexing this site.” If this is ticked, your entire website is blocked from Google. Untick it immediately if so.
Make sure your site is live and accessible
If your site requires a password to view (common during development), Google can’t access it. Make sure the site is publicly accessible without any login prompt.
Step 4: Get Google to Crawl Your New or Updated Pages Faster
Once the technical blockers are removed, you can actively request Google to crawl your pages rather than waiting passively.
- In Google Search Console, go to the URL Inspection tool
- Paste in any important page URL (start with your homepage)
- Click “Request Indexing”
- Repeat for your most important pages — don’t do hundreds at once, but your top 10-20 pages are worth doing manually
This doesn’t guarantee instant indexing, but it typically speeds up the process significantly. For a brand new site, you can usually expect your homepage to appear in Google within a week of doing this.
Step 5: Optimise Your On-Page SEO So Google Knows What Each Page Is About
Getting indexed is only the first step. Getting indexed and ranking is a different challenge. Once Google can see your site, you need to make it crystal clear what each page is about and why it deserves to appear for specific searches.
Title tags
The title tag is the blue link text in Google search results. It’s also one of Google’s strongest on-page ranking signals. Every page on your site should have a unique, descriptive title tag that includes your main keyword and makes clear what the page is about.
Bad title tag: “Home – My Website”
Good title tag: “Electrician in Brighton | Fast Response | Spencer Electrical”
Keep title tags under 60 characters. In WordPress, Yoast SEO lets you set title tags without touching code.
Meta descriptions
The meta description is the grey text below the title in search results. It doesn’t directly affect rankings, but it affects whether people click on your result. Write a compelling, accurate description of each page in under 160 characters. Include your main keyword naturally.
H1 heading
Every page should have exactly one H1 — the main heading. It should include your primary keyword. Don’t use your H1 for decorative purposes (“Welcome to our website”). Make it descriptive and keyword-relevant.
Content that answers the search query
Think about what someone typing your target keyword into Google actually wants to find. Give them that. Google ranks pages that satisfy search intent — not just pages that mention a keyword a lot. If someone searches “plumber in Worthing“, they want a plumber in Worthing. Your page should clearly confirm you are that, with your location, contact details, services, and evidence (reviews, photos, case studies) prominent and easy to find.
URL structure
Clean, descriptive URLs help both users and Google. Use hyphens between words, include your target keyword, and keep them short. /services/emergency-plumber-worthing is better than /page?id=47.
Step 6: Set Up Your Google Business Profile for Local Searches
If you serve customers in a specific location, your Google Business Profile (GBP) is arguably more important than your website for local search visibility. This is the panel that appears in Google Maps results and the local “three-pack” at the top of search results pages when someone searches for a service near them.
To set up or claim your GBP:
- Go to business.google.com
- Search for your business — if it already exists, claim it; if not, create a new listing
- Complete every section fully: business name, address, phone number, website URL, opening hours, service categories, description, photos
- Verify your listing (usually via a postcard sent to your business address)
- Start collecting Google reviews — ask satisfied customers to leave you one
Local pack rankings are determined by a combination of relevance (does your profile match the search?), distance (how close are you to the searcher?), and prominence (reviews, photos, activity on your profile). For a comprehensive guide, see my local SEO checklist.
Step 7: Build Your First Backlinks
A backlink is when another website links to yours. Google treats backlinks as a vote of confidence — a signal that your site is trustworthy and worth ranking. New websites with zero backlinks struggle to rank for anything competitive, regardless of how well-optimised the on-page content is.
You don’t need hundreds of backlinks to start. You need a handful of relevant, credible ones. Here’s where to start:
Business directories and citations
Get listed on the major UK business directories: Yell, Thomson Local, Bing Places, Apple Maps, Google Business Profile (already covered above), Checkatrade (trades), FreeIndex, Bark.com. These create citations — consistent mentions of your business name, address, and phone number across the web — which are a significant local SEO signal. Most of these listings also include a link back to your website.
Social media profiles
Create and complete profiles on LinkedIn (especially for B2B businesses), Facebook, Instagram, and any relevant industry platforms. Include your website URL in the profile. These links are typically “nofollow” (they don’t pass as much SEO value as editorial backlinks), but they’re still worth having for brand presence and referral traffic.
Industry associations and memberships
Are you a member of a trade body, professional association, or local business network? Many of these publish member directories with links. A link from a well-established industry association website can be very valuable for SEO.
Local press and community websites
Getting mentioned in local newspapers, community websites, or local blog posts is excellent for local SEO. Press releases about business milestones, local charity work, or genuinely newsworthy stories can earn these mentions. Also consider sponsoring a local event or sports team — the website they build for that event often includes a link to sponsors.
How Long Does It Take to Get on Google?
Here’s an honest answer, broken down by situation:
- Getting indexed (appearing in Google at all): Usually 1-4 weeks for a new site after you’ve submitted your sitemap and requested indexing. Sometimes faster, occasionally longer.
- Ranking for your brand name: Usually within a few weeks of indexing. Searching your business name should show your website fairly quickly.
- Ranking for local service keywords (e.g., “plumber in Brighton”): 3-9 months, depending on competition in your area and the quality of your SEO work. Less competitive locations can happen faster.
- Ranking for competitive national keywords: 6-18 months minimum for new sites. This requires a consistent, ongoing SEO effort — content, backlinks, technical improvements.
SEO takes time. Anyone promising you first-page Google rankings within weeks is either misleading you or planning to use techniques that will ultimately get your site penalised. The right approach is slow but durable.
When to Hire an SEO Freelancer
The steps above are genuinely achievable without any technical background, and if your budget is tight, doing this yourself is far better than doing nothing. But there’s a point where DIY SEO has real limits:
- If you’re in a competitive industry or location, the gap between your site and competitors who’ve been investing in SEO for years can be very hard to close alone
- If your time is worth more than the cost of hiring someone — most business owners can earn more in the hours they’d spend learning and implementing SEO
- If you want a comprehensive strategy — keyword research, competitor analysis, content planning, technical audits, backlink building — done properly
- If you’ve been stuck in the same rankings for months despite your best efforts
I offer SEO services for small businesses across Sussex, Surrey, and the UK. If you want me to take a look at your specific situation, get in touch — I’m happy to do a free audit and give you an honest assessment of where you stand and what’s actually worth doing.
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