Why your new website isn't showing up on Google

A new site usually takes a few days to a few weeks to be indexed, and two to three months to get steady impressions. First check whether you're indexed at all by searching site:yourdomain.com. If you are and still see nothing, the cause is almost always too few pages and too few links, not a technical fault.

First, check whether Google has your pages

1. Search for site:yourdomain.com. Any results mean you're indexed; none means Google hasn't stored your pages yet.
2. Open Google Search Console and add your site if you haven't. It's free and it's the only place that tells you what Google actually sees.
3. Use URL Inspection on your home page. It says whether the page is indexed and, if not, why.
4. Open the Pages report to see how many pages are indexed and the reason for each one that isn't.

If you aren't indexed at all

These are the usual causes, most common first.

• Google hasn't found the site. Nothing links to it and no sitemap was submitted.
• A noindex tag left over from development. Check the page source for a robots meta tag, and the response headers for X-Robots-Tag.
• robots.txt blocks crawling. A "Disallow: /" line from a staging setup is a classic.
• The content only appears after JavaScript runs and the first HTML is empty. Server-render the pages you want to rank.
• The page returns an error or redirects somewhere else. URL Inspection shows the status Google received.

If you're indexed but get no impressions

This is the normal state of a new site, and nothing is broken. Indexed means Google has the page. Showing it to people is a separate decision, based on whether the page is a better answer than the ones already ranking.

• Too few pages. Every page is one chance to match a search. A site with ten pages matches very few.
• No links from other sites. Without them Google has little reason to trust a new domain. See how to get free dofollow backlinks.
• Targets that are too competitive. A new site won't outrank established ones for short, popular searches. Aim at longer, specific questions first.
• Nobody searches your name yet. Brand searches come after people have heard of you somewhere else.

How long it takes

Indexing a new site normally takes a few days to a few weeks. Search Console's performance data runs a day or two behind, so yesterday's impressions aren't visible yet. Steady impressions usually arrive in the second or third month, and clicks follow once pages reach the first page of results.

What speeds it up

1. Submit a sitemap in Search Console and keep it to pages you want indexed.
2. Request indexing for your most important pages with URL Inspection. There's a daily limit, so start with the home page.
3. Get listed on sites Google already crawls often: launch platforms and directories. Each listing is a link that leads the crawler to you. Start with our list of free startup directories.
4. Add your site to Bing Webmaster Tools as well. It takes five minutes, and Bing's index feeds other search products.
5. Link your own pages to each other, so a crawler that finds one finds the rest.
6. Publish pages that answer one specific question each, and keep adding them.

Frequently asked questions

How long does it take Google to index a new website?

Usually a few days to a few weeks. Submitting a sitemap, requesting indexing in Search Console and getting a few links from established sites all shorten it.

Why does Search Console show zero clicks?

Clicks need impressions near the top of the results. A new site typically sits on page two or three at first, where almost nobody looks. More pages and more links move it up.

Do I have to pay to appear on Google?

No. Organic results are free and can't be bought. Paid ads are a separate system and don't affect where you rank.