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Why Is My Business Not Showing Up on Google? 10 Answers

By Connectively7 min read

10 experts on the record: Greg Gillman, Sylvia Kang, Marilyn Zubak and 7 more.

The answers · 10
  1. 01Googlebots May Be Interfering With Recognition
  2. 02You Have Disallowed Your Website from Being Indexed
  3. 03Your Google My Business Listing isn’t Verified
  4. 04Inconsistent Business Information
  5. 05Your Website is Not Content-Rich
  6. 06Your New Business Not Yet Identified as a Trusted Source
  7. 07Your Website Not Optimized for Search Engines
  8. 08Your Business Doesn’t Have Enough Google Reviews
  9. 09Lack of Paid Search Or Organic SEO
  10. 10Your Business Lacks Location Authority

Why is my business not showing up on Google?

What are the top issues that may keep my business from showing up on Google? From Googlebots to inconsistent business information to lack of location authority, what are the various reasons that could explain these issues that may prevent a business from showing up on Google? What can be done to resolve that problem so that a business can show up on Google?

Here are 10 answers for why your business is not showing up on Google:

Googlebots May be Interfering With Recognition

If you have applied necessary strategies and your website is still not showing up on Google search results, this could be an indication of problems with Googlebots. Even if you are not implementing any strategies at all, generally, Google will get around to crawling and indexing your website but, if that is not working, it could indicate another issue. 

Google has red flag algorithms that will prevent it from indexing a website, and if it believes that Googlebots are overloading your server and slowing it down, it may prevent its crawl function altogether.

If you think this may be the case, running a diagnostic test will confirm if this is the problem and will determine if you need to limit content or the size of your URL. If your website is still not showing up in Google search results, there is a good chance it’s time to scan for Googlebots.

You Have Disallowed Your Website from Being Indexed

Your website isn’t indexable. This means that search engines can’t find your website. Make sure that you don’t have the noindex tag in your robots.txt file. You can find this by going to your website domain with /robots.txt on the end, ex: https://www.website.com/robots.txt. If you see “Disallow: /” then that means you have a noindex tag on your site telling search engines not to index it. Simply remove the no index tag or remove the disallow from the robots.txt. If you are using Google Search Console (which is highly recommended), submit your site to be indexed. You should see your site in the search engine results pages soon! 

You Have Disallowed Your Website from Being Indexed

Your Google My Business Listing isn’t Verified

One of the most unrecognized reasons that businesses don’t find themselves on Google is quite simple to fix. Simply check that your Google My Business (GMB) listing is verified. To complete the verification process, you will need to ensure that your profile is completely filled out and updated with current details, ensuring nothing is missing or inaccurate. From there, Google will have you complete the GMB verification process that will allow your business to be listed in relevant local search results.

Inconsistent Business Information

Google doesn’t like to be wrong. If your business isn’t showing up on google, or was showing up but now suddenly isn’t, it could be that your business information is inconsistent. It could be as simple as an unrecorded change in your company name, a move of your physical location or a chance in your contact information. any one of these things isn’t likely to get you tossed immediately out of google’s search algorithm, but get too many of these points wrong at once and your business will go poof. Keep your business listing clean and up to date, and that means all of them. Check your listings on multiple search engines, correct any information that is currently incorrect and make sure to send that information along to data aggregators like Infogroup, Localeze and Foursquare. Consistent, verifiable business information is a must for google, keep yours up to date to avoid any issues.

Your Website is Not Content-Rich

Google will always prioritize websites that dish out content that is truly informative and useful to their users. This is one of the primary reasons why many businesses don’t show up on the early pages on Google. To investigate whether this could be the reason, you should conduct an in-depth audit of your business website to see whether your content is specific and focused on the user’s intent. Some other things to look out for include the information about your product or service and how it ties into providing a concrete solution if it has relevant images, and customer reviews. This is likely to help your business show up on Google.

Your New Business Not Yet Identified as a Trusted Source

New businesses can have a doozy of a time showing up on google. Google likes to make sure what it’s telling people is correct, so if you have a business on the newer side of things you may not have enough information out there to verify that you’re a real entity. There isn’t a quick fix to this scenario, but there are some things you can do to speed things along.

Create a strong social presence. This should include any third party listing or registry where you can register your business. You can also keep up an active social media presence on any or all social media platforms.

As more sources of information about your business become active, google will have an easier time identifying your business as a trusted source. If you’re new and you aren’t showing up, build as much presence as you can to help yourself show up quicker.

Website Not Optimized for Search Engines

One potential reason your business is not appearing on Google could be that your website is not optimized for search engines. This means that your site is not using the correct keywords and phrases, and it is not structured in a way that Google can easily read and index. Without optimization, even the best website will struggle to rank high in search results. Fortunately, there are a number of resources available to help you learn how to optimize your site for better visibility. Once you have made these changes, be sure to submit your site to Google for indexing. By taking these steps, you can help ensure that your business appears prominently in search results.

Your Business Doesn’t Have Enough Google Reviews

Google tends to show results for businesses that have a higher quantity of reviews, as it shows trust in a brand and authenticity. You may optimize your website for all of the best keywords, but your competitors will always show up first if they are slaying the review game. Don’t be afraid to ask your customers for reviews. You believe in your business and services and so do your customers. Build strong relationships and personalize services when you can. Your customers would be happy to leave you a review, all you have to do is ask for it.

Your Business Doesn't Have Enough Google Reviews

Lack of Paid Search Or Organic SEO

One reason your business is not showing up on Google is due to the lack of either Paid Search or Organic SEO. The use of Organic SEO is a more cost effective approach than paid search, and will help grow your businesses website authority by mentioning your business on different sites. This will in turn increase your standing on Google and move your business closer to the front page. With paid search, your business will show up on Google as an ad. Where that ad is placed is solely dependent on how much your business is willing to pay. Either way, utilizing one or two of these methods should help ensure your business will show up on Google.

Your Business Lacks Location Authority

The major reason that your business isn’t showing on Google Maps is that it lacks location authority. If your GMB isn’t verified, your business won’t appear on Google Maps. This is because Google won’t verify anything that isn’t backed by data from the relevant authority. Location differentiates your company from the next; simultaneously, it gives your business the power to rank higher on Google. It also increases the radius in which your business gets found on Google’s local search.

When your GMB isn’t optimized for location, your page would be all over the place. In order to achieve the location authority, you need to enter your company’s address and define the radius and market.

This measure would help Google Maps narrow down your business’s location. You can also include Google Maps citations to highlight the key elements of your company, such as postal code and phone number. When such features are implemented, your venture would start showing up on Google.

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