When a site is not showing on Google

A site that is missing from Google is missing for a reason that Google will usually state. Search Console reports a status for every address it knows about, and each status has a meaning, a cause and a fix. That makes this one of the more solvable problems a site can have.

Start with the general guide, or with the one for your platform. If Search Console already shows a status against your pages, go straight to the guide named after it.

• Why your website is not showing up on Google

  One search to tell an indexing problem from a ranking problem, and the causes and fixes for each.

• How to make your website show up on Google

  Eight steps from a new site to one Google lists and ranks, in the order to do them.

• Why your Wix site is not showing up on Google

  The Wix settings that keep a site out of Google, in the order to check them.

• Why your Squarespace site is not showing up on Google

  The Squarespace settings that keep a site out of Google, in the order to check them.

• Why your Shopify store is not showing up on Google

  Shopify's own five reasons a store is missing from Google, and the fix for each.

• Why your Shopify store is not getting traffic or sales

  How to tell a traffic problem from a conversion problem, and the causes of each.

• Why your WordPress site is not showing up on Google

  The WordPress setting that hides a site, three other common causes, and how to submit the site.

• Why your Google Business Profile is not showing up

  Verification, waiting times, suspension and location: the reasons a profile is missing, in the order to check.

• Crawled, currently not indexed: what it means and how to fix it

  Why Google reads a page and leaves it out, which of those pages matter, and what to change.

• Discovered, currently not indexed: what it means and how to fix it

  Why Google knows about a page and has not fetched it, and what brings the crawler.

• Page with redirect: what it means in Search Console

  Why forwarding addresses are left out of Google, when that is correct and when it hides a fault.

• Alternate page with proper canonical tag: what it means

  Why the status is usually correct, and the two cases where it is not.

• Duplicate without user-selected canonical: what it means and how to fix it

  Why Google picked a version for you, when to leave it, and how to name the original yourself.

• Duplicate, Google chose different canonical than user: what to do

  Why Google overrules a canonical tag, and the signals to line up so that it stops.

• Excluded by noindex tag: what it means and how to fix it

  When the status is intended, where the instruction hides on each platform, and how to remove it.

• Blocked by robots.txt: what it means and how to fix it

  How to find the rule doing the blocking, when to keep it, and why robots.txt is the wrong tool for hiding a page.

• Indexed, though blocked by robots.txt: what it means and what to do

  How a blocked page gets indexed, and the two opposite fixes depending on what you wanted.

• Soft 404 and Not found (404): what they mean and how to fix them

  The difference between the two statuses, what causes each, and when a 404 needs no fix.

• Server error (5xx): what it means and how to fix it

  What the server is telling Google, the usual causes, and how to tell a passing fault from a standing one.

• Redirect error in Search Console: what it means and how to fix it

  The four faults Google names, how to trace a chain, and the fix for each.

• Blocked due to access forbidden (403): what it means and how to fix it

  Why a server refuses Google while serving visitors, where the block usually sits, and how to lift it.

Being indexed is not the same as being found. These guides get a page into Google; where it then appears depends on how it compares with the pages already there.

• On-site SEO: what the service includes
• Redesigns and rebuilds: what the service includes
• How the guides are written

• AI search and answer engines
• Website platforms: fixing one, or leaving it
• When a website is not doing its job
• Local search, Maps and reviews
• When Google Ads is not working
• All guides