Doing this yourself?
Everything in this guide is work you can do with time and patience. No tools required beyond free ones.
Or have us do it monthly
SEO issue fixes are included in our Growth plan at $99/mo, alongside speed, security and updates.
Last updated: August 2026
Step 1: Find out what Google actually has
Search Google for site:yourdomain.com. Results appearing means your site IS indexed and your real issue is ranking, so skip to step 7. Zero results means an indexing problem: continue in order. Also be precise about the symptom: "not showing for my company name" and "not showing for 'plumber near me'" are completely different problems with different fixes.
Step 2: Check the one checkbox that catches thousands of sites
In WordPress: Settings, Reading, and look at "Discourage search engines from indexing this site." Developers enable it during builds and forget to disable it at launch. If it is checked, that is your entire mystery. Uncheck, save, and request indexing in Search Console.
Step 3: Verify Search Console and read what Google tells you
If you have never verified your site at Google Search Console, do it now; it is free and it is where Google explains itself. Check three places: the Pages report for why URLs are excluded, Security Issues for hack flags, and Manual Actions for penalties. A manual action or security issue comes with instructions, and our deceptive site warning guide covers the hacked branch.
Step 4: Check robots.txt
Visit yourdomain.com/robots.txt. A line reading "Disallow: /" under "User-agent: *" tells every search engine to stay out entirely, another common leftover from development. Remove it.
Step 5: Look for stray noindex tags
View your homepage source and search for "noindex". SEO plugins can apply it sitewide with one mis-set toggle. Check your SEO plugin's search appearance settings for post types accidentally set to no.
Step 6: New site? Give it a minute, then help it
Fresh domains take days to a few weeks to index. Speed it up: submit an XML sitemap in Search Console, request indexing for key pages, and earn a few real links, because Google finds sites by following links. Zero links pointing at a site makes discovery slow and trust slower.
Step 7: Indexed but invisible for your searches
Now it is a ranking question, and the honest hierarchy is: your pages must actually target the words people search (a homepage saying "Welcome to excellence" ranks for nothing), your site must be technically healthy and fast, and you need content plus links that make you a credible answer. For local searches, a complete Google Business Profile matters as much as the website. This is a months game, not a settings game.
Step 8: The special case of vanishing after previously ranking
Sudden disappearance points to: a hack (check Security Issues), an expired domain or SSL failure, a noindex introduced by an update, a botched redesign or migration, or a Google core update reshuffling your market. Each has a distinct fix; the timeline of "what changed the week it dropped" is your best diagnostic tool.
Step 9: The maintenance connection nobody mentions
Indexing health is fragile precisely because it depends on small technical details: crawl errors, broken links, redirect chains, sitemap validity, site speed and security status. Our Growth plan includes exactly these SEO issue fixes monthly, which is why "we fell out of Google" calls come from unmaintained sites almost exclusively.
FAQ
How long until my new site shows on Google? Indexing: days to a few weeks. Ranking for competitive terms: months. Anyone promising page one in a week is describing an ad or a lie.
Do I need to submit my site to Google? Not strictly, but submitting a sitemap in Search Console removes the waiting and gives you the diagnostic reports.
My site shows for its name but nothing else. Is that broken? No, it is the normal starting point. Ranking beyond your brand requires pages targeting real search terms plus authority built over time.
Can paying for Google Ads improve my organic ranking? No connection whatsoever. Ads buy visibility while they run; organic ranking is earned separately.
Want this handled every month instead?
Our Growth plan includes monthly SEO issue fixes, speed and Core Web Vitals work, form testing, security and updates, with before-and-after numbers in your report.