Why Your New Website Isn’t Showing Up on Google (Yet) and What You Can Do About It

Launching a new website is an exciting milestone for any business, but it can be frustrating when your site doesn’t immediately appear on Google. Don't worry; this is totally normal and part of the process. Here’s a comprehensive guide to understanding why this happens and how you can improve your new website's visibility on Google.

In this post we'll cover the following SEO tips for new websites:

1. Understanding the Google Ranking Process
2. Immediate actions to speed up Google Crawling
3. Long term SEO strategies to start thinking about

Understanding the Google Ranking Process

The most important thing to understand upfront is that Google ranking takes time. When a new website is launched, Google needs time to find and "crawl" the site. This process can take up to a few weeks.

There are a couple of actions you should always take after launching your site to speed up the process and ensure your website is optimised for Google to find it.

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Immediate steps to speed up Google crawling

1. Submit your site to Google Search Console

Create a Google Search Console account and follow the instructions to submit your site. You may need to verify that you own the domain name, but the process should be straightforward and take less than 10 minutes.

Even though Google should naturally discover your site over time, submitting directly as soon as you launch can speed up the process significantly.

2. Submit your sitemap

Your sitemap is a file that exists on your website and contains information about the structure of your website. It is usually located at yourdomain.com/sitemap.xml. Google loves sitemaps as they help understand how to navigate around your site and find new content more quickly.

Locate your sitemap, or ask your developer, and submit it through Google Search Console.

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Long-term SEO strategies

Getting your website indexed is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to ranking on Google. To improve your position in search results, we recommend investing significant effort into an ongoing SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) strategy.

Here are some SEO strategies to start thinking about:

1. Identify keyphrases

Determine what keyphrases you want your website to rank for. Think about the types of search phrases your potential customers will search for. For example, if you run a social media agency for hospitality brands, you might want to rank for phrases like "hotel social media agency."

2. Content creation

Create and regularly update a high-quality blog on your website with content related to the keyphrases you identified in step 1. This is a high-effort, long-term game but will pay dividends in the long run. Look at your competitors who are ranking at the top of Google. We bet they have a good blog on their website!

3. Develop a backlink strategy

A backlink is a link to your website from other sites. The more high-authority websites that link back to your website, the higher you will rank on Google. Consider reaching out to industry blogs, local businesses, and directories to secure backlinks.

4. Consider paid advertising on Google

The reality is that Pay-per-click (PPC) advertising will be your shortcut to ranking at the top of Google. These are the sponsored results that appear at the top of the search results. PPC is great for providing immediate visibility while you work on your long term organic SEO strategy.

5. Google My Business

Ensure that your Google My Business profile is set up and optimized. This is especially important for local businesses that want to appear on Google Maps, making it easier for local customers to find you.

Patience and persistence is key

SEO is a vast industry, and achieving a high ranking on Google takes significant time and effort. While the initial setup of your website is crucial, continuous efforts in content creation, backlink building, and other SEO strategies are essential for sustained success.

This is why we set up Unweb. We believe that businesses should launch their website as quickly and cost-effectively as possible, so they can turn their attention to the hugely important task of marketing and ranking on Google.

If you’re feeling overwhelmed, there are plenty of resources available online. YouTube has many tutorials and guides on SEO that can help you get started.

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About Unweb

At Unweb, we specialise in providing stunning Webflow templates to help businesses establish a strong online presence quickly and affordably. We believe that businesses should spend most of their effort and budget on digital marketing, instead of expensive custom website design.

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Note: This blog post is adapted from an email sent to one of our clients to address common concerns about new website visibility on Google.