You built the site. You paid for the site. You search for your own business and the site is nowhere, not page one, not page five. Before assuming Google hates you, check the simpler explanation: Google might not know your site exists at all.
Ranking problems and indexing problems get confused constantly, and the difference decides everything. A ranking problem means Google has your pages but shows them low; that’s the slow SEO game. An indexing problem means Google doesn’t have your pages, period, so no amount of SEO, content or patience will ever show them. The fix is different, faster, and usually one setting.
Here’s how to tell which problem you have in ten seconds, and the fix for each way sites fall out of the index.
The 10-second check
Search Google for: site:yourdomain.com (no spaces, your real domain).
Pages appear: you’re indexed; your issue is ranking, different article. Nothing appears, or only 1-2 pages of your 20: you have an indexing problem, keep reading.
Check a specific page the same way: site:yourdomain.com/that-page/
The four ways sites stay invisible
Almost every indexing failure is one of these, in rough order of how often we find them:
- The noindex tag. One line of code politely asking Google not to list the page. WordPress ships a one-click version of it, and it gets left on constantly (details below).
- Robots.txt blocking. A file telling crawlers which areas to skip. One overly broad line, often left over from development, and the whole site is off limits.
- Nobody told Google. New sites with no links pointing at them can sit undiscovered for weeks. Google finds pages by following links and reading sitemaps; a brand-new island has neither.
- Crawled, not indexed. Google saw the page and declined to store it, the polite rejection reserved for thin, duplicate or near-empty pages. This one’s a content problem wearing a technical costume.
The WordPress checkbox that hides thousands of sites
Settings → Reading → “Discourage search engines from indexing this site.” One checkbox, ticked during development so the half-built site stays private, then forgotten at launch. It applies noindex to everything, and the site can sit invisible for months while everyone blames the design. If your site is WordPress and invisible, check this first, before anything else on this page.
The fix, step by step
Step 1: rule out the self-inflicted blocks (10 minutes)
- WordPress: untick the Reading checkbox above if it’s on
- Visit
yourdomain.com/robots.txtin your browser. The killer line isDisallow: /underUser-agent: *; that blocks everything. Remove it (in Rank Math/Yoast: the robots.txt editor, or ask your host) - Spot-check a page’s source (Ctrl+U) for
noindex. In Rank Math it’s per-page under the Advanced tab: “No Index” should be off for anything you want found
Step 2: introduce your site to Google (15 minutes, free)
- Set up Google Search Console (search for it, verify your domain following their steps; the DNS or HTML-file method both work)
- Submit your sitemap: Sitemaps → enter
sitemap_index.xml(Rank Math’s default) orsitemap.xml, submit - For your most important pages, use URL Inspection: paste the URL, then Request Indexing. This is the front-of-line pass for individual pages
Step 3: wait like a professional
- Fixed blocks + submitted sitemap: expect pages to start appearing within days to two weeks
- Re-run
site:yourdomain.comevery few days and watch the count climb - Search Console → Pages report shows exactly which URLs are in, which are out, and Google’s stated reason for each
If pages still won’t index
“Crawled – currently not indexed” in Search Console. Google’s content rejection. The page is probably thin (a paragraph and a photo), a near-duplicate of another page, or auto-generated. The fix is making the page genuinely worth storing: real answers, real detail. Our content structure guide covers the shape that gets kept.
“Discovered – currently not indexed.” Google knows the URL exists and hasn’t visited yet. Common on new sites. Patience plus internal links from your already-indexed pages speeds it up.
Only the homepage is indexed. Usually a menu/internal-linking problem: if no indexed page links to your deeper pages, Google can’t walk to them. Make sure real menu links (not JavaScript-only navigation) reach everything important.
It was indexed and disappeared. Check Search Console for manual actions (rare, you’d likely know why) and for a recently ticked noindex from a plugin update or theme change. Yesterday’s redesign is the usual suspect.
Everything checks out and it’s still slow. New domains with zero external links index slowly because nothing vouches for them. One or two real mentions, a directory listing, your chamber page, a supplier’s partner list, gives Google a road in. Bonus: the same mentions feed AI visibility, which has the same entry requirement: no index, no citations.
Indexed is the start line, not the finish
Once site: shows your pages, the invisibility problem is solved and the visibility problem begins: ranking for searches people make, which runs on entirely different fuel (content, intent, authority, structure). That roadmap is the ranking guide. And if the reason you checked indexing is that customers can’t find your business generally, profile and map included, run our free AI visibility checker; indexing is question two of the eight signals it scores.
Common questions
How do I check if my website is indexed by Google?
Search site:yourdomain.com on Google. Pages appearing means you’re indexed; nothing means Google doesn’t have your site. Search Console’s Pages report gives the detailed per-URL version with reasons.
How long does Google take to index a new website?
With a submitted sitemap and no blocks: typically days to two weeks for first pages. Without Search Console and with no links pointing at the site, it can take considerably longer, which is why the 15-minute setup is worth it.
Why is my website not showing up on Google at all?
The big four: a noindex setting (including WordPress’s “discourage search engines” checkbox), a robots.txt block, a new site Google hasn’t discovered, or pages Google saw but judged too thin to store. The site: search plus Search Console identifies which.
Does requesting indexing in Search Console actually work?
For individual important pages, yes, it typically speeds things up from weeks to days. It’s not a ranking boost and spamming it for dozens of URLs does nothing; sitemap for bulk, Request Indexing for priorities.
Can I pay Google to index my site faster?
No. Indexing is free and unpurchasable; ads run in a separate system and don’t affect it. Anyone selling “guaranteed fast indexing” is reselling the free Search Console steps above.
Why does Google index some of my pages but not others?
Selective indexing is normal: Google skips thin, duplicate and unreachable pages. Check the excluded pages in Search Console’s Pages report; the stated reason tells you whether it’s a block, a discovery gap, or a content-quality judgment.