Google says it can take a few weeks to notice a new site, and a few days to a few weeks to crawl a page once you ask. If your site is still missing after that, check five things in this order: that Google knows the site exists, that no setting blocks it, that other sites link to it, that each page says something of its own, and that enough time has passed.
Launching a site doesn't tell Google about it. Google finds new pages by following links from pages it already knows, and by reading the list of pages you hand it. A brand new site has neither, so for the first weeks it is often invisible, even when everything on it is right.
First, see what Google knows
Search Google for site:yourdomain.com (your own domain, no spaces). Every page that comes back is in Google's index. If only your home page shows, or nothing does, Google hasn't read the rest yet.
For the full picture, set up Google Search Console, Google's free tool for site owners. Its URL Inspection box tells you, page by page, whether Google has the page, when it last read it, and why it left a page out.
| It says | What it means | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| URL is on Google | The page is indexed and can show in search. | Nothing. Showing up high is a separate job. |
| URL is unknown to Google | Google hasn't found the page yet. | Submit your sitemap, link to the page from your home page, and request indexing. |
| Discovered, currently not indexed | Google knows the page and hasn't read it yet. | Give it time. Links from other sites help it move up the line. |
| Crawled, currently not indexed | Google read the page and chose to leave it out for now. | Make the page say more that is your own: your work, your town, your numbers. |
| Excluded by noindex tag | A setting on the page tells Google to stay away. | Remove the setting. On WordPress, look under Settings, then Reading. |
Five things that keep a new site out
- Nobody told Google. A sitemap is a file that lists every page on your site; most builders make one at yourdomain.com/sitemap.xml. Add it in Search Console under Sitemaps. Google calls a sitemap an important way to discover the pages on a site.
- A setting is blocking it. Builders often hide a site from search while it's being made, and the switch doesn't always flip back at launch. Check for a noindex setting, a password on the site, and a robots.txt file that says Disallow: /.
- No other site links to it. Google's own guide names this as a common reason a site gets missed. Your Google Business Profile, your Facebook page and a few honest directory listings give Google a way in.
- The pages say what every other page says. A page of general lines that could sit on any business's site gives Google little reason to keep it. Name the jobs you do, the towns you work in and something only you can show, like a photo of finished work.
- It's simply early. Google's guide says it can take a few weeks to notice a new site. Asking again and again won't hurry it: Google says requesting the same page more than once doesn't get it crawled any faster.
What to do this week
- Set up Search Console and prove you own the domain. It's free, and it is the only place Google tells you what it thinks of your site.
- Submit your sitemap under Sitemaps, then check back in a few days that it says Success.
- Request indexing for your most important pages. Paste each address into URL Inspection and press Request indexing. Start with your home page, your services page and your contact page; there's a daily limit, so the rest can wait for the sitemap.
- Link your site from your Google Business Profile and your social pages, with the exact same business name everywhere.
- Add your site to Bing too. Bing Webmaster Tools can copy your setup from Search Console in a few clicks, and Bing's results feed other search tools as well.
- Check again in two weeks, not every day. Then look at Search Console's Pages report to see how many pages are in.
Being on Google isn't the same as being found
Once your pages are indexed, they can show up. Whether they show up for the searches your customers type, like your service and your town, is a different job: pages built around those searches, a full Google Business Profile, reviews, and links from other local sites. That usually takes months, not weeks, and nobody can promise a spot on page one.
If you'd rather have someone set this up and watch it each month, that is part of what we do for local businesses. See our services page, or email [email protected] with your site's address and we'll tell you what Google knows about it.
Sources on this page
Google's own guides, read October 27, 2026: Get your website on Google and Ask Google to recrawl your URLs. If Google changes either one, email [email protected] and we'll update this page.