How to Get Your Business Website to Show Up on Google

Why your site might not be showing up on Google

There are three common reasons a business website does not appear in Google results: Google has not discovered the site yet (new sites can take weeks to be indexed), the site is technically blocked from being crawled (often a settings mistake), or the site does not have enough relevant content for Google to match it to specific searches.

Most small business websites have one of these three problems. The fixes are straightforward once you know what to look for.

• New site: Google needs time to discover and index it (1-6 weeks is normal)
• Blocked from crawling: a setting in your website builder or a robots.txt file may be telling Google to stay out
• Thin content: pages with very little text give Google nothing to match against searches
• No Google Business Profile: for local searches, this is often the biggest single factor
• Slow or mobile-unfriendly site: Google ranks these lower, especially for phone searches

Step 1: Claim your Google Business Profile

If your business serves customers in a specific area, your Google Business Profile is the single most important thing you can do for local visibility. It is what puts you on Google Maps and in the "nearby" results when someone searches for your type of business.

Go to business.google.com and claim or create your profile. It is free. Fill in every field: business name, category, address (or service area), phone number, website URL, hours, and at least a few photos. Google shows more complete profiles more often.

• Go to business.google.com and search for your business
• Claim it if it already exists, or create a new one
• Fill in every field: name, category, address, phone, website, hours
• Add at least 3-5 photos (exterior, interior, products, or team)
• Verify ownership by postcard, phone, or email as Google requires
• Keep your hours accurate and update them for holidays

Step 2: Make sure Google can actually find your site

Before Google can rank your site, it needs to be able to read it. Two things can prevent this: a setting in your website builder that blocks search engines (sometimes turned on by default during building), or a very new site that Google has not yet crawled.

In your website builder settings, look for an option called "search engine visibility" or "allow Google to index this site." Make sure it is turned on. Then submit your site to Google Search Console so Google knows to crawl it.

Step 3: Give each page a clear, descriptive title

Your page title is the blue link that appears in Google search results. It tells Google (and searchers) what the page is about. A good title includes what the page covers and, for local businesses, the location.

Examples of good titles: "Italian Restaurant in Manchester | Aldo's", "Wedding Photographer Edinburgh | Jane Reid", "Plumber in Chicago | 24h Emergency Call-out." Each title names the service, the location, and the business. That combination helps Google match the page to the right local searches.

• Include your main service or product in the title
• Include your city or area for local businesses
• Keep titles under 60 characters so they do not get cut off in search results
• Each page should have a unique title (not the same one on every page)
• Your homepage title should be your main description: "Coffee Shop in Austin | The Corner Cup"

Step 4: Write useful content that matches what people search for

Google's job is to match searches to the most useful, relevant pages. Your job is to make sure your pages clearly explain what you do, where you do it, and who you serve. You do not need to write long articles to rank for local searches. You do need more than a few sentences on each page.

Think about what a customer would type into Google to find you. "Best pizza delivery near me", "family dentist in Brighton," "affordable personal trainer online." Use those exact phrases (or close variations) naturally in your page content, headings, and descriptions.

• Write at least 150-200 words on your homepage and main service pages
• Include your main services and your location as natural text, not just in images
• Answer the questions your customers actually ask (what are your hours, what is included, do you serve X area)
• Use plain language that matches how customers describe what they need
• If you serve multiple areas, consider a short page for each one

Step 5: Make sure your site works on a phone and loads fast

Google ranks mobile versions of websites first. If your site looks bad or loads slowly on a phone, it will rank lower, even for desktop searches. This is called mobile-first indexing and it has been Google's default since 2021.

Test your site on your own phone. Does it load in under 3 seconds? Is the text readable without zooming? Can you tap buttons and links easily? If not, your builder's mobile settings or your image sizes are the most common culprits.

• Test your site on a real phone, not just a desktop browser
• Images are the most common cause of slow loading: compress them before uploading
• Avoid large animations or video backgrounds on the homepage
• Make sure text is large enough to read on a small screen without zooming
• Use Google's free PageSpeed Insights tool (pagespeed.web.dev) to get a score and specific recommendations

Step 6: Get more Google reviews

For local businesses, Google reviews are one of the strongest ranking factors. A business with 30 recent reviews will almost always rank above a similar business with 3. They also convert browsers into customers: people trust reviews from real customers far more than any copy you write about yourself.

The simplest way to get more reviews is to ask. After a happy customer experience, send a follow-up message with a direct link to your Google review page. Make it easy: a link that opens directly to the review form gets far more responses than "please leave us a review on Google."

• Ask every happy customer directly: "Would you mind leaving us a quick Google review?"
• Send a follow-up message or email with a direct link to your review form
• Respond to every review, positive and negative (it shows you are active)
• Never buy or fake reviews (Google penalises this and it damages trust)
• Aim for a steady trickle of new reviews rather than 20 at once

Step 7: Keep your information consistent everywhere

Google cross-references your business information across multiple sources. If your address, phone number, or business name appears differently on your website, your Google Business Profile, and other directories (Yelp, Facebook, TripAdvisor, etc.), Google trusts it less.

Pick one exact format for your business name, address, and phone number and use it consistently everywhere. Even small differences ("St" versus "Street," or a phone number with or without the area code) can reduce Google's confidence in your information.

• Write down your exact business name, address, and phone number in one place
• Use that exact format on your website, Google Business Profile, and every directory
• Check major directories (Yelp, Facebook, Apple Maps, TripAdvisor) for old or wrong listings
• Update your Google Business Profile whenever your hours or contact details change
• Link to your website from your Google Business Profile, Facebook, and other social profiles

How Looops helps your site get found

Looops builds websites that are fast, mobile-ready, and structured for Google from the first build. Page titles, meta descriptions, and clean markup are handled automatically. You do not need to know what any of that means: the site that comes out is already set up to be indexed and ranked.

If you want to add or edit your page titles, location information, or page content, you do it by chatting: "add my address and opening hours to the footer," "update the page title for the contact page to include my city." No technical settings to navigate.

• SEO-ready from the first build: fast, mobile-friendly, properly structured
• Chat to Edit: update titles, descriptions, and content by chatting
• Custom domains: a professional .com address Google takes seriously
• One-Click Publish: hosting, speed, and HTTPS included
• Built-in forms: capture enquiries from visitors who find you on Google