Why isn't my business showing up on Google?

Go to Google and type site: followed by your web address, with no space. For example: site:yourbusiness.com.

• If you see a list of your pages, Google has found your site. Skip to the next section.
• If you see nothing, Google hasn’t added your site to its index yet. Nothing else matters until that’s fixed.

Common reasons a site isn’t indexed:

• It’s new. Google can take a while to find a new site, especially if nothing links to it.
• It’s blocked by accident. A setting left on from when the site was being built can tell search engines to stay away. This happens more often than you’d think.
• Nobody told Google. Google Search Console is a free tool from Google. You add your site, send it a sitemap (a list of your pages), and it tells you which pages are indexed and which have problems.

If you do one thing after reading this, set up Search Console. It’s free, and it’s the closest thing to asking Google directly.

Google can only show you for searches it understands you match. If your homepage says “Welcome! We’re passionate about excellence”, Google has no idea you’re a plumber in Laval.

Look at your main pages and check:

1. The page title. The text in the browser tab. Does it name what you do and where? “Plumber in Laval | Your Business” beats “Home”.
2. The main heading. The big line at the top of the page. Same test.
3. The words people actually search. Owners often use trade terms. Customers search in plain words. Write the way your customers talk.
4. One page per main service. If you do three different things, give each its own page. One page that lists everything is hard for Google to match to any one search.
5. Your town or area. Say where you work, in plain text, not only in a picture or a map.

None of this is a trick. It’s just making the page clear, for people and for Google at the same time.

When someone searches “bakery near me” or “accountant in Longueuil”, the first thing they often see is a map with a few businesses on it. Those come from Google Business Profile, not only from your website.

If you don’t have a profile, create one. If you do, check that:

• Your name, address and phone number are exactly the same as on your website. Small differences (“St.” vs “Street”, an old phone number) can confuse things.
• Your category is the most specific one that fits. “Italian restaurant”, not just “restaurant”.
• Your hours are right, including holidays.
• Your photos and description are real and up to date.
• You reply to reviews, good and bad, politely and in plain words.

Also look for your business on other directories and map apps. Wherever you’re listed, the details should match.

If the basics above are fine and you still don’t show up, a few other things can play a part:

• The site is slow, especially on phones. Most local searches happen on a phone. A slow site is a worse experience, and Google pays attention to that.
• The site has errors. Broken links, missing pages, pages that say the same thing twice. Search Console will list many of these.
• Nobody links to you. Links from local associations, suppliers, partners or local news help Google trust that you’re real.
• There’s a lot of competition. In a busy market, the businesses at the top have often been working at it for years. That’s not a reason to give up. It’s a reason to be patient and steady.

Be careful with anyone who promises you the top spot on Google, or the first page by a certain date. Nobody controls Google’s results, and nobody can honestly promise a ranking.

What a good person can promise is the work: fixing what’s broken, making your pages clear, keeping your profile complete, and reporting what changed each month. That’s what moves things over time.

Start with the three checks, in order:

1. Type site:yourbusiness.com into Google and see what comes back.
2. Read your page titles and main headings out loud. Do they say what you do and where?
3. Open your Google Business Profile and make sure every detail matches your website.

Most owners find at least one thing to fix. Many find the main problem right there.

If you’d rather we look, that’s what our SEO plans are for. SEO Care starts at $150 a month with no setup fee: we fix the basics, keep them fixed, and send you a plain monthly report. Send us your website when you book a free call and we’ll check it before we talk.