Why is my website not found on Google?

Search engines decide on their own which websites they list and in which order. hPage has no influence on your ranking, but you can do a lot to help Google find your website and understand what it is about.

Give it time

A new website usually takes days to a few weeks until it appears in the Google results, even if everything is set up correctly. Changes to existing pages also need some time until Google has read them again.

Check your settings

1. Your website must be publicly accessible: confirm your e-mail address and, for a free website, your mobile number, and make sure the website is not deactivated under Settings → General.
2. Open Settings → Header Area and check that List in Search Engines is ticked. Without this setting your website tells search engines not to index it.
3. Enter meaningful Keywords and a Description on the same page, and give your website a good Website Title under Settings → General. See Meta tags and search engine settings.
4. Password-protected pages and pages that are not shown on your website cannot be found by search engines.

Register your website with Google Search Console

The Google Search Console shows you whether Google knows your website, and lets you submit it directly.

1. Open search.google.com/search-console and add your website address as a new property.
2. Choose the verification method HTML tag. Google shows you a meta tag; copy its content value.
3. In the admin open Settings → Header Area, paste the value into Google Verification and click Save.
4. Back in the Search Console click Verify.
5. Submit your sitemap: its address is https://your-address/sitemap.xml. You find it under Pages → View Page URLs in the section Special URLs.

Bing works the same way with the field Bing Verification and the Bing Webmaster Tools.

Make your content worth finding

• Write real text. Search engines read text, not pictures. Every page should have a clear heading and a few paragraphs about its topic.
• Choose specific keywords. You will hardly rank for "restaurant", but you can for "Italian restaurant Munich". Use these words in your texts, titles and description.
• Update your website regularly with new content.
• Get links from other websites: directories, partners, forums, your social media profiles and your e-mail signature. Links tell Google that your website is relevant.