Why Is My Website Not Ranking on Google? 8 Common Issues & Fixes
It can be frustrating to have a website that doesn’t show up in Google search results if you’ve taken the time to produce valuable content. If you find yourself asking, “Why website not ranking on Google?” you definitely are not the only one. The same problems happen to many website owners and there are several reasons that can be hiding your site from search results.
It is important to understand Google’s ranking factors in order to make sure that your website gets indexed and ranked higher. There are eight important Ways that you should check if your website not ranking on Google. By targeting these problems, you can enhance your chances of getting a better ranking and more organic traffic to your site.
8 Things to Check When Your Website Isn’t Showing Up on Google
✅ Robots.txt File
The robots.txt file is a very simple text file that tells search engines which pages they are and are not allowed to crawl. If your website’s robots.txt file is improperly configured, Google might not be able to crawl your pages.
➤ How to Fix It:
- To check your robots.txt file, go to yourdomain.com/robots.txt.
- Make sure that some important pages are not blocked with Disallow: /.
- if you want Google to crawl your site, your robots.txt file should contain Allow: /.
- Google Search Console allows you to test your robots.txt file for errors.
If you still don’t know the answer to the question, “Why website not ranking on Google?”, then the robots.txt file is a good place to start looking for the problem.
✅ Noindex Settings
There are meta tags or HTTP headers that tell search engines not to index webpages. If your pages have a noindex tag, then they will not be available in search results.
➤ How to Fix It:
- You should check your page HTML <head> section for the following:
<meta name=”robots” content=”noindex”>
- If you have pages with this meta tag and you want them indexed, then remove it.
- To identify the affected URLs, use Google Search Console and look for indexing issues.
If your site has noindex tags, then that may very well be the reason your website not ranking on Google.
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✅ Google Penalties
If your site is involved in aggressive spamming of keywords or other forms of spamming through backlinks, this can result in a manual action penalty or an algorithmic penalty. The reasons for this can include spammy backlinks, keyword stuffing, or too much similar content on the site.
➤ How to Fix It:
- Check Google Search Console’s Manual Actions report to see if your site has been penalized.
- Remove low-quality backlinks using Google’s Disavow Tool.
- Improve content quality to comply with Google’s guidelines.
A Google penalty is a serious issue that could explain why your website not ranking on Google.
✅ Rankings
Although your site may be indexed it may not rank high in the SERPs because of competition or optimization issues. Keyword research and appropriate SEO strategies are important to enhance the rankings.
➤ How to Fix It:
- Use tools like Google Keyword Planner, Ahrefs, or SEMrush to find less competitive keywords.
- Optimize title tags, meta descriptions, and content for target keywords.
- Build high-quality backlinks from reputable sites.
If you’re asking, “Why website not ranking on Google?”, poor keyword targeting or lack of backlinks could be the culprit.
✅ Duplicate Content
Search engines get confused by duplicate content, and that may stop your website from ranking as it should. Google has always favored original and useful content.
➤ How to Fix It:
- To find duplicate content use Copyscape or Siteliner.
- You should also employ canonical tags (rel=”canonical”) to inform search engines of other URLs that have similar content to the current one.
- Rewrite duplicate content to make it unique and valuable.
This is one of the common reasons your website is not ranking in Google.
✅ Search Intent
This will not work if your content is not relevant to the search intent as Google favors pages that are most relevant to the search query.
➤ How to Fix It:
- Find out who your main competitors are for your target keyword.
- Figure out whether the users are in the mood to learn, to look for something or to buy something.
- Change the content you provide to meet the users’ needs.
Misaligned search intent is a small but significant reason your website not ranking on Google.
✅ User Experience (UX)
Google wants those websites that have amazing user experience (UX), which is achieved by faster loading time, being mobile-friendly, and easy to navigate.
➤ How to Fix It:
- Boost the speed of the website by using Google PageSpeed Insights.
- Through a personalized design that is adaptable to different screen sizes, confirm your website’s responsiveness to various mobile devices.
- Enhance navigation and reduce pop-ups that disrupt UX.
If your website not ranking on Google, poor UX could be holding you back.
✅ Algorithm Updates
Search algorithms at Google basically go through changes all the time, after all, they are updated. Thus, it can cause changes in the ranking of sites. Such updates as Google Panda, Penguin, and Core Updates have a major effect on SEO performance, etc.
➤ How to Fix It:
- Follow changes made to the Google algorithm.
- Use Google Analytics and Search Console to monitor traffic drops.
- Change your strategy based on the latest ranking factors.
Algorithm updates are a common reason why websites suddenly stop ranking on Google.
If you’ve been wondering, “Why is my website not ranking on Google?” then the answer lies in analyzing the 8 factors discussed above. So if your site has robots.txt settings, noindex tags, or if Google has penalized your site, or if you are ranking low, if you have duplicate content, if you aren’t meeting search intent, if the user experience is poor, or if there have been algorithm updates — you can improve the visibility of your site significantly.
This is because SEO is not a one off activity. It is important to keep on checking on your website so as to check on its performance and also follow the guidelines that Google sets. This paper therefore concludes that in order to maintain and even improve the rankings, one has to keep on monitoring the website. If your website is not appearing on Google, then do something about it now and get it sorted so that you can start seeing that organic traffic you have been missing!
FAQs
Potential reasons for your site not being indexed could be that it is fun, has a Noindex tag, or has some crappy backlinks.
Another alternative is to submit your sitemap to Google Search Console, and ensure crawler accessibility on robots.txt.
Optimize on-page SEO, use relevant keywords, build high-quality backlinks, and create valuable content.
Their will depend on the amount of time it takes from a few weeks to several months the area of competition, SEO process, and age of domain.
The web page’s optimization should be based on certain techniques, such as, text richness, backlinks, various devices’ compatibility and quicker page load time.
Simply type site: your domain name on Google or check your website in Google Search Console.
The same as in the case of problems with indexing, you should return to the Google Search Console platform, find the Sitemaps section, and upload it there.
