Why Is My Business Not Showing Up on Google?

You type your own business name into Google and nothing comes back. Or you search for the work you do in your own neighbourhood, and the list is full of other people. This is one of the most common questions small businesses ask, and the answer is usually not technical. It is a simple step that was left undone.

This article goes through the points you can check yourself before paying an agency. None of them cost money.

First, a distinction: are you not searched for, or not found

These are two different problems with two different fixes.

If you are not found, people are looking for you but cannot reach you. If somebody types your business name and does not see you, the problem is here. This is fixable and it moves quickly.

If you are not searched for, nobody is typing that phrase. When a name is not yet known, people search for the work rather than the name. In that case the target is not your business name but your area plus what you do.

Working without making this distinction means knocking on the wrong door.

Five reasons

1. There is no Google Business Profile, or it is not verified

The box that appears on the map is not a website. It is a separate record. If it was never created, Google does not recognise you as a business. If it was created but never verified, it does not go live and simply sits there pending.

This is the step small businesses skip most often, and on its own it makes the largest difference.

2. The site exists but Google was never told

When a site goes live, Google does not know about it automatically. Finding it can take weeks, and sometimes it does not happen at all. If the site was never submitted through Search Console and no sitemap was sent, the site is on the internet but not in search.

3. The words people search for do not appear on the site

The home page shows the business name in large letters, a slogan underneath, and nowhere does it plainly say what the business does. Google matches on the words it reads. If the page does not contain the trade and the area, appearing for that search is not realistic.

4. The same business is listed with different details

The address is out of date in one place, the phone number in another, and the business name is spelled differently in a third. When Google cannot treat these as one business, confidence drops. Name, address and phone number should be written identically everywhere.

5. The site does not open properly on a phone

Most searches happen on a phone. If the site is slow, the text is unreadable, or the menu does not work, the visitor goes back. Google sees that and pushes the page down.

A three-minute self-check

• Search your name in quotation marks. If the site does not appear, Google may not have indexed it at all.
• Search your name on the map. If no box appears, the Business Profile is missing or unverified.
• Search your area plus your trade. If others appear and you do not, those words are probably missing from your site.

These three checks usually show which heading the problem sits under.

Google Business Profile: what to do, in order

• Create the profile and enter the business name exactly as it appears on the sign. Do not add extra words.
• Complete verification. An unverified record does not go live.
• Choose the correct category. The wrong category means appearing in the wrong searches.
• Enter opening hours and keep them current.
• Add real photographs: the front, the inside, the people.
• Reply to the reviews that come in. Unanswered reviews make a profile look dormant.

Three things to do on the site

First, say what you do on the home page in a plain sentence. Second, name the area you serve somewhere on the page. Third, make the phone number tappable.

How to write the page title

The title shown in the browser tab is the same title shown in search results. If it says Home, it is telling nobody anything. A working title carries the trade, the area and the business name. Keep it under sixty characters or the end gets cut off.

How long it takes

Once the Business Profile is verified, it starts appearing within a few days. The site takes longer to find its place in search, and that is measured in weeks. The first movement usually shows up in brand searches: people typing your name begin to find you, and area searches follow later.

Throughout this period, the thing to measure is not ranking. It is the number of messages and calls coming in.

What not to do

• Buying reviews. When it is detected, the profile is suspended and getting it back is difficult.
• Stuffing words into the business name. Adding words that are not on your sign breaks the rules.
• Listing an address you do not occupy. This surfaces during verification.
• Repeating the same phrase across a page. Text that nobody reads does not help ranking.

Further reading

For the steps that come after you become findable: keeping a record of the customers who arrive, digital marketing, and custom software or off the shelf.