A website is missing from Google for one of three reasons: Google has not indexed it yet, it is indexed but ranks too low to be seen, or you are searching in a way that would never find it. Each has a different fix, so the first job is working out which one you have. Google itself says it does not guarantee to crawl, index or serve any page, even one that follows all of its rules. This guide walks through the checks we run for NZ businesses in exactly this situation, in order, using only the free tools Google provides.
Is your website not indexed, or just not ranking?
These are different problems. Google Search works in three stages: crawling (downloading your pages), indexing (analysing and storing them) and serving (choosing what to show for a search). A page can stall at any stage. If it never made it into the index, no amount of ranking work will help. If it is indexed but sits on page four, the index is fine and the ranking work is what is missing.
Three checks tell you where you are. Run them in order.
Check 1: search Google for site:yourdomain.co.nz
Type site:yourdomain.co.nz into Google. If pages come back, at least some of your site is indexed. If nothing comes back, the site is probably not indexed, but not certainly: Google's documentation notes that the site: operator does not necessarily return every indexed URL. Treat an empty result as a prompt to dig deeper, not as proof.
Check 2: inspect the URL in Google Search Console
Google Search Console is a free service that shows you how Google sees your site. Once you have verified that you own the domain, paste any page into the URL Inspection tool. It tells you whether that page is in Google's index, and if not, why. This is the definitive answer; the site: search is only a hint.
Check 3: look at impressions in the Performance report
Still in Search Console, open the Performance report. Google defines an impression as each time your site appeared in search results, whether or not anyone clicked. If you have impressions but few clicks, your site is indexed and showing up, just not high enough or not for the searches that matter. That is a ranking and content problem, covered further down. If impressions are zero, the problem is earlier in the chain; keep reading from the next section. Our guide to telling whether your website is working covers the rest of this report.
Why isn't Google indexing my website? Seven common causes
1. The site is new and Google has not got to it yet
Google finds most sites on its own. Its starter guide says "you usually don't need to do anything except publish your site on the web", and that the vast majority of sites in its results were found automatically. But automatically is not instantly. Google's notes on the URL Inspection tool say indexing "typically takes only a day or so, but can take much longer in some cases", and elsewhere on the same page allow for a week or two.
The fix: verify the site in Search Console, submit a sitemap, and use Request Indexing on your most important page. Google is clear that a request does not guarantee inclusion and that there is a daily limit on requests, so pick your homepage and your main service page rather than firing off every URL. A sitemap is optional for sites of about 500 pages or fewer that are well linked internally, but it costs nothing and removes one variable.
2. A noindex tag is telling Google to stay away
This is the cause we see most often on sites that launched recently. Many website builders and content management systems have a "discourage search engines" or "hide from search" setting for the build phase. If nobody switches it off at launch, every page carries a noindex instruction, and Google obeys it. The Page indexing report in Search Console lists these pages under "URL marked noindex".
The fix: find the setting or the meta tag and remove it, then request indexing again. One trap to know about: Google has to be able to crawl the page to see the noindex, so if you also block the page in robots.txt (see the next cause), the tag becomes invisible and the page can still appear in results. Google's documentation spells this out.
3. robots.txt is blocking the crawler
The robots.txt file at yourdomain.co.nz/robots.txt tells crawlers which parts of the site they may visit. A single line, Disallow: /, blocks everything. Staging sites often have this line on purpose, and it sometimes travels to the live site with the rest of the files. Search Console reports affected pages as "URL blocked by robots.txt".
The fix: open the file in a browser and read it. If it blocks pages that should be public, edit it. If you are not sure, a robots.txt that simply allows everything is safer than one that blocks the wrong thing.
4. Google found the page but decided not to index it
Two Page indexing statuses cause more confusion than any other. "Discovered, currently not indexed" means Google knows the URL exists but has not crawled it yet, usually because it chose to come back later. "Crawled, currently not indexed" means Google visited the page and chose not to add it; in Google's words it "may or may not be indexed in the future", and there is no need to resubmit it. Google is candid that you should not expect every URL on a site to be indexed, particularly duplicates or pages without meaningful information.
The fix: ask honestly whether the page deserves to exist. A location page that is a copy of another with the suburb name swapped, a two-sentence service page, a tag archive: these are the pages Google skips. Consolidate thin pages, give the survivors real substance, and link to them from pages Google already indexes.
5. Google chose a different version of your page as the canonical
Most sites can be reached at several addresses: with and without www, over http and https, with and without a trailing slash. To Google these are separate URLs, and if they all serve the same page it picks one as the canonical and drops the rest. Search Console labels these "Duplicate without user-selected canonical". The page is in the index, just not under the address you are searching for.
We found this on our own site in our July 2026 audit. The live site was being served on www.godigital.co.nz, while every canonical tag, sitemap entry and structured-data URL pointed at the bare domain. Nothing looked broken to a visitor; the signals Google was reading simply disagreed with each other.
The fix: pick one address, redirect every other variant to it permanently, and make sure your canonical tags, sitemap and internal links all use the one you picked. Check that your Google Business Profile and social links point to the same version too.
6. The content is not visible to the crawler
Google indexes what it can read. Text baked into images cannot be read. Pages that show nothing until a login, a cookie wall or a large script finishes loading are read late or not at all. A site that is one big image with a phone number on it is, to Google, an empty page.
The fix: put your service names, locations and descriptions in real text on the page. Use the URL Inspection tool's View Crawled Page option to see the page the way Googlebot saw it. If the important words are missing there, they are missing to Google.
7. The site has a manual action for spam
Rarer, but serious. If a site (or a previous owner of the domain) bought links, stuffed keywords or published scraped content, Google can apply a manual action that removes or demotes it. Google publishes its spam policies, and Search Console has a Manual Actions report that shows whether one applies to you.
The fix: read the report, remove the offending pages or links, and submit a reconsideration request. If you bought a domain second-hand, check this report before doing anything else.
Why is my website indexed but not ranking?
If the URL Inspection tool says the URL is on Google and the Performance report shows impressions, indexing is not your problem. The site is in the running; it is just losing. The usual reasons, roughly in the order we check them:
- The page does not answer the search. A homepage that says "welcome to our website" ranks for nothing. A page titled and written around "emergency plumber North Shore" can rank for that search. Our SEO checklist covers this in detail.
- Local signals are missing. For "near me" and suburb searches, Google leans heavily on your Google Business Profile. If you have not claimed and completed it, your website is competing with one hand tied.
- The site is slow or awkward on a phone. Page experience is part of how Google ranks. A slow site loses ground to a fast one saying the same thing.
- Nobody links to you and nobody talks about you. Genuine mentions from suppliers, industry bodies, local directories and customer reviews all help Google trust you. Bought links do the opposite; Google classes them as link spam.
- It has not been long enough. Google's own guidance is that some changes take effect in hours and others take months, and that you should wait a few weeks before judging whether a change worked.
Why doesn't my business come up when I search its name?
Searching your own business name and finding a competitor, a directory or nothing at all is a specific and fixable problem. Usually one of three things is happening: the name is common and Google cannot tell which business you mean; the name on your website differs from the name on your Google Business Profile and your social pages; or the site is so new that a directory listing outranks it for now. Make the name identical everywhere, claim the Business Profile, and put your legal name and contact details on the site itself. We share a suburb with an unrelated company called GO DIGITAL LIMITED, which is why our straight answers page spells out exactly which registered company we are.
Do this today
- Search
site:yourdomain.co.nzand note whether anything comes back - Set up Google Search Console (free) and verify your domain
- Run your homepage through URL Inspection and read the verdict
- Open yourdomain.co.nz/robots.txt in a browser and check it does not say
Disallow: / - View your homepage source and search it for "noindex"
- Type your domain with and without www, and with http and https, and confirm all four land on the same address
- Submit a sitemap in Search Console, then request indexing for your homepage and main service page
- Write down the date, and check impressions again in three to four weeks
Where we come in
Everything above can be done by a business owner with an afternoon and a Search Console login, and we would rather you ran the checks than paid someone to tell you the site has a noindex tag. Our free website audit automates the first pass: it checks for noindex tags, robots.txt rules, canonical tags, sitemaps and the other technical signals covered here, and reports what it finds in plain English. Where it stops being a DIY job is when the cause is the build itself: an old template that cannot be made crawlable or fast without starting again. That is what our website redesign service is for, and our SEO services cover the ongoing ranking work once the site is indexed.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long does it take for a new website to show up on Google?
Google says indexing typically takes about a day but can take much longer, and in some cases a week or two. Ranking well for competitive searches takes considerably longer than simply being indexed. Verify the site in Search Console, submit a sitemap and request indexing for your key pages to remove any avoidable delay.
How do I check if my website is indexed by Google?
Search Google for site:yourdomain.co.nz for a quick hint, then use the URL Inspection tool in Google Search Console for a definitive answer. Google notes that the site: operator does not necessarily return every indexed URL, so Search Console is the source of truth.
Does submitting my website to Google guarantee it will be indexed?
No. Google states that requesting indexing does not guarantee a page will appear in its index, and that it does not guarantee to crawl, index or serve any page at all. Submitting a sitemap and requesting indexing speeds up discovery; the page still has to be crawlable, indexable and worth indexing.
Why does my website show on Google but not on the first page?
Because it is indexed but outranked. The fixes are about content and relevance rather than technical access: pages that directly answer specific searches, a complete Google Business Profile for local searches, a fast mobile experience, and genuine mentions and reviews. Google advises waiting a few weeks after changes before judging their effect.
Can I pay Google to rank my website higher?
You can pay for Google Ads, which appear in labelled ad slots. You cannot pay for a higher organic ranking, and Google states that no one can guarantee a number one ranking. Treat anyone who promises guaranteed rankings or a special relationship with Google as a warning sign.
The bottom line
A website that is missing from Google is almost always fixable, and the fix is usually cheaper than the worry. Work out first whether you are not indexed or not ranking, then go through the causes in order. If you would rather have the technical checks run for you, run the free website audit; it takes a minute and tells you exactly where to look.