How to Show Up on Google Search Engine Results: A Step-by-Step Guide for Small Businesses
✅ Reviewed by Federico Donadio
To show up on Google, your website has to be connected to Google and allowed to be indexed. In practice that means three things. Make sure your site isn't blocking Google, connect it to Google Search Console, and submit your sitemap so Google can find every page faster. All three are free, and most business owners can finish them in one sitting.
In my experience, about 80% of the business owners who come to Kendall Development have this exact problem: their website isn't showing up on Google at all. The cause is almost always the same. The previous website builder never sent the site to Google, or left "noindex" tags on the pages, so Google wasn't reading the website. The good news is that it's usually an easy fix.
Is Your Website on Google? Do This 10-Second Check
Open Google and type site:yourdomain.com (use your real domain, with no spaces).
Your pages show up. Google has indexed at least part of your site. If you still can't find yourself for searches like "hair salon Boca Raton," that's a ranking problem, not an indexing problem. Jump to Showing Up on Google vs. Ranking Higher below.
Nothing shows up. Google hasn't indexed your site yet. Follow the three steps below.
Only your homepage shows up. Your inner pages are probably blocked or missing from your sitemap. See the troubleshooting table further down.
One note: the site: search doesn't always list every indexed page. Treat it as a quick gut check. Google Search Console (Step 2) gives you the real picture.
How to Get Your Website on Google in 3 Steps
These steps work on any website platform. Since most of our clients build on Wix, I've included the exact Wix settings too.
Step 1: Make Sure Google Is Allowed to Index Your Site
A "noindex" tag is a small instruction in your page code that tells search engines not to add that page to their results. Builders often turn it on while a site is under construction and then forget to turn it off at launch. Google will visit the page, read that instruction, and leave.
Also check that your site isn't password protected. Open it in an incognito window. If you have to log in to see it, Google can't see it either.
How to Make Your Wix Website Indexable
The most common mistake I see with Wix website owners is that the indexing setting is turned off in the back end. Upgrading to a premium plan and publishing the site doesn't change it. If that toggle is off, Google won't index your website.
Here's how to fix it:
Open your Wix Editor and go to your homepage.
Open the page's SEO settings and go to SEO Basics.
Find the Let search engines index this page option. If indexing is turned off for the whole site, Wix will send you to your site's dashboard to change it.
In your dashboard, go to SEO & GEO, scroll to Tools and settings, open SEO Settings, and turn on Let search engines index your site.
Go back to the Editor, refresh the page, then click Save and Publish.
Spot-check your key pages (services, about, contact, blog). Each one should have Let search engines index this page turned on.
At this point your website is ready to be indexed. Now let's tell Google about it.
Step 2: Connect Your Website to Google Search Console
Google Search Console is a free tool from Google. It shows you which pages are indexed, flags problems, and lets you submit your sitemap.
Go to Google Search Console and sign in with your Google account.
Add your website as a property.
Verify that you own the site. Google will give you a code or record to add. On Wix, you can connect Search Console from your site's SEO tools, so you don't have to touch any code.
Step 3: Submit Your Sitemap to Google
Your sitemap is a list of every page on your site that you want Google to find. Most platforms, Wix included, create one automatically at yourdomain.com/sitemap.xml. Wix manages your sitemap automatically, and Google can eventually find it on its own, but submitting it yourself speeds things up and shows you right away if something is wrong.
In Search Console, open Sitemaps from the left menu.
Type sitemap.xml in the field after your domain.
Click Submit. Within a short time the status should change to Success.
Tip: If you just published an important page, paste its URL into the URL Inspection bar at the top of Search Console and click Request indexing. It doesn't guarantee instant results, but it puts the page on Google's list.
What to Do If Your Sitemap Submission Fails
Submit it again. A first attempt failing and the second one going through is more common than you'd think.
Check for typos. If it keeps failing, it's almost always a typo. Make sure the domain matches your Search Console property exactly (https, www or no www) and that "sitemap.xml" is spelled correctly.
Open your sitemap in a browser. Go to yourdomain.com/sitemap.xml. If you see a list of links, the sitemap exists and the issue is in the submission.
Confirm Step 1. Your site needs to be published, with indexing turned on.
How Long Does It Take to Show Up on Google?
In our experience, indexing usually happens within a few hours to a few days. Getting the entire website crawled can take a couple of weeks.
Google recently put numbers on this. In October 2026, Google's Gary Illyes shared typical and slowest timelines at Google's Search Central Live event in Barcelona, based on Google's internal analysis. Here are the ones that matter most for a new or newly fixed website:
Process | Typical | Slowest |
|---|---|---|
Discovering a new page | About 20 hours | Weeks, or never |
Processing a submitted sitemap | About 24 hours | Up to 14 days, or never |
Indexing a page once it's crawled | About 1.5 hours | Months, or never |
Revisiting a page Google already knows | About 30 days | Weeks, or never |
Updating your title in search results | 1 to 2 days | Several weeks to months |
These steps stack on top of each other. Google might index a change in an hour and a half, but if it doesn't come back to recrawl that page for 30 days, nobody sees the update for a month. Before you decide a fix didn't work, check the page in URL Inspection to see when Google last crawled it.
The "never" in that table usually comes down to quality. Pages with very little real content may get crawled and still never be indexed.
Still Not Showing Up on Google? What We Find Most Often
Problem | How it shows up | Fix |
|---|---|---|
Site was never submitted to Google | site: search returns nothing | Steps 2 and 3 |
Indexing turned off for the whole site (Wix) | Nothing indexed, even months after launch | Turn on Let search engines index your site |
Noindex tags on individual pages | Search Console shows "Excluded by 'noindex' tag" | Turn indexing on for each page, then request indexing |
Incomplete sitemap | Homepage shows up, service and blog pages don't | Submit a sitemap that covers all your pages and posts |
Brand-new website | Launched only days ago | Finish Steps 1 to 3, then give it time |
Thin pages | Search Console shows "Crawled - currently not indexed" | Add real, useful content to those pages |
Two quick examples from our own clients.
A beauty salon in downtown West Palm Beach came to us because they weren't being found on Google, or at least their service pages weren't. The previous developer had submitted an incomplete sitemap that pointed Google mainly to the homepage, not the service pages or the blog. We submitted sitemaps covering the pages and blog posts, and those service pages and posts started getting tracked and ranked. They later signed up for an SEO campaign with us.
In Boca Raton, we worked with a brand-new dog grooming business whose website wasn't showing up at all. The sitemap had never been sent to Google, and every page on the site had a noindex tag. Once both were fixed, Google could finally read the site.
Not sure which of these is affecting your site? Book a free discovery call and we'll take a look with you.
Showing Up on Google vs. Ranking Higher: Not the Same Thing
If you're reading this because your website isn't ranking, that's a different problem.
Being indexed means Google knows your website exists and can show it, usually when someone searches your business name. Ranking is where you appear when customers search for what you do, like "beauty salon Boca Raton," "beauty salon near me," or "dog grooming near Boca."
If your site is indexed but doesn't show up for those searches, the reason is usually one of these:
Your website doesn't have the reputation yet, meaning reviews and mentions or links from other sites.
Your landing pages don't include the keywords your customers actually search.
The site simply isn't properly SEO optimized.
That's where real SEO work comes in. If that's where you're stuck, our guide on how to rank higher on Google walks you through what it takes.
Local Businesses: Don't Skip Your Google Business Profile
The map results you see for local searches come from your Google Business Profile, which is separate from your website being indexed. You want both. Claim and verify your profile, make sure your business name, address, and phone number match your website exactly, and link the profile to your site. Keep in mind that a verified profile alone won't get you ranking for "near me" searches, for the same reasons covered in the section above.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I have to pay Google to show up in search results?
No. Showing up in Google's regular (organic) results is free. Google Ads are a separate, paid placement, and paying for ads doesn't change your organic results.
How do I know if Google has indexed my website?
The fastest check is a site:yourdomain.com search. For the full picture, open the Pages report in Google Search Console, or paste any URL into URL Inspection to see its status.
Why does my business show up by name but not for "near me" searches?
That means you're indexed but not ranking. Google can find you, but it doesn't yet see your site as one of the best answers for those searches. Reputation, keyword-focused landing pages, and local SEO close that gap.
Can I ask Google to index a single new page?
Yes. In Search Console, paste the page URL into URL Inspection and click Request indexing. Google says this doesn't guarantee the page will be indexed right away, or at all, but it helps Google find it sooner.
Do I need to resubmit my sitemap every time I add a page?
Usually no. Once your sitemap is submitted, Google keeps checking it, and platforms like Wix update the sitemap automatically when you publish new pages. For an important new page, use Request indexing.
Get Found First, Then Get Ranked
Getting your website on Google comes down to three things: let Google index your site, connect it to Search Console, and submit your sitemap. Once that's done, you're on the map. Ranking higher is the next step.
If you'd rather have us check it for you, or you're indexed but still can't find yourself for the searches that bring in customers, let's talk. Our free discovery call is a quick conversation with me, where we look at what's holding your website back and what to fix first.
animated logo maker The distinction between being indexed and actually ranking was the part that clicked for me. I ran into the same noindex trap on my own site, so the Wix indexing toggle checklist felt very practical rather than theoretical. Your point about Search Console being the real picture, not the site: search, is a useful reality check for anyone who panics after a quick search.