Your new website might be invisible to Google, and nothing on the page will tell you. The two most common reasons are a "noindex" tag left over from the build and a robots.txt that blocks the whole site. Both are often switched on while a site is being built and then forgotten at launch.
1. Check for a leftover noindex tag
Open your homepage, press Ctrl+U (View Source) and search for noindex. If you find this, Google is being told not to list the page:
<meta name="robots" content="noindex, nofollow">
On WordPress, go to Settings → Reading and make sure "Discourage search engines from indexing this site" is unticked. Many builders and staging tools tick it by default.
2. Check robots.txt
Visit yourdomain.com/robots.txt. This blocks everything:
User-agent: *
Disallow: /
A normal small-business site usually needs only this:
User-agent: *
Disallow:
Sitemap: https://yourdomain.com/sitemap.xml
3. Check the server header too
Some hosts add the noindex as an HTTP header instead of a tag:
curl -sI https://yourdomain.com | grep -i x-robots-tag
If that prints noindex, fix it in the host or server config.
4. Confirm with Google
In Google Search Console, paste your homepage URL into URL Inspection. It tells you whether the page is indexed and, if not, why. After fixing, click "Request indexing".
Five minutes of checking can be the difference between a site that brings enquiries and one nobody can find.
NEXCOD builds and fixes fast, mobile-first websites for small businesses. nexcod.vercel.app · WhatsApp +1 289 902 5119
Top comments (0)