How to check if Google can find your website

Many business owners assume their site shows on Google. Some are right, and some have a site that Google has never listed. This check takes five minutes.

The checks

1. Search the business name. Type the exact name into Google. The website or the Google Business Profile should appear.
2. Search the website itself. Type site: followed directly by the web address, for example site:yourbusiness.com.my. Google lists the pages it knows about. No results means Google has not listed the site.
3. Check the Business Profile. Search the business name on a phone. A profile with the right name, hours and phone number should appear beside the results.
4. Open the site on a phone. If pages are slow or broken there, Google notices too.
5. Use Google's free tool for site owners. It shows which pages are listed and which have problems. The site owner needs to be signed in to set it up.

Common reasons a site stays hidden

• It is new. Google needs time to find a new site, and submitting it helps.
• A hide setting was left on. Sites are often hidden from Google while being built. If nobody switches that off at launch, the site stays invisible.
• The pages have little to say. A single thin page gives Google little to show.
• Nothing points to the site. A Business Profile, directory listings and links from other sites all help Google find it.
• The site is broken. Pages that fail to load cannot be listed.

Being listed is not the same as ranking

A listed site can still appear far down the results. No one can promise a ranking. What can be done is to make the site easy for Google to understand and useful to the people searching.

Variety D. runs this check as part of Google visibility. A quick look at a site can be requested on the contact page.