How Can I Get My Website on Google? A New Site Launch Plan

To get your new website on Google, you don't need to pay anyone. Make sure nothing on the site tells Google to stay away. Then set up Google Search Console, submit your sitemap, ask Google to inspect your key pages, create a free Google Business Profile if you serve local customers, and get your first mentions from real websites. Do these in this order. Most of them take a few minutes each.

This guide is for a site that has just gone live and that you've never told Google about. If your site has been online for months and still can't be found, start with our guide on why a site isn't ranking. Want a full check of one page first? The audit covers indexing, robots.txt, sitemap, title and headings, and lists the fixes by urgency. Run the free page audit in Claude. Your first audit is free with a free account.

Before you start: a 30-second check

Type site:yourdomain.com into Google, using your real domain with no spaces. If some of your pages come up, Google already knows your site. You can skip to Step 2. If nothing comes up, that's normal for a new site. Google says a new site can take a few weeks to be noticed, and that site: doesn't always show every indexed page. Treat it as a rough signal. Search Console gives you the real answer.

Step 1: Switch off "launch mode" on your website

Website builders let you hide a site while you build it. That setting often stays on after launch. Check it before you do anything else, or the next steps won't work.

WordPress: go to Settings, then Reading. Untick Discourage search engines from indexing this site and save. The WordPress documentation explains what this box does.
Wix: in your SEO settings, make sure Let search engines index your site is on. Wix also has a switch for each page, explained in its help article on indexing.
Shopify: if your store is behind its password page, Google sees that page and nothing else. Shopify's help page on the password page explains how to make the store public. It also notes that on a trial, or without a business address, Shopify asks you to complete that step first.
Squarespace and other builders: check that the site isn't set to private or protected by a password. Google can't read pages that need a password.

Whatever your site is built with, you can do one last check in your browser. Open your homepage, right-click, choose View page source, and search for noindex. If you find it in a line starting with <meta name="robots", that page tells Google not to list it. Google explains this in its page on blocking indexing with noindex. If you find it and can't trace it to a setting, ask the person who built the site to remove it.

Step 2: How do I add my website to Google Search Console?

Google says you usually don't need to submit your site, because it finds most sites by following links. But a new business site often has no links pointing to it yet. Google Search Console is Google's free tool for site owners. It's the official way to introduce your site and see what Google sees.

Sign in with a Google account the business owns. Don't use your web designer's account. If you part ways, you keep the access.
Add your site as a property. You'll get two choices. A Domain property covers all versions of your site (with and without www, http and https). It can only be verified with a DNS record, which you add at the company where you bought your domain. A URL prefix property covers only addresses that start with the exact prefix you enter, and it offers many ways to verify. Either works. Google sets out both options in its help page on adding a property to Search Console.
Verify ownership. You can't see any data until this is done.

Step 3: Submit your sitemap to Google

A sitemap is a file that lists your pages so Google can find them all. Most website builders create one for you.

Wix, Squarespace and Shopify: usually yourdomain.com/sitemap.xml
WordPress: yourdomain.com/wp-sitemap.xml, or yourdomain.com/sitemap_index.xml if you use Yoast

First open that address in your browser to make sure it loads. Then, in Search Console, go to Sitemaps, paste it in and click Submit. Google lists sitemaps as one way to ask it to crawl your pages. A crawl is when Google's program visits and reads a page.

Step 4: Ask Google to look at your most important pages

Paste your homepage address into the bar at the top of Search Console. This is the URL Inspection tool. It tells you whether the page "is on Google" and, if not, why.

If it says the page isn't on Google and Step 1 is done, click Request indexing. Do the same for your three or four main service pages. Don't do it for every page. Google says there is a limit on individual requests, and that asking more than once for the same page won't make it go faster.

Not sure your pages are ready to be indexed? Our free audit in Claude checks a page's indexing, robots.txt, sitemap, title, headings and internal links, then lists the fixes in order of urgency. Add The SEO Brief to Claude and run your first audit free.

Step 5: Put your business on Google Maps with a Business Profile

If customers come to you, or you go to them, a website is only half of how Google shows your business. The other half is your Google Business Profile: the listing with your hours, reviews and phone number on Google Maps and in search results. The two are separate. Google can index your site while your business is still missing from the map.

Here is what Google's own help pages say:

It's free. Google's page on adding or claiming a Business Profile says you can add or claim your business at no charge. Start at business.google.com/add. If Google Maps already shows your business, search for its name and city, then choose Claim this business.
It must be verified. Google's page on verifying your Business Profile lists phone or text, email, live video call and mail as methods. It says the methods are chosen automatically by Google and can't be changed. The same page says verification reviews take up to 5 business days, sometimes longer, and that most postcard codes arrive within 14 days. So start today.
Pick few, precise categories. Google's guidelines for representing your business on Google say to use as few categories as possible to describe your core business. They also say to choose categories that are as specific as possible. In practice, a plumber picks "Plumber", not a broad trade category.
No storefront? Hide the address. The same guidelines say a service-area business should hide its address from customers. Their example is a plumber who works from home and clears the address from the profile.

Google's page on improving your local ranking says that businesses with complete and accurate info are more likely to show up in local search results. So fill in hours, phone number, services and your website link. For the full setup, use our Google Business Profile checklist. If your profile exists but you can't find it, see Google Business Profile not showing up.

Step 6: Get your first mentions from other websites

Google lists having no links from other sites as one reason it may not find a site. Links matter in local results too. Google's page on local ranking says prominence is partly based on how many websites link to your business and how many reviews you have. You don't need to buy links, and you shouldn't. Start with places that already know you:

your trade association or licensing body's member directory;
suppliers or manufacturers who list approved installers or stockists;
your local chamber of commerce or business network;
events you sponsor or local press you've genuinely earned;
your own social profiles, with your new address on each one.

Inside your own site, link your homepage and menu to every service page. If no page links to it, Google will struggle to find it. Our internal linking guide shows how to do it in an afternoon.

How long does it take for a new website to appear on Google?

Google gives no fixed delay. It says a crawl can take anywhere from a few days to a few weeks, and that requesting one doesn't guarantee the page will be included. After about a week, open the Pages report under Indexing in Search Console. It lists pages that aren't indexed and why. "Discovered, currently not indexed" usually means Google hasn't read the page yet. "Excluded by 'noindex' tag" sends you back to Step 1.

Being listed isn't the same as ranking well. Climbing for searches like "roof repair Leeds" takes longer and depends on your competitors. We explain what affects that in how long SEO takes.

What you should never pay for

Google says it doesn't cost any money to appear in its search results. Its page on local ranking adds that there's no way to request or pay for a better local ranking on Google. Its page on hiring an SEO warns that no one can guarantee a number one ranking. It also warns about unsolicited emails promising to fix your visibility. Be wary of "submission to 1,000 search engines", "priority submission to Google" or a promised first-page spot. Every step above is free.

Frequently asked questions

Do I have to pay to get my website on Google?

No. Appearing in Google's normal results is free, and so is a Business Profile. Google Ads is a separate, paid product, and those results are labelled as ads.

How do I tell Google my website exists?

Add and verify your site in Google Search Console, submit your sitemap, then use URL Inspection to request indexing for your homepage and main service pages.

Why is my new website not showing up on Google?

Usually it's too new, or a "launch mode" setting is still telling search engines to stay away. Check Step 1, then look at URL Inspection in Search Console to see the exact reason.

Is my website on Google if my business is on Google Maps?

Not necessarily. Maps shows your Business Profile, not your website. Each one needs its own setup, and you need both if you serve local customers.

What to do today

Check your launch setting on your platform and search your homepage source for noindex.
Set up Search Console with the business's own Google account, then verify the site.
Submit your sitemap under Sitemaps.
Inspect your homepage and top service pages, and request indexing for any that aren't on Google. Before you do, run your free audit in Claude on your homepage. It shows anything that would block indexing, so you only send the request once the page is ready.
Create or claim your Business Profile and start verification.
Ask one trade body or supplier to list your new site.
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