My new website is live but I can't find it

You have been told the new site is live. You type its name into Google and nothing comes up. A few checks in your own browser will show where things stand.

Check the address in your browser

  1. Type the full address into the address bar, starting with https://, rather than into a search box.
  2. Try it with and without "www." at the front.
  3. Open it in a private or incognito window. Google's own checklist for site owners says make sure that you can access your site in an incognito window.
  4. Look at the error, if there is one. Google's Chrome help says ERR_NAME_NOT_RESOLVED means the hostname (web address) doesn't exist or now has a different IP address. The person who set up the domain is the one to ask about that.
  5. Look at the symbol beside the address. Chrome's help says that where a site has no private connection, the site owner must secure the site and your data with HTTPS.

Check whether Google has the site yet

Search Google for site: followed by your address, for example site:example.com. Google notes that this search doesn't necessarily return all the URLs that are indexed.

Google says it can take a few weeks for Google to notice a new site. It gives other common reasons a site is missed:

Check the pages allow search engines

A setting called noindex keeps a page out of search. Google says that when it finds the noindex tag, it will drop that page entirely from Google Search results.

In most browsers you can view a page's source and search it for the word noindex. If it is there, ask whoever built the site to remove it.

Tell Google the site exists

Google Search Console is Google's tool for site owners. Once you have added your site, its URL Inspection tool lets you request indexing for a page.

A sitemap is a file listing your pages. Google calls providing one good practice for larger or new sites.

Useful links