Why Your Website isn’t Ranking on Google (at all or as well as you hoped)
Are you having a hard time getting found on Google? Is your website or web page just not showing up?
Here are 9 possible reasons why your content isn’t ranking:
1. Your Webpages Aren’t Indexed
3. Poor E-E-A-T
4. Targeting Keywords with the Wrong Search Intent
5. Content is Not Well Organized
6. Poor Website Speed/User Experience
1. Your Web Pages aren’t Indexed
If your website or web page isn’t showing up on Google for any keywords at all, your content might not be indexed. Here are 5 possible Reasons your content isn’t indexed:
Google has not discovered your web page yet.
Before you can rank, Google has to discover your content and then add it to it’s index. Indexing can take days, weeks, or even months. To find out of your web pages are indexed or not, register your website with Google Search Console. Search Console is a free tool that helps you monitor your website's presence in Google search results. With GSC you can submit a sitemap to let Google know that you have content that needs to be indexed (rather than just waiting on Google bots to find it as they roam the web).
Duplicate or Thin Content
If a web page has content that is too similar to another page, Google may choose not to index it. If a page has very little content, or the content does not have a clear purpose, Google may choose not it index it.
Your web page is set to no-index
Implementing a "no-index" directive is a way to instruct search engines not to index certain pages of your website. This is useful for pages that you don't want to appear in search engine results pages (SERPs), such as private member content, shopping carts, duplicate content, or temporary pages.
If your site is built in a CMS like Squarespace, Wix, Wordpress or Shopify you can easily turn indexing on or off in the SEO settings (or with an SEO plugin) on individual webpages. So check to see if your page is set to indexable. It should be by default.
Your Robots.txt file doesn’t allow your website to be crawled
If your website was built in a CMS like Squarespace or Wix and you haven’t edited the robots.txt file manually, this isn’t your problem.
The two primary directives used in robots.txt files are Disallow and Allow.
“Disallow” tells web crawlers not to crawl specific parts of the website. For example: Disallow: /private/ instructs crawlers not to crawl any URLs starting with /private/. It's not always necessary to use Allow directives because by default, if a URL is not disallowed, it's allowed.
If your robots.txt file disallows Google crawl bots, then Google can’t index your content.
2. The Competition is High
Most industries have giants. If the mega-stores like Wayfair, or mega-publications like Forbes are ranking at the top for your target keyword, there’s little chance that you’re going to take their place. I’m sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but all hope is not lost. You just have to get creative and work harder to boost your online presence in ways other than ranking # 1 for that particular keyword. Improving your website's performance in a highly competitive environment requires strategic planning, continuous effort, and most importantly, a focus on delivering value to your audience.
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Competitor Analysis: Conduct regular competitor analysis to identify strengths, weaknesses, and opportunities. Analyze competitor websites, content strategies, keywords, backlink profiles, and social media presence. Use this information to refine your own strategies and differentiate your brand.
High-Quality Content Creation: Invest in creating high-quality, unique content that addresses the needs and interests of your target audience. Aim to produce comprehensive, informative, and engaging content that stands out from competitors. Identify gaps in the market, understand your audience's pain points, and tailor your offerings to address their needs effectively. Regularly update and refresh your content to keep it relevant and competitive. Learn more about Google’s Helpful Content System
Keyword Research and Targeting: Conduct thorough keyword research to identify high-value keywords that are relevant to your niche and audience. Focus on long-tail keywords with lower competition. Create content that fulfills the search intent of those keywords, and provide a path to conversion via internal linking. Learn more about keyword research>
User Experience Optimization: Prioritize user experience (UX) by ensuring your website is well-designed, easy to navigate, and mobile-friendly. Optimize page speed, minimize loading times, and remove any usability issues that could frustrate visitors. Provide clear calls-to-action (CTAs) and make it easy for users to find the information they're looking for.
Social Media Engagement: Leverage social media platforms to engage with your audience, promote your content, and build brand awareness. Create shareable content, participate in industry-related discussions, and actively interact with your followers. Social signals can indirectly impact search engine rankings and drive traffic to your website.
Continuous Monitoring and Adaptation: Monitor your website's performance using tools like Google Analytics, Google Search Console, and third-party SEO software. Track key metrics such as organic traffic, keyword rankings, conversion rates, and engagement metrics. Continuously analyze data, identify areas for improvement, and adapt your strategies accordingly.ext goes here
3. Your E-E-A-T score is low or lower than the competitors
E-E-A-T stands for “Experience, Expertise, Authority & Trustworthiness.” It's a set of criteria that Google uses to assess the quality and trustworthiness of web pages and websites. E-E-A-T is particularly important for websites that provide content related to health, finance, news, and other areas where accuracy and credibility are critical.
If your site does not have good E-E-A-T then it won’t rank well on Google.
Google must be able to determine that real people are behind your business, and that they have relevant experience that makes them a trustworthy source of information. A common place to share this type of information is About pages that name the founder and top team members with their credentials. Another way to show experience and expertise is to name your blog authors, and link their name to URL that showcases their experience and expertise.
While there are many actionable things you can do to improve your E-E-A-T, time is also a factor. A new website will have a relatively low trust score compared to the top dogs of the industry. If your E-E-A-T is excellent, your website will gain more trust over time as you publish new content that is valuable to your user base. After all, the top dog didn’t start there, they got to the top after years of publishing helpful content, improving their SEO, growing their audience and building trust.
4. You're Targeting Keywords with the Wrong Search Intent
Search intent refers to what the user is trying to accomplish or find when they enter a particular search term in Google. There are generally four primary types of search intent:
navigational (e.g, citibank login)
commercial (e.g, best cameras for live streaming),
transactional, (e.g, “buy flowers online”)
informational (e.g, can dogs eat apples?).
Commercial keywords represent users who are in the “interest” or “consideration” stage of the sales funnel. They want to do research before deciding what to buy.
Transactional intent means a user is ready to make a purchase.
Search intent is not always obvious as it might seem. The best way to determine intent is to search your keyword in Google and look at the type of content that is ranking.
For example, if product pages rank, the intent is transactional. If comparison and review articles rank, the intent is commercial.
Understanding search intent is essential for creating relevant and effective content that meets the needs of users and aligns with their expectations. By aligning your content strategy with the different types of search intent, you can attract relevant traffic to your website, improve user satisfaction, and ultimately achieve your business objectives.
5. Your Content is not well Organized
Google must be able to understand your content before it can classify and rank it. Content that is not well structured can make it difficult for both users and search engines to understand the hierarchy and relevance of information on your pages. When content is organized in a clear logical manner, it’s easier for users to find what they are looking for, and it’s easier for Google to accurately understand your content.
Page Titles: The page title is displayed as the clickable link in search engine results pages (SERPs). A well-crafted title that accurately reflects the content of the page can attract clicks from users who are searching for relevant information. Target your primary keyword in the Page Title.
Headings: Heading tags (such as H1, H2, H3, etc.) provide a hierarchical structure to your content, making it easier for both users and search engines to understand the information on a page. A clear heading structure improves readability.
Scannability: Break up large blocks of text using bullet points, images, infographics or other visuals to make content easier to scan.
Keyword Targeting: Target the primary keyword in your first heading (H1), and target secondary keywords in your subheadings (H2, H3, H4…).
Internal Links: Internal links help users navigate your website by providing pathways to related or relevant content. They allow users to find additional information on specific topics, and discover related products or services. This improves the overall user experience and keeps visitors engaged on your site for longer periods. Engagement sends a signal to Google that your content is worthwhile.
Internal links also provide paths for search engine crawlers to navigate and discover new pages on your website. By strategically interlinking your content, you ensure that all important pages are crawled and indexed by search engines, which can lead to better visibility and rankings in search results.
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Internal links help Google understand your content by establishing contextual relevance and semantic connectivity between different pages and topics on your website. The better Google understands the intent of your content, the more likely it is to rank for relevant keywords. When you link related pages together using descriptive anchor text, you signal to search engines that there is a relationships between different pieces of content.
Descriptive Anchor Text describes the content on the page it links to. For example, I might link the text keyword research or understanding search intent to my article about keyword research. Anchor text like “Learn More” or “Read More” does not help Google understand what type of content the text links to.
Internal links also distribute authority and PageRank (or link equity) throughout your website. When you link from one page to another within your site, you pass a portion of the link equity from the linking page to the linked page. This helps to strengthen the overall authority of your website and improve the rankings of individual pages in search engine results. The more links a page has pointing to it, the more important it is considered to be.
Internal links encourage users to explore more content on your website, which can reduce bounce rates (the percentage of visitors who leave after a brief visit) and increase the average time spent on your site. Time on Site signals that your website provides valuable and engaging content, which can positively impact your search rankings.
Internal links can be used strategically to guide users towards conversion actions, such as signing up for a newsletter, making a purchase, or contacting your business. By linking to relevant conversion-focused pages within your content, you can increase the likelihood of users taking desired actions and improve overall website performance.
6. Poor website Speed / User Experience
Ensure that visitors to your website have a positive interaction and can easily to achieve their goals.
If your website is too slow, difficult to navigate, has too many pop-ups, broken links, or any dysfunction that gets in the way of users finding what they want, they will bounce, and find another website or that can meet their needs.
Your website needs to be well-designed, easy to navigate, and mobile-friendly.
Optimize page speed, minimize loading times, and remove any usability issues that could frustrate visitors.
Provide clear calls-to-action (CTAs) and make it easy for users to find the information they're looking for.
7. Your Content is not Original or Helpful Enough
If your content provides information that you could find on hundreds of other websites (and from more reputable sources), it may not be particularly helpful. Now that the internet is flooded with redundancy, Google has implemented the Helpful Content System to reward sites that provide original insights and content that is truly useful to people. What does that mean exactly in terms of actionable optimization?
Invest in creating high-quality, unique content that addresses the needs and interests of your target audience.
Aim to produce engaging content written from the perspective of first hand experience.
Identify gaps in the market, understand your audience's pain points, and tailor your offerings to address their needs effectively.
Regularly update and refresh your content to keep it relevant and competitive.
8. Algorithm updates
Google's primary goal is to provide users with the most relevant and high-quality search results for their queries. Algorithm updates are designed to improve the user experience by rewarding websites that offer valuable content, while demoting less helpful content or penalizing those that engage in spammy or manipulative tactics.
Algorithm updates can cause fluctuations in search rankings, leading to a spike or drop in visibility and traffic. Understanding and staying informed about algorithm updates can help website owners adapt their strategies to maintain and improve their ranking positions.
Adapting to algorithm changes helps ensure that your website remains relevant and provides a positive experience for users.
9. Too Few, or Poor Quality Backlinks
Backlinks, also known as inbound links or incoming links, are hyperlinks from one website to another. They can play a significant role in determining a website's authority, relevance, and credibility in the eyes of search engines like Google.
Google views backlinks as a vote of confidence from one website to another. When a reputable website links to your site, it signals that your content is valuable and trustworthy. High-quality backlinks from relevant authoritative sources can help improve your website's credibility, which can positively impact its rankings in search results.
Backlinks also serve as pathways for search engine crawlers to discover and index new pages on your website. When other websites link to your content, it increases the likelihood that search engine bots will crawl and index your pages.
Backlinks matter more in highly competitive markets. For example, if you are one of 5 florists in a small town, you will be able to rank for “florist+town” without any backlinks.
If you are one of a few hundred florists in Los Angeles, (and have an amazing optimized website) backlinks can help give you a competitive edge. Quality links on relevant publications can also drive traffic to your site.
Low Quality Links: Links from websites that are not relevant to your site will usually be ignored by Google. Buying links is against Google’s guidelines, and is a great way to end up with a bunch of ineffective links from content farm publications. Google no longer penalizes sites for having poor quality backlinks; instead, it ignores them. Low quality links won’t help you rank.
Now that you know what is standing between you and your online presence, go forth and optimize!
If you need help optimizing your website, feel free to hit me up! I am an SEO specialist and I love helping websites and small businesses succeed. I offer consultation, technical and on-page website audits, keyword research assistance, web design, and fully managed SEO.
No problem or project is too small.
If you have any questions, please leave them in the comments below!
Do you have a success story about implementing any of the optimization techniques listed above? I’d love to hear how you overcame setbacks and achieved your goals.
