So where’s my website?
So your new website has just launched a few hours ago, and you’ve put in a Google search for it and can’t find it. Should you be concerned?
In short, that really depends where you were searching. Here are two scenarios:
Scenario 1: Your new website selling free range eggs in Wanaka went live a few hours ago, so you go to Google search (the box in the middle of the page) and type in ‘free range eggs in Wanaka’. Your site will NOT be in the listings (more on that below).
Scenario 2: You type in ‘www.wanakafreerange.co.nz’ in the address bar (the area at the top of the page that normally says ‘https://www.google.co.nz’ if you’re on Google), your site WILL load.
The difference is that in the first example above, your asking Google ‘Do you know anything about my website yet?’ whereas in the second search you’re telling your browser exactly where your website is. Take a look at the pic below to see the two locations.
So when will my website show up for scenario 1?
Good question! So first Google will need to know your site exists. If we built your site, that step is already done when we submitted your site to the search console. Once Google knows you exist, they then send the robots to your site to crawl it (meaning that their automated bots take a look around, decide what the website’s about and whether it’s been built well, has relevant text, uses headings tags and all the stuff we’ve already taken care of!). Then it puts your pages in the index so they can be searched, but initially it may well be many pages deep. Over time and using the tips on this blog post about promoting your website, you will rise up in the listings.
Bear in mind that this can take at least a few weeks, so don’t be overly concerned if you can’t find anything about your site for at least a month or two after it has launched by using the search box!