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), and your site WILL load.

The difference is that in the first example above, you’re asking Google ‘Do you know anything about my website yet?’ whereas in the second example you’re telling your browser exactly where your website is. Take a look at the picture below to see the two locations.

Why is my new website not showing on Google yet?

Good question! First, Google needs to know your site exists. If we built your site, that step is already done — we submitted it to the search console when it launched. Once Google knows you exist, it sends its robots to crawl your site (their automated bots take a look around, work out what the site’s about, and check whether it’s been built well, has relevant text, uses heading tags, and all the stuff we’ve already taken care of). It then puts your pages in the index so they can be searched — but to begin with they may be many pages deep. Over time, and by using the tips in our post on promoting your website, you’ll rise up the listings.

Bear in mind this can take at least a few weeks, so don’t be overly concerned if you can’t find your site through the search box for a month or two after it launches.