There’s a common misconception about what Google really is and does. A lot of people think that Google IS the internet. But in fact, Google is simply a database of websites on the internet and the only way it finds your site, is through it’s own systems to crawl websites that are already out there. And no, Google is not all knowing!
My Squarespace site isn’t in Googles index…
This is a common problem that a lot of Squarespace (and all web platform) users face. They build a beautiful new site, pour their heart and soul into making it flawless, and when they search for their domain on Google – nothings there… They can’t seem to crack the search engine!
What most people are missing is known as SEO or “Search Engine Optimization”. This is where they make their site speak Google’s language so that it will appear in search results for the right keywords (search terms).
The first thing you want to do is find out if your site truly isn’t indexed, or if it’s just your specific terms. Try typing in a site search to see if Google does have your site indexed. Simply type in “site:”yoururlhere”” to see if any results come up. If they do, you actually are in the index!
Before you go any further, a quick disclaimer: Google takes time to do things, the changes you make here can take several days, weeks, or even months before the results occur.
Let’s dive into the different reasons and fixes:
My site is brand new
If your Squarespace website is brand new – or relatively new – and you haven’t explicitly told Google about your site using Google Search Console, then it might take a while before it shows up.
Google works by “crawling” the internet. The internet is called the “web” for a reason. Websites link to one another and each site over time looks like a point in a spider web. Google jumps from link to link to discover new sites. If you just published a website and no one is linking to you, Google is simply not going to find it.
There are a couple of different approaches you can take (and you should probably do all of these) if your Squarespace site is not showing in the search results:
- Sign up for Google Search Console through this link. This is the one place where you can tell Google directly that you have a website and it should index your site. Once you have a Google Search Console account, the first step is to verify your site. Choose the “domain” setting here for verification. Once it’s setup, add your sitemap to the site. The Squarespace sitemap is located at your URL + /sitemap.xml
- Share your site on social media, through email, and get people to start clicking to your website. The Google Chrome browser shares this data with Google and is another way they can discover sites on the internet.
- Work to build links to your website. This passes authority to your site if the sites are trusted by Google, and will help you get your site crawled more frequently. Some of the ways to do this are through directories, guest posting, and by getting listed by vendors or people that you work with as a trusted resource.
My site has been up for a while and isn’t showing up in Google search results at all
This usually is indicative of a larger SEO error on your website. The error is likely that your site is set to “noindex”. In Squarespace there is a setting in the page menu that allows you to not list the page. This switch would cause the page to not show at all in searches. Flip the switch and you should be good to go.
In addition, if you don’t have any links to your site and don’t have Google Search Console set up (see the last section) you’ll need to get these going to make things happen.
My site has only a few pages showing and when I search my specific keywords isn’t ranking
Here’s where we really need to dive in and learn SEO. Let’s say your homepage is showing and you have a few other pages showing, and you’re a pet photographer in Littleton, CO. When you type in the search, “Pet photographer in Littleton, CO” from your home office, your site is still not showing.
In this case, you have quite a bit more work to do. First off, you’ll want to set up Google My Business. Check out this guide to get that going. This is likely the most important aspect.
Following this, you’ll want to start to actually implement SEO and learn how it works. Here’s an in-depth guide to seo to get your started.
As you do this, know that you are competing with other sites that are ranking for the keywords that you want. The only way to win this is to set things up correctly, continue at it over time, and know that all your efforts will eventually get you there. Getting indexed on Google Search is a great way to grow your business and land consistent clients / sales, and although it can be challenging at first, the ideas are rooted in simple logic that makes sense the more you do it!