Does my website appear on Google Search?
Understanding SEO
Time to complete:
7 minutes
In another lesson, we learned about how Google Search works. We learned how Google finds your website through a discovery process called crawling, organizes it through a process called indexing, and, finally, presents it to your potential customers through a process called ranking.
It sounds simple enough, but you may be wondering how you can be sure that Google has crawled and indexed your website. That’s what we’ll cover in this lesson. We’ll also teach you how a tool called Google Search Console can help you see the ways Google and users are finding your website.
See if your site appears on Google Search
Instead of just running searches for your business name or products to see if your website appears in the search results, you can refine your search query on Google specifically to see if your website has been indexed. Ready to give it a try?
- Go to google.com.
- In the search box, type site: followed by your website address. For example, if your website address was googlebotfashion.com, you’d type in site:googlebotfashion.com.
What you’re doing with this special search is telling Google that you only want to see results from your specific website.
If your website appears in the search results:
Great! This means that Google knows your website exists and has already put some of your pages into its index. Now, take a look at the results that have come back - are the descriptions you’re seeing accurate and precise? Do they show what your website really offers? If not, there’s room to improve your search results by editing your page titles and descriptions, which we’ll explore in a future lesson.
If your website does not appear in the search results:
Not to worry! If Google has not discovered your website yet, you can submit it directly to Google for indexing. You can do this using a free tool called Google Search Console. In the video below, we’ll learn even more about what Search Console can do for you. If your website is built on an e-commerce or website builder platform (like Shopify, Squarespace, Wix, Weebly, etc.), you can discover their recommended tips and ways to verify yourself on Search Console and manage other aspects of organic search on Google’s help center.
Get started with Google Search Console
Google Search Console is a powerful tool that can answer a lot of your questions around your website and Google search. For example, you can find out:
- How many users visit your website from search?
- What search terms did they use to find your website?
- How does your website look on Google search?
Plus, if your website has not yet been discovered or indexed by Google, you’ll be able to let Google know about your website.
Interested? Visit Google Search Console to get started.
In order to use Search Console, you’ll need to prove that you are the owner of your website. This is an important step to make sure that only you have access to data about your website. After all, you wouldn’t want just anyone to be able to claim ownership of your website! To prove ownership, you’ll be given a few options. For example, you could upload a file or add a tag to your website to show you have control over the website or you could link to your Google Analytics or Tag Manager account, if you have those set up.
Does this all sound too technical or overwhelming? Talk to the person who developed your website or consider hiring an SEO specialist. Our lesson on hiring an SEO specialist can help you understand what to look for.
TAKE ACTION
Check if your website appears on Google Search
Making sure that Google has crawled and indexed your website is an important first step in your SEO efforts.
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Go to google.com.
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In the search box, type site: followed by your website address.
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If your website appears, you’re all set. If not, submit your website directly to Google using Google Search Console.