"I show up when people type my company name, but not when they search for what I do" and "I can't find my site at all" — these are the two most common complaints. They are different problems, so work out which one you have first.
First test: indexing or ranking?
Type this into Google: site:yourdomain.com
- No results at all → your site isn't in Google's index. That's an indexing problem (items 1–4).
- Pages are listed → your site is indexed but doesn't rank for the search term. That's a ranking problem (items 5–8).
1. The site is new and hasn't been crawled yet
It takes days, sometimes a few weeks, for Google to find and index a new domain. To speed it up, add and verify the site in Google Search Console, submit your sitemap.xml, and use "URL inspection → request indexing" for the homepage.
2. A "don't index me" instruction was left behind
The most common technical mistake: a noindex tag added during development, or a Disallow: / line in robots.txt, never removed after launch. Check both — whether the page source contains a robots noindex meta tag, and what yourdomain.com/robots.txt blocks.
3. No sitemap, or a broken one
sitemap.xml is the cleanest way to tell Google "these are my pages". If there isn't one it should be generated; if there is, check Search Console for errors.
4. The site is buried in JavaScript, with no HTML from the server
On sites rendered entirely in the browser, Google may see the content late or incompletely. The fix is producing pages as ready HTML on the server (prerender/SSR). If you can't see your text in the page source, take this one seriously.
5. You're expecting to rank for the wrong term
Ranking first for your own company name is normal; expecting page one for a broad, fiercely contested term is not. Narrow your target by intent + location, for example "corporate website Konya". We covered how that is built in What Is an SEO-Friendly Website?
6. There isn't enough content on the page
A three-sentence service page can't compete with a 1,500-word guide on the same topic. Each target term needs its own page that answers that term; cramming everything onto the homepage doesn't work.
7. The site is slow or broken on mobile
Google ranks based on the mobile version. A slow page that shifts around on a phone loses both position and visitors. More in Why Does Website Speed Matter?
8. The technical setup is messy
Serving both the www and non-www version, not redirecting http to https, and having the same content live at several addresses all split your strength. We summarised the basics on the domain/hosting side in What Are Domains and Hosting?
And one realistic expectation
Even on a properly built site, durable rankings are a matter of weeks to months; content and referring links accumulate over time. Don't take seriously any offer promising "page one in a week".
Where to start
Run our free SEO test to see your site's technical state — it reports title, meta description, robots.txt, sitemap, speed and mobile-friendliness in seconds. Then follow the steps in How to Do an SEO Analysis to close the gaps one by one.
If you've worked through the checklist and your site still doesn't show up, get in touch — we'll review it and tell you plainly whether the problem is indexing or ranking.