Why isn't my Wix or Squarespace site showing up on Google? Check these first.

It's usually one of four things: Google hasn't been told your site exists, a setting is hiding it, your pages don't say enough to rank, or nothing links to it. You can check all four in under an hour, before deciding whether the platform is holding you back.

Six staples and a paper clip

One slow day at Coast Guard boot camp, we spent a couple of hours searching a football field for 6 staples and a paper clip.

We found every one. It took forever, because nobody knew where to look, so we covered every inch of grass.

A brand-new website gets similar treatment from Google. It turns up eventually, after a lot of looking. Telling Google exactly where to look speeds that up.

1. Find out if Google has your site at all

Go to Google and search site:yourdomain.com (with your real domain).

If pages come up, Google has indexed your site, and your problem is ranking. Skip to step 4.

If nothing comes up, Google hasn't added your site yet. Keep going.

2. Make sure a setting isn't hiding your site

Sites often get hidden while they're being built, and nobody switches them back.

Wix: In your dashboard, go to SEO & GEO, open SEO Settings under Tools and settings, and make sure the "Let search engines index your site" toggle is on (Wix Help Center). Individual pages have their own "Let search engines index this page" toggle too.

Squarespace: Go to Settings, then Site Availability, and make sure it's set to Public. Setting a site to Private, or to Password Protected, keeps it away from search engines, and hidden content eventually drops out of search results (Collaborada, updated July 2024). Also check the SEO settings on your main pages for a hide-from-search option.

3. Tell Google where to look

Set up Google Search Console. It's free. Verify your domain, then submit your sitemap. Wix and Squarespace both create one automatically at yourdomain.com/sitemap.xml. Google calls a sitemap an important way to discover the URLs on your site, and says it can be very helpful if you just launched (Google Search Central).

Then use the URL Inspection tool on your homepage and your main service page, and click Request Indexing for each. Requesting the same URL more than once won't speed it up, so one request per page is enough.

4. Give your pages something to rank for

A services page that says "Cleaning. Repairs. Installations." gives Google nothing to match to a search.

Each main service needs its own words: what it is, who it's for, where you do it, and how it works. Put your city name in the page text, not only in a logo or banner image.

5. Get a few links pointing to your site

Google says it primarily finds pages through links from pages it has already crawled, often other websites linking to yours (Google SEO Starter Guide). Start with the links you control: the website field on your Google Business Profile, your Facebook page, Yelp, industry directories, and your local chamber of commerce.

When the platform is part of the problem

If all five checks look good and you're still missing after a few months, the platform may be limiting you. Wix and Squarespace both restrict some of the technical work that helps with AI search visibility. I cover the specific limits for Wix and Squarespace.