If your website does not appear in Google at all, the cause is almost always one of a small number of things, and most are quick to check. This is a different problem from ranking poorly, and it is worth separating the two before doing any SEO work.
First, confirm it is actually not indexed
Search site:yourdomain.co.za in Google. This lists what is indexed from your domain.
- Nothing returned: the site is genuinely not indexed. Continue below.
- Some pages returned: the site is indexed and the problem is ranking, not indexing.
- The homepage only: indexing is partial, usually a crawling or internal linking problem.
Not appearing for a competitive search term is not the same as not being indexed. Confirm which situation you are in before proceeding.
The causes, in order of how often they apply
1. A noindex directive is present
The most common cause by a wide margin, and the fastest to check. In WordPress, Settings then Reading has a Search Engine Visibility checkbox that does this site-wide. It is routinely enabled during development and left on at launch.
- Check that setting first if you are on WordPress.
- Check the page source for a robots meta tag containing noindex.
- Check the HTTP response headers for an
X-Robots-Tag, which is invisible in page source. - Detail under noindex tag issues.
2. robots.txt is blocking everything
A Disallow: / rule prevents crawling of the entire site. Visit yourdomain.co.za/robots.txt and read it. This is also frequently carried over from a staging configuration.
3. The site is genuinely new
A brand new domain with no links pointing at it may simply not have been discovered. Discovery is not instant and there is nothing wrong.
- Verify the site in Search Console, which itself aids discovery.
- Submit a sitemap.
- Get at least one link from an indexed site, which is the most reliable accelerator.
- Allow a few weeks before treating it as a fault.
4. The site is not reachable
Server errors, DNS problems or aggressive firewall rules can prevent crawling entirely. Use URL Inspection in Search Console and attempt a live test, which shows what Google actually receives.
5. Content requires JavaScript that fails
Where the page returns an empty shell and content loads client-side, there may be nothing to index. Compare rendered HTML against raw HTML.
6. A manual action
Rare, and Search Console reports it explicitly under Manual Actions. If nothing is listed there, this is not your cause.
A diagnostic order that resolves most cases in minutes
- Run the
site:search to confirm the scope of the problem. - Check the WordPress Search Engine Visibility setting.
- Read robots.txt.
- Check response headers for X-Robots-Tag.
- Use URL Inspection on the homepage and read the coverage state.
- Check Manual Actions.
- Only then consider content or authority explanations.
Frequently asked questions
How long should a new site take to appear?
Days to a few weeks with a verified property, a sitemap and at least one inbound link. Longer where the site is entirely unlinked, since discovery depends on being found.
Will submitting to Search Console fix it?
It helps with discovery but does not override a directive. If a noindex or robots.txt block is present, submission changes nothing until that is removed.
Only my homepage is indexed. Why?
Usually internal linking or crawl capacity. If deeper pages are reachable only through JavaScript navigation or are not linked at all, they may not be crawled. See Google not crawling your website.
How quickly does removing a noindex work?
Pages return as they are recrawled, typically days for the homepage and important pages, longer for deeper ones.
Consulting CTA
If your site is not indexed and directive checks have not explained it, book an SEO consultation for a crawl and indexation review.