How to Find Out If Google Even Knows Your Website Exists

You’ve had your website up for a while now. Maybe it’s been a year. Maybe it’s been five. And somewhere in the back of your mind, there’s a quiet worry: Does anyone actually find me on Google?

You’re not typing your own name into Google to check anymore because, honestly, that feels pathetic. But you also don’t know if your website shows up at all. And that uncertainty? It sits there. It makes you wonder if you’re invisible, if all this effort to have a website in the first place was pointless.

Here’s the truth I want you to hear: You’re not alone in this. A lot of business owners I talk to have no idea whether Google knows they exist. They built a website because they knew they needed one. They handed it off to someone, or they built it themselves. And then they moved on to running their business, because that’s what you do. You can’t spend all day thinking about Google.

The good news is that finding out is actually easy. And if Google doesn’t know you exist yet, that’s not a failure, it’s an opportunity. Google is just waiting for the right signals.

Let me show you how to check, what the results actually mean, and what to do about it.

The Simple Way to Check If Google Knows You

This is going to sound almost too easy, and that’s because it is.

Open Google. Search for your business name. See what shows up.

But wait, I need to make sure you’re doing this right, because there’s a trick. You need to search in Incognito mode (or Private Browsing if you’re on Safari). Here’s why: Google tracks what you search for and what you click on. If you’ve clicked on your own website a hundred times, Google remembers that. It will show you different results than a person who’s never heard of you would see.

So: Incognito window. Google search. Your business name. What appears?

Now search for a specific service you offer. If you’re a coach who works with women in midlife transition, search “midlife transition coach near [your city]” or whatever feels natural. What comes up?

This is the real test. This is what a potential client would actually search for.

What You’re Looking For (And What It Means)

Here’s what different outcomes tell you:

Your business name appears at the top of Google, congratulations, Google definitely knows you exist. You have basic visibility.

Your business name appears somewhere on the first page, Google knows you exist and trusts you enough to include you. That’s solid.

Your business name doesn’t appear at all, Google hasn’t indexed you yet, or there are other businesses with your name that Google thinks are more relevant. This is fixable.

Your service + location doesn’t appear on the first page, you’re not competing yet in local search. This is the bigger opportunity.

Now, here’s the thing: many women find that their business name shows up fine, but nobody’s actually searching for their business name. People don’t search “Beth Riegger’s Web Design.” They search “website designer for coaches near me.” Or they just browse. Or they get referred.

So the real question isn’t always “does Google know my name?” It’s “does Google know what I do and where to find me?”

How Google Finds Out You Exist (In Plain English)

You don’t need to understand all the technical details here. But it helps to know the basics.

Google discovers your website through a process called crawling. Google has little robots (called crawlers or spiders, honestly, which is delightful) that follow links around the internet. When they find your website, they read it. They look at what you say about yourself, what pages you have, what other websites link to yours. They also look at your website speed, whether it works on mobile, whether it’s secure (HTTPS).

Then they index you. That means they add you to their giant catalog.

Finally, they rank you. When someone searches for something, Google decides which websites are most relevant and trustworthy, and shows those first.

The beautiful part is this: Google wants to find you. It wants to add you to its index. Google’s entire business model depends on giving people accurate, helpful results. You’re not competing against Google. You’re giving Google information so it can do its job better.

The Things That Help Google Find You Faster

In my experience, the biggest missed opportunity is that many women solopreneurs have websites that are invisible to Google because nobody told Google about them.

Tell Google you exist, You can do this for free using Google Search Console. It’s a tool Google provides specifically so you can communicate with them. You don’t need to be technical to use it. You can literally upload a file to your website or add a line of code that tells Google “hey, I’m here, please come take a look.” I walk clients through this when we work together on their website visibility.

Make sure your website is actually scannable, Your website needs to be built with proper structure. That means headings are actual headings, not just big text. It means your pages have clear titles and descriptions. It means your website doesn’t rely entirely on fancy graphics or videos to tell your story. Google can’t read inside a beautiful photo. But Google can read words.

Get other websites to link to you, If you’ve been quoted in an article, interviewed on someone’s podcast, or mentioned as a recommended resource, ask them to link to you. These are called backlinks, and they tell Google “other people think this is legitimate and useful.” You don’t need hundreds. A few quality links are worth more than a thousand random ones. Guest posting, being a resource in your community, collaborating with other service providers, getting mentioned in a local business directory, these are all link opportunities.

Use the words your clients actually use, If you call yourself a “confidence architect” but your clients search for “self-esteem coach,” you’ve created a language mismatch. Google can only match you to searches that use similar language. This isn’t about keyword stuffing or gaming the system. It’s about speaking the same language your actual clients speak. What do they call their problem? What words do they use when they’re searching for help? Sprinkle those words naturally throughout your website.

Make sure your website loads fast, I’m not exaggerating when I say this matters. If your website takes 5 seconds to load, Google ranks it lower. If it takes 2 seconds, Google likes it better. If you’re on a cheap hosting provider or your website has a thousand unoptimized images, this is an opportunity to improve. Fast websites aren’t just better for Google, they’re better for actual humans visiting you. People leave slow websites. They just do.

Update your website regularly, You don’t need to overhaul it every week. But if your website hasn’t been touched in three years, Google notices. It doesn’t think “oh, this is old, I should rank it lower.” But it does notice when websites are actively maintained. Adding a blog post every few weeks, updating your services or testimonials, refreshing your homepage, these signal to Google that you’re still here, still active, still relevant. This is also an opportunity to use those client-friendly keywords we just talked about.

This Isn’t As Scary As It Sounds

If you’re reading this thinking “oh no, I haven’t done any of this,” stop. Take a breath.

Every single website starts somewhere. Google didn’t find me overnight. When I first put up a website, it took months for Google to really know who I was and what I did. That’s not a failure. That’s how it works.

The beautiful thing about being a solopreneur is that you don’t need to compete with Amazon or Walmart or a huge corporation. You’re competing in your local market, in your specific niche. You probably only need a handful of people to find you every month to have a thriving business. That’s not a huge ask.

The other beautiful thing is that most of your competitors aren’t doing this stuff either. They have websites that are invisible to Google. So there’s actually a real opportunity here. If you get even just a little bit intentional about being findable, you can stand out.

And here’s the reality: Google doesn’t care if your website is pretty. Google cares if it’s useful and trustworthy. This means you don’t have to choose between a website that looks like you and a website that actually works. You can have both. The best websites are the ones that look professional, sound like you, load fast, and clearly explain what you do and who you help. That’s it.

What To Do If Google Doesn’t Know You Yet

If you just ran those searches and your heart sank a little because nothing showed up, I want you to know that this is completely fixable.

First, make sure your website is actually live and accessible. I know that sounds basic, but I’ve seen it happen. Sometimes a website gets put up and then somehow the hosting lapses, or it’s accidentally set to private. Check that people can actually visit your site.

Second, claim your website in Google Search Console. This is free. You go to search.google.com/search-console, sign in with a Google account (Gmail counts), and add your website. Google will ask you to verify that you own it. Don’t be intimidated. The verification process is actually straightforward. Once you do it, you can see what Google knows about your website and manually ask Google to crawl it.

Third, add your business to Google Business Profile if you serve local clients. This is the thing that shows up on the right side of Google when someone searches “coaches near me.” It’s free, it takes 15 minutes, and it’s one of the fastest ways to become findable on Google.

Fourth, look at your website structure. Are your services listed on a clear Services page? Is your About section easy to find? Does your homepage tell someone immediately what you do and who you help? If you built your website yourself and it’s been a while, this might be a good time to do an audit or get some fresh eyes on it.

None of this requires you to become a tech expert. It doesn’t require you to understand algorithms or SEO jargon. It just requires you to think like a potential client for a minute. If someone was looking for you, where would they look? Is your website helping them get there?

The Long Game

Here’s something I want you to understand about Google: unlike a fairytale, the magic continues past midnight. You don’t get ranked once and then relax. Google is constantly re-evaluating websites based on what’s happening. A competitor might start blogging and suddenly rank higher than you. Or you might start showing up for a search term you’ve never heard of.

This is actually good news. It means your website is alive. It means Google is watching. It means that if you put in work to help Google understand who you are and what you do, you’ll see results. Not overnight. But over time.

In my experience, most solopreneurs who do just a few of these things see real movement in their Google visibility within 3-6 months. Not hundreds of new clients overnight. But more inquiries. Better inquiries. People who actually know they need what you do.

And that changes everything.

The goal isn’t to become obsessed with Google rankings. The goal is to be findable when the right person is looking for you. To have a website that works as hard as you do. To spend less time wondering if anyone can find you and more time actually helping the people who do.

Frequently Asked Questions

How long does it take for Google to find my website?

Google can find and index a brand new website pretty quickly, sometimes within days. But ranking well for specific searches usually takes a few weeks to a few months. It depends on how competitive your market is and how many signals you’re sending Google about what you do. Be patient, but also be intentional.

Do I need to pay Google to be found?

Nope. Organic search (the free results) is completely free to participate in. You can also pay Google for ads if you want to show up at the very top, but that’s a different strategy and costs money. The organic results that come from helping Google understand your website, that’s free forever.

What if my website is really old and hasn’t been updated in years?

That’s actually an opportunity. An old website usually has outdated information, slower loading, and doesn’t reflect who you are now. But all of that is fixable. Sometimes a refresh or a redesign is exactly what’s needed to help Google (and humans) see you more clearly.

Is it too late to start showing up on Google if I’ve been invisible for years?

Absolutely not. Google doesn’t hold grudges. It doesn’t care that nobody found you for the last three years. It cares about what’s true right now. Make the updates, claim your profile, tell Google you’re here, and you’ll start seeing movement. I’ve watched this happen with clients again and again.

If your website no longer feels like you, let’s talk about it – Book a Free Website Clarity Call with Beth →