Check how your site shows up in search

You have a website, but you’re not sure whether it shows up when people search. This guide walks you through a simple checkup: searching for yourself, connecting your site to Google’s and Bing’s free tools for website owners, and checking the basics that matter most. At the end you’ll have a short list of what to fix first.

Before you start

• Your website address, and the login for the tool that runs your site.
• A Google account for the business, and a Microsoft account if you want to add Bing too.
• Your phone, so you can check how your site looks on a small screen.
• A notepad or document to write down what you find.
• About an hour, then a quick look once a month.

Want to do it yourself?

Difficulty

6 out of 10

Estimated completion time

1–2 hours, plus ownership verification and indexing waits

Skills you’ll need: Verify site ownership, read search reports, and edit page titles and descriptions. Technical indexing faults may need help.

I’ll do it myselfI’d rather get help

How this helps your brand

Checking indexing, page titles, and phone usability helps identify barriers between a search and your website. Fixing those barriers gives customers a better chance to find accurate information and use your contact route.

1. 1

   Step 1: Search for yourself like a customer would

   Open a private or incognito window, so your own browsing history doesn’t change the results. Search for your business name, then for what you do and where, like “dog groomer in Bristol”.

   Write down what you see: whether your site appears, what the title and short description under it say, whether your Google Business Profile shows, and which competitors come up instead. Do the same on Bing.

   Tip: Search results vary by location and device, so don’t worry about your exact position. You’re looking for obvious problems, like your site not appearing at all for your own name.

   Illustrated exampleTurn a search result into a useful checkup note

   Example searchWillow Dog Grooming Bristol

   willowgrooming.example

   1Home

   2Welcome to our website. We offer a range of services to suit your needs.

   Illustrated search result

   The site appears

   The web address belongs to this business.

   1 The title is vague

   “Home” doesn’t say what the business offers or where.

   2 The summary is generic

   Write down that grooming and Bristol are missing.

   Your checkup note: “Found by name. Improve the home page title and description.”

2. 2

   Step 2: Set up Google Search Console

   Google Search Console is a free tool from Google that shows how your site appears in Google Search, which searches bring people to you, and any problems Google found. It doesn’t change your site or your ranking by itself. It tells you what Google sees.

   Search for “Google Search Console”, sign in with your business Google account, and add your website. Google will ask you to prove you own it. Many site builders have a simple way to connect it, so search your builder’s help pages for “Google Search Console” first.

   Once it’s connected, find the sitemaps section and add your sitemap. A sitemap is a list of your pages that most site builders create for you, often at yourbusiness.com/sitemap.xml.

   Tip: A new site or newly connected account can take a few days to show any data. Come back in a week if it looks empty.

3. 3

   Step 3: Add your site to Bing Webmaster Tools

   Bing Webmaster Tools is Microsoft’s version of the same thing. Bing results also feed into other services, so it’s worth the extra ten minutes.

   Search for “Bing Webmaster Tools” and sign in. It usually offers to import your site straight from Google Search Console, which is the quickest way to set it up.

4. 4

   Step 4: Check your pages are indexed

   Indexed means a search engine has read a page and stored it, so it can show it in results. A page that isn’t indexed can’t appear in search at all.

   In Search Console, look for the report on pages or indexing. It shows how many pages are indexed and why others aren’t. You can also paste one page’s address into the inspection box at the top to check just that page.

   • If your main pages show as indexed, good. Move on.
   • If they say something like “excluded by noindex tag”, your site may be set to hide from search engines. Look for that setting in your site builder and switch it off.
   • If a page is “discovered” or “crawled” but not indexed yet, give it time, and make sure the page has useful content and is linked from your menu or other pages.

   Tip: Search Console’s report names and wording change from time to time. If something here doesn’t match what you see, search Google Search Central’s help pages for the message you’re shown.

   Illustrated exampleThree indexing messages, three different next steps

   Example page inspectionCheck the message, then choose a next step

   1. Home · /Indexed
      Move on to the basicsThis page can appear in search. Check its title and how it works on a phone.
   2. Services · /groomingExcluded by noindex tag
      Check the hide-from-search settingIf this page should be public in search, switch that setting off in your site builder.
   3. About · /aboutDiscovered, not indexed
      Check links and content; allow timeLink to it from your menu or another page, make the content useful, and check again later.

   Being indexed makes a page eligible to appear. It doesn’t promise a search position.

5. 5

   Step 5: Check titles, descriptions, phones, and speed

   These basics affect whether people click on you and stay once they arrive.

   • Titles: each page should have its own title saying what it offers and where, not “Home” or “Untitled”.
   • Descriptions: each main page should have a one- or two-sentence summary that makes someone want to click. Google may show its own instead, and that’s normal.
   • Phones: open your site on your phone. Text should be readable without zooming, buttons easy to tap, and your phone number one tap away.
   • Speed: if pages feel slow on your phone, the usual cause is very large photos. Search for Google’s free PageSpeed Insights tool and try your home page. Focus on its biggest suggestions, not the exact score.
6. 6

   Step 6: Fix the biggest problems first

   Go back over your notes and pick no more than three things to fix this month. Work in this order, because each one matters more than the next:

   • Your site or main pages aren’t indexed, or are hidden from search engines.
   • Your site is hard to use on a phone.
   • Main pages have missing, duplicate, or unclear titles.
   • Your services aren’t described clearly in the words customers use.
   • Pages are slow because of large images.

   Tip: Be wary of anyone who emails you offering to “get you to number one on Google”. Nobody can promise that. Google’s own advice is free on Google Search Central.

Please help me understand a checkup of how my website shows up in search, and decide what to fix first. I’m not technical, so explain everything in plain English.

My website: [yourbusiness.com]
What I do and where: [what you do, and your town or area]
My site is built with: [your site builder or AI tool]
What I saw when I searched for my business: [what appeared, and what didn’t]
What Google Search Console shows: [paste any messages or numbers from the indexing or pages report]
How my site feels on a phone: [easy to use, or what’s hard]
PageSpeed Insights suggestions: [paste the main suggestions, if you ran it]
My current page titles: [paste the titles of your main pages]

Please:
1. Explain what each Search Console message means, in one or two sentences.
2. Tell me the three most important things to fix first, and why.
3. For each one, give me the steps in my site builder, or tell me what to search for in its official help pages instead of guessing.
4. Suggest better page titles for any that are unclear.

Don’t promise rankings, and don’t suggest tricks that go against Google’s or Bing’s guidelines.