You’ve got a gorgeous new website all ready to go, and you should be excited! It’s launched in its permanent home, and you immediately go search for it on Google. Here’s the problem… it’s not showing up!! Unfortunately, many people don’t understand the Google Ranking process and how long it may take for a new site to show in search results.

For many business owners or operators of organizations, the Kevin Costner “Field of Dreams” philosophy applies. The assumption is that “If you build it, they will come.”

Contrary to popular opinion, this is not always the case. The myth is that Google indexes all sites on a constant basis and that the Google search results are constantly updating. What many people don’t realize is that the Google index process only occurs periodically. Google is not constantly crawling the web looking for new content. It can sometimes take days or even weeks for your brand new site to show up. Honestly, you have very little control over when this will happen, but there are a few things you can do to help.

Speeding Up the Google Ranking Process

There are some tricks that will help Google index your site more quickly. Here are a few tips that may help, some gleaned from a helpful article I found on the subject:

Encourage Traffic to the New Site

If Google sees that a new site has a lot of popularity, it will be more likely to index it. Use social media to announce the new site, publish it on your business cards, use email marketing, and get people interested in going to the site. You could extend a special offer to new site visitors. Whatever you do, get people to go to your site!

Submit a Searchmap

to Google Search Console. This will help alert Google that you’re live and open for business.

Start using Google Analytics

Not only will this help you know who visits your site and from where, it’s another way to give Google a heads up that you’re out there.

Ask Others to Link to Your Site

Another thing that most people don’t realize is that Google decides page ranking (the order that your site shows up in search engine results) partly based on backlinks. Simply speaking, a backlink is a link from any outside site to yours. Links within your site from one page to another don’t count. If you belong to professional associations with websites, have colleagues with whom you network, or are affiliated with something like the Better Business Bureau, ask those site owners to provide a link from their sites to yours. Be sure to return the favor by linking back to those sites, as well!

Add Content to Your Site

Google LOVES brand new content. Blogging regularly is the best way to keep content on your site fresh and keep the Google Index “spiders” crawling your site on a regular basis. Add articles, link to related content from other sites, or update your services and biography regularly. These are all great ways to get Google indexing your site and coming back for more.

If you’ve just launched a brand new site and it’s not showing up on Google right away, be patient. It’s not an instant process! The Google ranking process takes a little while, but it will happen, especially if you follow the tips above. So make sure Google is happy, and keep swimming along!