Customers cannot find us on Google
You search for your own business, or for what you sell in your town, and other names appear. Here is why that happens and what fixes it.
A business usually fails to appear on Google for one of four reasons: it has no verified Google Business Profile, its website is not indexed, the website has no page about the thing people search for, or the name, address and phone number differ from place to place. The first two can be checked in five minutes, for free.
Check it yourself
Search your exact business name
If nothing of yours appears, Google does not know the business exists. Start with a Google Business Profile.
Type site:yourdomain.com into Google
This lists the pages Google has indexed. If the list is empty, the site is blocked or was never submitted.
Search what a customer would type
For example “guest house in Rundu”. Note who appears in the map box and who appears below it.
Compare your details
Check that your name, address and phone number are identical on your website, Facebook and Google.
The usual causes
- No Google Business Profile. The map box at the top of local results is filled from these profiles, not from websites.
- The site is not indexed. A setting left on from development can tell Google to ignore the whole site.
- No page matches the search. A home page that lists ten services in one paragraph cannot rank for any of them.
- A new domain. A new address takes time to earn a position, even when everything is right.
- Two addresses for one site. If the site is reachable at an old and a new address, Google splits its attention between them.
- Slow or broken on phones. Google reads the phone version of a site first.
Fix the cause, in order
- Set up or repair your Google Business Profile and get it verified
- Make sure Google can read and index every page, and submit a sitemap
- Redirect old addresses so all search history points at one site
- Give each service its own page, written in the words customers use
- Add structured data so Google knows your location, hours and services
- Make the name, address and phone number match everywhere
This is our search visibility service. It is quoted after we review your site, and we do not promise first place, because nobody can.
We have just done this for ourselves
When ADA moved to its own domain in October 2026, Google was still showing the old address in results. We redirected every old address to the new one and corrected the address written inside the site and its sitemap. That is the same work we do for clients, and it is why we check for duplicate addresses first.
Common questions
How long until we show on Google?
A verified Google Business Profile can appear on Google Maps soon after verification. Website pages take longer: weeks for Google to re-read a site, and months for a new site to earn a position on searches where others compete.
Is a Google Business Profile free?
Yes. Google does not charge for it. Our step-by-step guide shows how to set one up yourself.
Do we need a website to appear on Google Maps?
No, a profile alone can appear. A website gives the profile somewhere to send people, and lets you appear in the ordinary results below the map as well.
Tell us the problem. We will tell you what it takes to fix it.
Send a message, call, or use the form. You get a written scope and a price before any work starts, and there is no charge for the first conversation.