Why Can’t I Find My Business on Google

We all know that the Internet is one of the most powerful tools that your business could leverage. After all, it is most likely the first tool that you use in order to learn more information about something.

A large number of issues can arise, though, if your audience is not able to find your business on Google. Let’s explore a few of the most common reasons you might be asking “why can’t I find my business on Google?”

You Don’t Focus on Local SEO

Many times, customers utilise Google in order to find a business that is located near them. This is especially true when it comes to brick-and-mortar locations that they would like to visit.

For example, let’s assume that you own a restaurant in Los Angeles, California that focuses on providing authentic Mexican cuisine.

People might search “Mexican restaurant Los Angeles” or “Mexican food LA” on Google in order to find what they’re looking for. If none of your content includes local keywords (which in this case could be ’Southern California,’ ‘Los Angeles,’ etc.), you’re putting yourself at a large disadvantage.

If your business operates within a highly competitive industry, it will be even harder for you to show up on Google because most of your competitors will likely be focusing on local SEO. So, keep this in mind if you aren’t ranking on Google how you would like to.

You’re Targeting the Wrong Keywords

Regardless of whether or not you incorporate local keywords, you need to ensure that you are targeting the right keywords overall. In order to do so, you’ll need to have a thorough understanding of your target demographic.

This means that you need to consider attributes like:

• Level of education
• Annual income
• Primary languages
• Geographic location/time zone
• Hobbies/interests

The more you understand your audience, the easier it will be for you to predict how they will search on Google. Using the above restaurant example, you would go much further by targeting the keyword ‘Mexican food’ as opposed to ‘Los Angeles restaurant.’

Your Website Loads Slowly

Unfortunately, having a website that loads slowly can easily lower your ranking on Google. This is true even if the pages of your site take four or five seconds to load.

The reason this occurs is due to a metric known as your website’s bounce rate. Google uses the statistic in order to determine the relevance and quality of the content on your website. If people are immediately leaving your website after arriving at it, this tells Google that your content is either of a low-quality, irrelevant, or both.

So, it’s in your best interest to prioritise how quickly your website loads. To get started, you can consider strategies like:

• Compressing image files
• Caching your pages
• Minimising HTTP requests

When you handle this obligation correctly, you will likely be surprised at how much you are able to reduce the load times of your website.

You Have Not Incorporated Proper Mobile Formatting

Similar to how you need to focus on the loading speed of your website, you also need to consider how it is formatted for mobile devices. Considering that nearly 75% of Internet users will primarily browse with mobile devices by 2025, this is a responsibility that simply can’t be avoided.

As previously mentioned, this can increase your bounce rate metric and lower your ranking on Google.

However, people may also simply find your site unpleasant to use. This could also easily cause damage to your brand’s reputation and result in them purchasing from a competitor instead.

This is, of course, if they can find your site in the first place.

So, you will need to ensure that your text appears correctly, buttons and widgets are easy to use on a smartphone, etc. Additionally, it’s also essential for the mobile version of your website to retain core functionality so that people can actually use it.

This is particularly true for things like online stores.

You Haven’t Created a Google My Business Account

Although this is a factor that many entrepreneurs commonly overlook, creating a Google My Business account comes with a large number of benefits. Most prominently, it can drastically help you improve your local search optimisation.

When you search for a particular product, service, or business name, a company with a Google My Business account will appear in the search results in a field that is separate from conventional results. These are located at the top of the page and will be the first thing that the user sees.

This will also allow you to establish the location of your business on Google Maps. Since both of these attributes are so important to ranking highly on the search engine, foregoing this opportunity could easily result in you being unable to find your business on Google.

So, Why Can’t I Find My Business on Google?

While there are plenty of scenarios that could play a role, the above information details some of the most common. If you still find yourself asking “why can’t I find my business on Google,” it’s best to get in touch with a professional to see what steps you need to take next.

Want to learn more about what Polka Dot Marketing has to offer? Feel free to reach out to us today and see how we can help.