Why Nobody’s Visiting Your Website (And How to Fix It)

Chandra Kant Budhalakoti

February 19, 2026

Why Nobody’s Visiting Your Website (And How to Fix It)

You launched your website. You told your friends. You posted on social media.

Then… nothing. The analytics show single digits. Maybe double digits on a good day. But mostly silence.

Here’s the truth:

Google doesn’t know you exist.

You assumed search engines would just “find” your website. They don’t . Not automatically. Not quickly. Not without help. And they definitely don’t prioritise it without proper signals.

Most websites are invisible, not because they’re bad, but because the fundamentals were skipped.

This guide walks you through everything that actually moves the needle. Every tool. Every setup. Every technical foundation you need to make your website visible.

Let’s fix this.

Part 1: Google Search Console (Non-Negotiable)

If you do nothing else, do this.

Google Search Console is how you tell Google your site exists. It’s also how you monitor what’s working and what’s broken.

Without Search Console:

  • Google might take weeks (or months) to discover your site
  • You won’t know which pages are indexed
  • You won’t know what keywords you're ranking for
  • You won’t see crawl errors
  • You’re flying blind

With Search Console:

  • You submit your sitemap directly
  • You see which pages are indexed
  • You discover which search queries bring traffic
  • You catch technical errors early
  • You make data-backed decisions

How to Set It Up

Step 1: Go to Google Search Console

Visit: https://search.google.com/search-console

Sign in with your Google account.

Step 2: Add Your Property

Click “Add Property” and choose:

  • URL Prefix (easier): Enter full URL (https://yoursite.com)
  • Domain (more comprehensive): Enter just your domain (yoursite.com)

Step 3: Verify Ownership

Google needs proof you own the site. Options include:

  • HTML file upload
  • HTML meta tag
  • DNS record
  • Google Analytics
  • Google Tag Manager

For most people, the HTML meta tag is easiest:

<meta name="google-site-verification" content="your-verification-code">

Add it to your <head> section.

Step 4: Submit Your Sitemap

Go to “Sitemaps” in the left menu.

Submit: https://yoursite.com/sitemap.xml

Step 5: Wait and Monitor

Initial indexing can take a few days. Check the “Pages” report weekly at first.


What to Monitor in Search Console

Coverage Report

  • How many pages are indexed?
  • Are pages excluded?
  • Are there crawl errors?

Performance Report

  • Which queries bring traffic?
  • Average ranking position?
  • Click-through rate (CTR)?
  • Top-performing pages?

Core Web Vitals

  • Is your site fast?
  • Layout shift issues?
  • Mobile vs desktop performance?

Check weekly at first. Monthly once stable.


Part 2: Bing Webmaster Tools (Underrated Advantage)

“But nobody uses Bing.”

Wrong.

Bing has roughly 10% global search market share. That’s hundreds of millions of searches daily.

It also powers:

  • Yahoo search
  • DuckDuckGo
  • Alexa voice search

Less competition = easier wins.

How to Set It Up

Step 1: Go to Bing Webmaster Tools

Visit: https://bing.com/webmasters

Step 2: Import from Google (Easiest)

Click “Import” and connect your Google Search Console account.

It imports your sitemap automatically.

Step 3: Or Add Manually

  • Click “Add your site manually”
  • Enter URL
  • Verify ownership
  • Submit sitemap

Step 4: Enable IndexNow

Inside Bing Webmaster Tools:

  • Go to “Configure My Site”
  • Find “IndexNow”
  • Generate API key
  • Follow setup instructions

What to Monitor in Bing

  • Search performance (clicks, impressions, CTR)
  • SEO reports (built-in auditing)
  • Crawl information
  • IndexNow activity

Part 3: IndexNow (Instant Indexing)

Normally, you publish a page and wait.

With IndexNow, you notify search engines immediately.

Instead of waiting to be discovered, you say:

“Hey, I just published something. Come index it.”

Supported by:

  • Bing
  • Yandex
  • Seznam
  • Naver
  • (Google is reportedly testing)

How It Works

  1. Publish or update page
  2. Send ping to IndexNow API
  3. Search engines get notified
  4. They crawl almost immediately

Setup Steps

Step 1: Generate API Key

Any string works (UUID recommended).

Step 2: Create Key File

Create {your-api-key}.txt

Upload to site root:

https://yoursite.com/your-api-key.txt

Step 3: Ping When Publishing

GET example:

https://api.indexnow.org/indexnow?url=https://yoursite.com/new-page&key=YOUR_KEY

Or POST multiple URLs.

Step 4: Automate It

  • WordPress plugin
  • Next.js build hook
  • Vercel deploy hook
  • Cloudflare integration

Use when:

  • Publishing new pages
  • Updating content
  • Launching site
  • Major metadata changes

Don’t spam it.


Part 4: Sitemaps

A sitemap is an XML file listing your pages.

Without it:

Search engines must discover pages by crawling links. They may miss important pages.

With it:

Search engines know exactly what exists.

Basic XML Structure

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<urlset>
  <url>
    <loc>https://yoursite.com/</loc>
    <lastmod>2024-01-15</lastmod>
    <changefreq>weekly</changefreq>
    <priority>1.0</priority>
  </url>
</urlset>

Elements

  • loc (required)
  • lastmod (recommended)
  • changefreq (optional)
  • priority (optional)

How to Create

Automatic:

  • Next.js → next-sitemap
  • WordPress → Yoast / Rank Math
  • Gatsby → gatsby-plugin-sitemap
  • Hugo → built-in
  • Webflow → automatic

Location:

https://yoursite.com/sitemap.xml

Submit to:

  • Google Search Console
  • Bing Webmaster Tools

Best Practices:

  • Under 50,000 URLs per sitemap
  • Under 50MB
  • Use sitemap index for large sites
  • Only include canonical URLs

Part 5: Robots.txt

Controls what search engines can crawl.

Location:

https://yoursite.com/robots.txt

Basic Example:

User-agent: *
Allow: /
Sitemap: https://yoursite.com/sitemap.xml

Block directories:

Disallow: /admin/
Disallow: /api/
Disallow: /private/

What to Block

  • Admin panels
  • API endpoints
  • Duplicate pages
  • Staging environments
  • Internal files

What NOT to Block

  • CSS
  • JavaScript
  • Main content
  • Images
  • Sitemap

Common Mistake

User-agent: *
Disallow: /

This blocks your entire site.

Test robots.txt inside Search Console before deploying.


Part 6: Meta Tags

Meta tags tell search engines what your page is about.

Title Tag

Most important ranking factor.

<title>Your Keyword – Compelling Hook</title>

Best practices:

  • Under 60 characters
  • Include primary keyword
  • Unique per page
  • Keywords first

Meta Description

<meta name="description" content="Compelling summary with call to action.">

Best practices:

  • Under 160 characters
  • Unique per page
  • Clear value proposition
  • Include keywords naturally

Canonical Tag

<link rel="canonical" href="https://yoursite.com/page">

Use when:

  • Multiple URLs show same content
  • HTTP and HTTPS versions
  • Duplicate content

Meta Robots

<meta name="robots" content="index, follow">

Options:

  • index / noindex
  • follow / nofollow
  • noarchive

Viewport

<meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">

Essential for mobile responsiveness.


Part 7: Open Graph & Twitter Tags

Control how links appear when shared.

Open Graph

<meta property="og:title" content="Page Title">
<meta property="og:description" content="Description">
<meta property="og:image" content="https://yoursite.com/image.png">
<meta property="og:url" content="https://yoursite.com">
<meta property="og:type" content="website">

Image size:

  • Recommended: 1200x630
  • Minimum: 600x315
  • Under 8MB

Twitter Card

<meta name="twitter:card" content="summary_large_image">
<meta name="twitter:title" content="Title">
<meta name="twitter:description" content="Description">
<meta name="twitter:image" content="https://yoursite.com/image.png">

Test using:

  • Facebook Debugger
  • Twitter Card Validator
  • LinkedIn Post Inspector

Common mistakes:

  • Missing og:image
  • Wrong image size
  • HTTP instead of HTTPS
  • Caching issues

Part 8: Site Speed

Google uses speed as a ranking factor.

Core Web Vitals

Largest Contentful Paint (LCP)

  • Good: Under 2.5s

Interaction to Next Paint (INP)

  • Good: Under 100ms

Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS)

  • Good: Under 0.1

Test With

  • PageSpeed Insights
  • Lighthouse
  • WebPageTest

Fixes

Images:

  • Compress
  • Use WebP or AVIF
  • Lazy load
  • Specify dimensions

JavaScript:

  • Minify
  • Defer non-critical scripts
  • Remove unused code
  • Code split

CSS:

  • Minify
  • Inline critical CSS
  • Remove unused styles

Hosting:

  • Use CDN
  • Enable caching
  • Use HTTP/2 or HTTP/3
  • Fast hosting (Vercel, Netlify, Cloudflare)

Fonts:

  • Use system fonts when possible
  • Preload important fonts
  • Use font-display: swap
  • Subset fonts

Part 9: Mobile Optimization

Google uses mobile-first indexing.

Your mobile version must:

  • Match desktop content
  • Load fast
  • Be usable

Common Issues

Text too small:

  • Base font ≥ 16px
  • Line height ≥ 1.5

Tap targets too small:

  • Buttons ≥ 48x48px
  • Adequate spacing

Content wider than screen:

  • Use responsive design
  • Avoid fixed widths

Viewport not set:

Must include meta viewport tag.

Avoid intrusive interstitials:

  • No blocking popups
  • Use banners instead

Part 10: Ongoing SEO

SEO is not one-time.

Weekly

  • Check Search Console
  • Review performance
  • Monitor Core Web Vitals
  • Check broken links

Monthly

  • Review keyword rankings
  • Analyze top pages
  • Update outdated content
  • Refresh meta descriptions

Quarterly

  • Full site audit
  • Review sitemap
  • Check structured data
  • Review backlinks
  • Update content strategy

The Complete Checklist

Google Search Console

  • Account created
  • Property verified
  • Sitemap submitted
  • No critical errors

Bing Webmaster Tools

  • Site added
  • Sitemap submitted
  • IndexNow enabled

IndexNow

  • API key created
  • Key file uploaded
  • Ping automated

Sitemap

  • Generated
  • Includes important pages
  • Accessible at /sitemap.xml
  • Submitted
  • Referenced in robots.txt

Robots.txt

  • Exists
  • Not blocking key content
  • Points to sitemap

Meta Tags

  • Unique titles
  • Unique descriptions
  • Canonicals where needed
  • Viewport present

Open Graph

  • og:title
  • og:description
  • og:image (1200x630)
  • Twitter cards tested

Speed

  • Desktop score 90+
  • Mobile score 70+
  • LCP < 2.5s
  • CLS < 0.1
  • Optimized assets

Mobile

  • Mobile-friendly test passed
  • Readable text
  • Large tap targets
  • No horizontal scroll

Final Thoughts

SEO isn’t magic.

It’s a checklist.

Most websites are invisible because their owners skipped the basics. They assumed search engines would figure it out.

Search engines need help.

Your job is to make it easy for them to:

  • Find your pages
  • Understand your content
  • Index your site
  • Rank it correctly

Do the checklist.

Review it quarterly.

Keep improving.

Your future visitors are searching right now.

Make sure they can find you.

About the Author

Chandra Kant Budhalakoti

Related Articles

Why Low-code Is The Future Of Enterprise Digital Commerce

Why Low-code Is The Future Of Enterprise Digital Commerce

Enterprise digital commerce is evolving faster than traditional development models can handle. Low-code platforms are emerging as the future by enabling faster innovation, reduced costs, and scalable customization without sacrificing control or security.

Read More →
Building Scalable SaaS Products: From Idea to Market-Ready Software

Building Scalable SaaS Products: From Idea to Market-Ready Software

A complete guide to building scalable SaaS products, covering strategy, architecture, development, security, and long-term growth.

Read More →
The AI Revolution: How Artificial Intelligence Is Transforming Businesses and Society

The AI Revolution: How Artificial Intelligence Is Transforming Businesses and Society

The AI revolution is transforming businesses and society through intelligent automation, data-driven insights, and innovative technologies.

Read More →

Explore More Articles

Discover more insights and best practices from our blog.

Back to Blogs