Understanding Why Your Page is Not Ranking on Google: 16 Possible Reasons
You’ve put in the time and effort to create a webpage that you believe deserves to be at the top of Google’s search results. However, despite your best efforts, it’s not ranking at all or not ranking well. This can be incredibly frustrating, especially when you see your competitors’ pages ranking higher even though they may not be as good.
So, why is your page not ranking? The first step is to identify the problem. Is it not ranking at all or just not ranking well? This will help you determine the best course of action.
To begin your investigation, you’ll need data, industry context, and a methodical approach. One helpful tool to use is Google Search Console. Start by using the performance report to see if your page ranks for any keywords. If it does, take note of the keywords. If it doesn’t, it might not be ranking at all yet.
Next, review the impressions and clicks graph over a longer time period to see if the page used to get traffic but doesn’t anymore. This can give you insights into whether it’s a site-wide or page-specific issue.
Now, let’s dive into some possible reasons why your page isn’t ranking well:
1. Crawling blocks: Check if any methods have been used to prevent search bots from accessing your page, such as robots.txt or password protection.
2. Indexing issues: Ensure that your page is available to be indexed by Google and doesn’t have any issues with crawling.
3. Internal links: Make sure that your page is being linked to from other pages on your website. The anchor text used for the link can also impact its relevance.
4. Speed: Google considers page load speed as a ranking factor. Check if your page is loading quickly enough and consider improving its Core Web Vitals.
5. Rendering: If something is preventing Googlebot from rendering your page, it may not be able to see its content. Use Google Search Console to test how Google renders your page.
Moving on to content-related reasons:
6. Cannibalization: If multiple pages on your site target the same keywords with similar content, Google may choose a different version to rank. Use canonical tags to signal which page should be ranked.
7. Content format: Consider if the type of content you’re using matches what Google prefers to rank. For example, if Google is displaying videos for certain keywords, including a video on your page might help you compete.
8. Searcher intent/relevance: Ensure that your page aligns with the intent of the searchers. If it doesn’t provide the answer they’re looking for, Google won’t rank it well.
9. Competitor content is better: Sometimes, your competitors’ pages are simply better than yours. Analyze what they’re doing right and make improvements to your own page.
10. Poor optimization: Dive into the optimization of your page and make sure it’s optimized for the keywords you want to rank for.
11. Uniqueness: If your page doesn’t offer anything unique compared to existing pages on the same topic, it may struggle to rank. Differentiate your page by adding something unique.
12. Language: If you’re targeting a specific location, make sure your content is written in the language that searchers from that location primarily use.
Now, let’s discuss credibility-related reasons:
13. Links: Both internal and external links can impact your page’s credibility. Ensure that your page has enough relevant links pointing to it from third-party sources.
14. E-A-T signals: Expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness are important signals that Google considers when evaluating content quality. Make sure your page displays these qualities, especially for YMYL (your money or your life) pages.
Finally, consider algorithm-related reasons:
15. Algorithm changes: While it’s easy to blame algorithm updates for your page’s drop in rankings, it’s important to rule out other issues first. Investigate what changes you need to make to optimize your page following an update.
Remember, troubleshooting the reasons why your page isn’t ranking well can be a complex process. It may require a combination of fixes and optimizations to improve its visibility on Google. Before making any big changes, identify potential issues and test the impact of any changes you make.
