What does MyBizGrade check?

We analyze your website speed, SEO tags, Google reviews, social media presence, and accessibility. Each area gets its own score and letter grade.

How is the grade calculated?

Each category is scored from 0 to 100 based on real data from your site. The overall grade is a weighted average across all five categories.

Yes, the full audit and grade are completely free. You can upgrade to a Pro report with copy-paste fixes for $39 if you want help improving.

What's in the Pro report?

You get a priority action plan, copy-paste ready fixes for every issue, time estimates, and a downloadable PDF. It tells you exactly what to change and how.

How long does the audit take?

Most audits finish in under 30 seconds. Complex sites with many pages may take up to a minute.

Do you store my data?

We store your audit results so you can revisit your report. We never sell your data or share it with third parties.

How often should I check my grade?

We recommend running a new audit every month. Your online presence changes as you update your site, get new reviews, and post on social media.

MyBizGrade was built by a small team of developers who wanted to make online presence auditing simple and affordable for small businesses.

Why Your Business Doesn't Show Up on Google: 9 Reasons and Fixes

You search for your business on Google and it is nowhere. Not in the map results. Not on the first page. Not even on the second page. This is more common than you think. And it is fixable. Every day, thousands of small businesses are invisible on Google while their competitors show up front and center. The reasons are almost always the same. And the fixes are straightforward once you know what to look for. Here are the 9 most common reasons your business does not show up on Google, with step-by-step instructions to fix each one. ## 1. You Do Not Have a Google Business Profile This is the most basic reason, and it is surprisingly common. If you have not created a Google Business Profile (GBP), you will not appear in Google Maps or the local map pack results. Period. The local map pack is the box at the top of Google search results showing 3 businesses with a map. It gets more clicks than the regular search results below it. Without a GBP, you are excluded from this entire section. **How to fix it:** 1. Go to [business.google.com](https://business.google.com) 2. Click "Manage now" 3. Search for your business name. If it exists, claim it. If not, create a new listing. 4. Fill out every single field. Business name, address, phone, hours, category, description, photos. 5. Verify your business (Google will send a postcard, call, or email depending on your business type) This single step has more impact on local visibility than anything else on this list. ## 2. Your Google Business Profile Is Not Verified You created a GBP but never completed the verification process. Google requires verification to confirm you are the actual owner of the business. Until verification is complete, your profile will not show up in search results. **How to fix it:** 1. Sign in to [business.google.com](https://business.google.com) 2. Check your verification status 3. If you see "Verify now" or "Pending verification," complete the process 4. Postcard verification takes 5-14 days. Phone and email verification is instant when available. 5. Once verified, your profile goes live within a few days If you requested a postcard months ago and never entered the code, you will need to request a new one. The codes expire after 30 days. ## 3. Your Website Is Not Indexed by Google Google needs to crawl and index your website before it shows up in search results. If your site is brand new, has technical problems, or is accidentally blocking search engines, Google does not know it exists. **How to check:** Type `site:yourdomain.com` into Google search. If zero results appear, your site is not indexed. **Common reasons your site is not indexed:** - Your robots.txt file blocks Google from crawling the site - Your pages have a "noindex" meta tag telling Google to ignore them - Your site is so new Google has not found it yet - Your site has no incoming links from other websites - Serious technical errors prevent Google from reading your pages **How to fix it:** 1. Create an account on [Google Search Console](https://search.google.com/search-console) 2. Add and verify your website 3. Submit your sitemap (usually at yourdomain.com/sitemap.xml) 4. Use the URL Inspection tool to request indexing for your homepage 5. Check the Coverage report for any errors blocking indexing 6. Make sure your robots.txt does not contain "Disallow: /" which blocks everything Most sites get indexed within 1-2 weeks of submitting to Search Console. ## 4. No Backlinks or Citations Backlinks are links from other websites pointing to yours. Citations are mentions of your business name, address, and phone number on directories and other sites. Both act as votes of confidence to Google. A brand new website with zero backlinks and zero citations gives Google no reason to trust or rank it. Your competitors likely have dozens or hundreds of these signals built up over time. **How to fix it:** Start with the easiest citations first: 1. Submit to major directories: Yelp, Yellow Pages, BBB, Apple Maps, Bing Places 2. Find industry-specific directories (Avvo for lawyers, Healthgrades for doctors, TripAdvisor for restaurants) 3. Check your local Chamber of Commerce for a business directory listing 4. Make sure your name, address, and phone number match exactly across every listing For backlinks: 1. Ask vendors, partners, and local organizations you work with to link to your website 2. Get listed in local news or community sites 3. Create useful content on your website people want to reference and share Building citations and backlinks is a gradual process. Each one adds to your credibility with Google. ## 5. Poor On-Page SEO On-page SEO is the content and HTML elements on your website pages. If these are missing or poorly optimized, Google does not understand what your business does or where it operates. **Key on-page elements to check:** - **Title tags:** Every page needs a unique title tag with your business name and primary service. Example: "Emergency Plumbing Repair in Austin, TX | Smith Plumbing" - **Meta descriptions:** Write a clear summary of each page under 155 characters - **H1 headings:** Each page should have one clear heading describing the page content - **Location keywords:** Mention your city and service area naturally in your content - **Service pages:** Create individual pages for each major service you offer instead of cramming everything on one page **How to fix it:** Start with your homepage and top 3 service pages. Update the title tag, meta description, and main heading on each. Include your city name and primary service naturally in the text. If you want a deeper walkthrough, our guide on [fixing website SEO for beginners](/blog/fix-website-seo-beginners) covers the 10 most common SEO problems step by step. ## 6. NAP Inconsistencies NAP stands for Name, Address, Phone number. When this information is different across your website, Google Business Profile, Yelp, Facebook, and other directories, Google gets confused about which information is correct. Even small differences create problems: - "123 Main Street" on your website vs. "123 Main St." on Yelp - An old phone number on Yellow Pages you forgot to update - "Bob's Auto Repair" on Google vs. "Bob's Automotive Repair" on Facebook Google uses consistency as a trust signal. The more consistent your NAP across the web, the more confident Google is about showing your business in search results. **How to fix it:** 1. Decide on your official business name, address, and phone number format 2. Update your website footer and contact page with this exact format 3. Update your Google Business Profile 4. Search for your business on every major directory and fix any variations 5. Use a spreadsheet to track every listing and its current status This is tedious work. It is also one of the most effective things you do for local search visibility. Want to see how consistent your listings are right now? **[Run a free GradeMyBiz audit](https://grademybiz.vercel.app)** and check your listings score. ## 7. No Reviews Google uses reviews as a ranking signal for local search. Businesses with more reviews (and higher ratings) tend to show up higher in map results and local searches. If you have zero reviews, you are at a disadvantage against every competitor who has them. Even 5-10 genuine reviews make a noticeable difference. Beyond rankings, reviews affect click-through rates. When someone sees search results showing one business with 87 reviews at 4.6 stars and another with zero reviews, the choice is obvious. **How to fix it:** 1. Create a direct review link for your Google Business Profile (search "Google review link generator" for free tools) 2. Send this link to your 10 happiest recent customers today 3. Add the review link to your email signature, receipts, and follow-up messages 4. Respond to every review you receive, positive or negative 5. Build a system so you ask for reviews consistently, not in occasional bursts Do not buy fake reviews. Do not offer incentives for reviews. Google detects this and the penalties are severe, including removal of all your reviews or suspension of your profile. Our guide on [improving Google reviews](/blog/how-to-improve-google-reviews) has 11 proven strategies for building your review count the right way. ## 8. Your Competitors Are Better Optimized (For Now) Sometimes your business does not show up because your competitors have done more work on their online presence. They have more reviews. Their GBP is fully optimized. Their website has strong on-page SEO. They have citations across dozens of directories. This is not a permanent problem. It is a gap you close over time. **How to fix it:** 1. Run a [free GradeMyBiz audit](https://grademybiz.vercel.app) on your business and your top 3 competitors 2. Compare the scores across each category 3. Identify where the biggest gaps exist 4. Focus your improvement efforts on closing those specific gaps You do not need to beat them everywhere at once. Start with the category where the gap is smallest and work your way up. For a detailed approach to competitive analysis, our post on [why competitors rank higher](/blog/why-does-my-competitor-rank-higher) breaks down the most common reasons and gives you an action plan. ## 9. Google Penalty In rare cases, your site disappears from Google because of a manual penalty. This happens when Google detects practices violating their guidelines: - Buying backlinks from spammy websites - Keyword stuffing (cramming keywords unnaturally into your content) - Duplicate or scraped content copied from other sites - Cloaking (showing different content to Google than to visitors) - Creating fake reviews **How to check:** 1. Log in to Google Search Console 2. Go to Security and Manual Actions > Manual Actions 3. If there is an active penalty, it will appear here with details **How to fix it:** 1. Read the specific penalty description Google provides 2. Fix the identified issues (remove bad backlinks, rewrite stuffed content, etc.) 3. Submit a reconsideration request through Search Console 4. Wait. Google reviews requests manually and the process takes weeks to months. Penalties are uncommon for small businesses doing things honestly. But if you hired a cheap SEO company in the past who used shady tactics, this is worth checking. ## Find Out Exactly What Is Wrong You read through these 9 reasons. Some probably sounded familiar. Others might not apply to your situation. The fastest way to pinpoint your specific problems is to run a comprehensive audit. **[GradeMyBiz](https://grademybiz.vercel.app)** checks your website, Google Business Profile, reviews, social media, listings, and competitive positioning in about 30 seconds. You get a clear grade with specific recommendations ranked by impact. **[Get your free business grade now →](https://grademybiz.vercel.app)** No email required. No sales pitch. You see your results immediately and know exactly where to start fixing. ## The Path Forward Most businesses are invisible on Google because of 2-3 fixable problems, not because of some deep technical mystery. The 9 issues on this list account for the vast majority of cases. Here is the priority order for maximum impact: 1. **Claim and verify your Google Business Profile** (if you have not already) 2. **Fix NAP inconsistencies** across your website and major directories 3. **Get your first 10 reviews** on Google 4. **Update basic on-page SEO** on your homepage and service pages 5. **Build citations** on the top 10 directories Do these five things and you will see improvement within weeks. Google moves faster than people think once you start sending the right signals. For a complete walkthrough of building your online presence from scratch, start with our guide on [what online presence means for your business](/blog/what-is-online-presence) or learn [how to audit your current presence in 5 minutes](/blog/how-to-check-business-online-presence).