Why Your Dental Website Isn’t Showing on Google Search

As a dental practice owner, you must have invested a lot of time and effort into your dental website. And why not? In today’s competitive landscape, having a website that attracts and converts patients is far more essential than having an aesthetic site that just looks techy or advanced. It should be something that supports your online prominence—something that helps people find you when they need you most. But what if your website isn’t even showing up on Google Search—or worse, it suddenly drops from the top 5 rankings to nowhere overnight? That’s not just frustrating—it’s a red flag.

So if you search frequently on Google for “my site is not showing up on Google,” this guide is for you. This quick guide is for every dental practice owner to take a breath and push pause before hitting the panic button. We’ll walk you through why your dental website might be missing from search results and what you can do to fix it.

How Can Low Website Rankings Harm Your Dental Practice?

Our practice’s website is the sole representative of your clinic online—it’s where patients understand who you are, what you offer, and why they should trust you. If it ranks low, you're not just losing clicks; you're losing patient trust, visibility, and potential high-value cases to competitors who show up first.

1) Reduced Visibility: All your marketing efforts—from SEO to social media—ultimately lead back to your website. But if your site isn’t showing up on the first page of Google, it’s as good as invisible. If it ranks low, it’s likely being skipped—meaning fewer people even know your practice exists.

2) Fewer New Patient Inquiries: Lower rankings lead to fewer clicks, which means fewer appointment requests through your site. This directly impacts your monthly patient inflow.

3) Lost Trust to Competitors: Patients tend to trust practices that show up at the top of search results. A competitor ranking above you might appear more credible, even if your services are better.

4) Wasted Investment: You may have invested time and money into building a beautiful website. But without visibility, it’s not working for you the way it should.

5) Slower Practice Growth: Low rankings limit your reach, making it harder to attract new patients, expand services, or open additional locations.

6) Missed Local Opportunities: Especially in competitive markets, local “near me” searches are vital. If your practice isn’t ranking, you’re missing out on high-intent local patients ready to book.

Why Your Travel Website Isn’t Ranking (And How to Fix It)

You might notice that your website clicks and impressions have suddenly dropped—possibly even by half compared to just a month ago. This shift aligns with changes in how Google tracks performance data through its latest Business Performance API update. Here’s what you need to know:

1. Your Website Isn’t Indexed by Google

If your website is new—or even just 4-8 weeks old—it’s possible that Google hasn’t indexed it yet. Indexing is how Google adds your site to its database so it can appear in search results. Until that happens, your website simply won’t show up, no matter how well it’s designed.

Sometimes, practices launch a beautiful new site and assume it will instantly appear on Google. But in reality, Google needs to crawl and evaluate your pages first. If you haven’t submitted your sitemap via Google Search Console or don’t have any backlinks pointing to your site, indexing can take longer.

How to Fix It:

- Check Indexing Status: Go to Google and type site:yourwebsite.com (replace with your domain, e.g., site:smiledental.com). If no results appear, Google hasn’t indexed your site.

- Submit Your Sitemap: Create a sitemap (most website platforms like WordPress generate this automatically) and submit it via Google Search Console. This tells Google which pages to crawl. Navigate to Search Console > Sitemaps > Enter sitemap URL (e.g., yourwebsite.com/sitemap.xml) > Submit.

- Request Indexing: Use the URL Inspection Tool in Google Search Console to manually request indexing for key pages, such as your homepage or service pages (e.g., Invisalign or dental implants).

- Pro Tip for Dentists: Ensure your sitemap includes pages for specific services like “teeth whitening [your city]” or “emergency dentist [your city]” to target local patients.

2. A “Noindex” Tag Is Blocking Your Site

You can also review how to fix dental SEO errors like noindex tags that may be silently harming your site. A “noindex” meta tag in your website’s code tells Google not to index specific pages or the entire site. This is sometimes added accidentally during development or when using CMS platforms like WordPress.

If this problem occurs and you are not so familiar with the action, consult a dental SEO expert to audit your site for “noindex” tags within the next week to ensure all patient-facing pages are crawlable.

How to Fix It:

- Check for Noindex Tags: In Google Search Console, go to Indexing > Pages and look for pages “excluded by ‘noindex’ tag.” Alternatively, view your website’s source code (right-click on a page > View Source) and search for <meta name="robots" content="noindex">.

- Remove the Tag: If found, ask your web developer to remove the “noindex” tag from pages you want indexed, such as your homepage, services, or contact page.

- WordPress Users: Check your WordPress dashboard under Settings > Reading. Ensure the box “Discourage search engines from indexing this site” is unchecked.

- Pro Tip for Dentists: Verify that key pages like your “Dental Implants” or “Cosmetic Dentistry” pages aren’t blocked, as these are critical for attracting high-intent patients.

3. Your Website Lacks Local SEO Optimization

Most of the patients who fill out inquiries or book appointments come from nearby areas. If your website isn’t optimized for local SEO, Google may not rank it for location-based searches—meaning you’ll miss out on highly relevant traffic. These searches often include terms like “dentist near me” or “dentist in [your city],” and if your site doesn’t send the right local signals, you simply won’t appear. Proper local SEO involves optimizing your Google Business Profile, adding location-based keywords, and ensuring your name, address, and phone number (NAP) are consistent across the web.

How To Fix It:

You can improve your local SEO by optimizing your Google Business Profile, using city-specific keywords, and making sure your website is locally relevant.

Here are the steps you should follow:

- Log in to your Google Business Profile account.

- Make sure your business name, address, phone number, office hours, and services are accurate and up to date.

- Add high-quality photos of your clinic, staff, and treatment rooms to build trust.

- Post weekly updates—these could be tips, seasonal offers, or quick videos of dental procedures.

- Make sure your website includes your city or neighborhood name in key places like your homepage title, meta description, and service pages.

You might also need to create service + location landing pages (like “Teeth Whitening in [Your City]”) to target patients searching locally.

Here are some extra things you can do to make sure your local setup is correct:

- Double-check that your business information (NAP) is consistent everywhere online—on directories, listings, and your website.

- If you serve multiple locations, create separate location pages and verify each address with Google.

- Add a Google Map embed on your contact page to help both users and search engines locate your practice.

- If you're just starting out, consider asking satisfied patients to leave a review on your Google profile—it adds trust and improves local visibility.

4. Your Content Isn’t Relevant or High-Quality

Your website plays a big role in helping Google decide whether to show your dental practice in search results. If the content on your site is too short, outdated, copied, or doesn’t give patients the answers they’re looking for, Google may skip over your site and show a competitor instead.

Many dentists unknowingly hurt their rankings by keeping thin pages (less than 300 words), repeating the same content across multiple service pages, or writing in a way that’s too technical or unclear for patients. Your website should provide information that helps patients understand their treatment options, dental concerns, and the booking process—not just act as a digital brochure.

For example, if your Invisalign page only says, “We offer clear aligners,” that’s not enough. Google—and your patients—want to know more: What’s the treatment like? How long does it take? Who is it right for? How much does it cost? What are patients saying about their results?

When your content doesn’t address these kinds of questions, your site won’t show up when someone searches for nearby searches.

How to Fix It:

It’s important to write pages that speak directly to your patients. This helps your website show up better in search and also makes it easier for people to understand your services. For example, if you offer Invisalign, create a full page that explains what Invisalign is, how it works, how long it takes, and how much it may cost. Try to answer the same questions your patients ask in your clinic.

You should also add a blog section to your website. This helps your site stay fresh and gives Google more content to show in search results. You can boost your dental SEO with blog content, like “Braces vs. Invisalign: Which One Should I Choose?” or “How to Take Care of Dental Implants at Home.” Try to write at least 20 blogs over time—this can help bring more people to your site.

Also, make sure every page on your site has different content. Don’t copy the same “About Us” or service text on multiple pages. If some content must be repeated; your website person can use something called a canonical tag to show Google which one is the main page.

5. Weak Backlink Profile

Backlinks (links from other websites to yours) are a major ranking factor. Your website might not have enough backlinks. Backlinks are links from other websites that point to yours. Google sees them as a sign of trust. If your practice is new or you haven’t focused on this yet, it can be tough to compete with more established clinics that already have strong backlinks from trusted sites.

Think of backlinks like word-of-mouth referrals—but online. The more trustworthy sites that mention you, the more likely Google is to show your website to potential patients.

How To Fix It:

You can slowly build up your backlink profile by doing a few simple things:

- Join local groups or associations. Ask your local dental society or chamber of commerce to link to your website.

- Connect with local businesses or nonprofits. Sponsor an event, donate to a cause, or partner with a nearby small business—and ask for a website link in return.

- Share your blogs on social media with their links. This helps more people see them, and over time, some may link back to your posts.

- Reach out to a local health or wellness guest blog and offer to write a helpful article with a link back to your website.

6. Technical Issues Are Hurting Your Site

Your website might be held back by hidden technical issues. Things like slow loading speed, broken links, or poor mobile design can quietly drag down your rankings. This happens mostly when most of your patients search for your practice on their phones. Google favors websites that are fast, stable, and mobile-friendly. You can also enhance page speed and mobile responsiveness using tools like Google PageSpeed Insights or GTmetrix.

How To Fix It:

Start by running a free check with Google’s PageSpeed Insights tool. It’ll show you where your site struggles—like uncompressed images or scripts slowing things down. You don’t need to fix everything at once. Begin with something simple, like compressing large images or removing unnecessary plugins.

If patients are visiting your site from mobile (which they likely are), make sure your site looks clean and loads quickly on smartphones. A broken “Book Appointment” button or poor navigation can cost you real leads.

You can use tools like Google’s Mobile-Friendly Test or hire a web developer for a one-time cleanup. If you have a bit more budget, investing in a site performance tool like GTmetrix or an SEO plugin like RankMath can help track and fix these issues over time.

If you're a solo practice or don’t have a tech team, consider hiring a marketing agency that specializes in dental SEO. A one-time technical audit can go a long way in improving your rankings without overwhelming your day-to-day.

7. You’re Targeting the Wrong or Very Few Keywords

Many dental practices make the mistake of trying to rank for broad, highly competitive terms like “dentist” or “braces.” These keywords are often dominated by directories or well-established clinics with years of SEO under their belt.

And if your site doesn’t reflect what real patients are searching for—like “emergency dentist in [city]” or “teeth whitening near me”—Google won’t show your site in the results they care about.

How To Fix It:

Start by reviewing the pages on your website. If most of them only mention general terms like “dental care” without specifics, it’s time to go deeper. Use a free tool like Google Keyword Planner or Ubersuggest to find long-tail keywords—these are more specific and have lower competition, like “same-day dental crowns in [city]” or “affordable Invisalign for teens [city].” They’re also closer to what patients are actually typing into Google.

Then, look at the top-ranking pages for those keywords. Are they blog posts, service pages, or lists of providers? Use that as a guide to structure your content the right way. If you’re starting, begin with one service page—say, “Dental Implants”—and optimize it with a keyword like “dental implants cost in [city].” This small update can start pulling in high-intent traffic. For long-term growth, it’s best to consult experts in dental SEO services to ensure you’re optimizing for the right intent-based terms.

8. Google Penalties or Algorithm Updates

Your site may have been penalized (either manually or algorithmically) for issues such as spammy backlinks or keyword stuffing. Recent algorithm updates may also prioritize different ranking factors, such as page speed or content quality.

How to Fix It:

- Check for Penalties: In Google Search Console, navigate to Security & Manual Actions > Manual Actions to determine if your site has any penalties. Fix issues like low-quality backlinks by disavowing them.

- Stay Updated: Follow Google’s Search Central Blog for algorithm updates. If an update emphasizes page speed, prioritize improvements to Core Web Vitals.

- Pro Tip for Dentists: Avoid black-hat SEO tactics, such as buying low-quality backlinks, as these can harm your rankings in the long term.

Check Google Search Console for manual actions today. If none exist, focus on improving one Core Web Vital metric (e.g., reduce image sizes) this week.

9. Your Website Is Too New

New dental websites take time to build authority. Google favors older domains with established trust, so it may take 3–6 months for your site to rank for non-branded keywords.

How to Fix It:

- Be Patient: Allow 4–8 weeks for your site to rank for branded searches (e.g., your practice name). Non-branded keywords (e.g., “dentist [your city]”) take longer.

- Build Authority: Consistently publish high-quality content, earn backlinks, and optimize your Google Business Profile to establish trust with Google.

- Pro Tip for Dentists: Focus on ranking for your practice name first by including it in your homepage title tag and Google Business Profile.

Next Steps to Get Your Dental Website Ranking

Improving your dental website’s Google visibility requires a combination of technical fixes, a strategic content approach, and local SEO. Here’s a personalized 30-day plan to get started:

- Day 1–5: Set up Google Search Console, submit your sitemap, and check for “noindex” tags.

- Day 6–10: Optimize your Google Business Profile with complete NAP details and a weekly post.

- Day 11–20: Publish one blog post targeting a long-tail keyword (e.g., “teeth whitening [your city]”).

- Day 21–30: Reach out to one local organization for a backlink and run a PageSpeed Insights test to improve site speed.

If this feels overwhelming, consider hiring a dental SEO agency like Remedo, which specializes in optimizing dental websites. They can conduct a comprehensive SEO audit and implement strategies to help you rank for high-intent keywords, such as “dentist [your city].”

By addressing these issues, your dental website can enhance its Google ranking, attract more local patients, and expand your practice. Start with one fix today, and you’ll be on your way to page one!