1. The site has no content depth
A 5-page website with 200 words per page gives Google almost nothing to rank. The sites that win consistently have 20+ pages of substantive, topic-focused content.
2. There's no keyword targeting
If every page is titled '[Business Name] – Home' and '[Business Name] – About', Google has no idea what to rank you for. Title tags, headings and content need to match the queries you want to win.
3. The site is technically broken
Slow load, broken links, missing schema, no mobile optimisation, no XML sitemap. Google deprioritises sites that fail technical basics.
4. There are no backlinks
Links from other sites are still one of the strongest ranking signals. A new site with zero links rarely ranks for anything competitive.
5. Local signals are missing
No Google Business Profile, no citations, no service-area content. Local search is invisible to you.
6. Nothing fresh is ever published
Google rewards sites that publish consistently. A site that hasn't been updated in two years looks abandoned to the algorithm.
7. There's no internal linking strategy
Pages don't link to each other meaningfully. Google can't understand the topical structure of the site, so authority doesn't flow where it needs to.