←back to thread

Google Doesn't Rank My Site for My Own Brand Name

45 points hypeaccount | 1 comments | 10 Sep 25 18:15 UTC | HN request time: 0.198s | source

I run a small business in Canada. Oddly, if you search my brand name, my own site doesn’t show up at all on the first page. Instead, Facebook, Instagram, and random sites that link to me outrank me.

I’ve submitted my sitemap to GSC, checked indexing, and built branded backlinks—but Google still ignores my homepage. It’s bad because people looking for me are funneled into other platforms where I lose control of the user journey.

Has anyone else experienced this? Is this Google punishing small/new sites, or do I need to approach brand SEO differently? At this point it feels like Google wants me to buy ads just to show up for my own name.

1. mattblalock ◴[11 Sep 25 18:46 UTC] No.45214812[source]▶
If it were me, I'd just setup a PPC campaign in Google Ads and not worry about it anymore.

I'd imagine your brand name carries a low CPC, so the cost to ensure potential clients find you would be pretty low.

Use [exact match] keywords, campaign goal of clicks, and a pretty basic/clean ad with some sitelinks.

Worst case, you're really visible and it adds some authority to relevant serps.