Why Your Consultant Website Isn't Showing Up on Google (And What to Do About It)

You have a website. It looks professional. But when someone searches for what you do, you're nowhere. Here's why — and what actually fixes it.

You invested in a website. Maybe you hired a designer, maybe you built it yourself on Squarespace or WordPress. It looks clean. It says what you do. It has a contact form.

But when you search for your own services on Google — "marketing consultant Raleigh" or "brand strategist near me" or "leadership coach Triangle area" — you're not there. Your competitors are. You're not.

This is the reality for most solo consultants and independent creatives. The website exists, but it's not working. It's not generating inquiries from people who don't already know your name. And the reason is almost always the same: the site was built to look presentable, not to be found.

That's a structural problem, and it's fixable once you understand what Google actually needs from your site.

The Digital Business Card Problem

Most consultant websites are essentially digital business cards. They have a homepage with a tagline, an about page, maybe a services overview, and a contact page. Four or five pages total, each with a few paragraphs of polished copy.

The problem is that Google can't do anything with this. There's not enough content for Google to understand what you specialize in, who you serve, or why your site should rank above the hundreds of other consultants in your area. You're giving Google a business card when it needs a body of evidence.

This isn't about adding pages for the sake of adding pages. It's about giving Google — and the potential clients who find you through Google — enough specificity to understand your expertise and trust your authority.

Your Site Doesn't Tell Google What You Actually Do

This is the most common issue I see with consultant and creative websites: the services are too vague.

"I help businesses grow." "Strategic consulting for organizations in transition." "Creative solutions for modern brands."

These phrases sound professional, but they're meaningless to Google. No one searches for "strategic consulting for organizations in transition." They search for "fractional CMO Raleigh" or "brand strategy consultant for startups" or "executive coach for small business owners."

If your site doesn't contain the specific language your potential clients actually use when searching, you won't rank for those searches. It's that simple.

The fix: build individual pages for each service or engagement type you offer. If you do brand strategy, fractional CMO work, and workshop facilitation, those should be three separate pages — each with enough depth to explain who it's for, how you approach it, and what the engagement looks like. Each page becomes a specific, rankable asset that matches real search behavior.

You're Missing Local Signals

Many solo consultants serve clients nationally or remotely. That's fine. But if you also want to be found by people in your area — and for most consultants, local clients are still the foundation — your website needs to signal where you are.

If your site never mentions Raleigh, the Triangle, or North Carolina, Google doesn't know where to rank you. You're competing against every consultant in the country instead of being the clear local option for someone searching in your area.

This doesn't mean stuffing location keywords into every paragraph. It means being naturally specific: "I work with business owners across the Triangle area" on your homepage. "Brand strategy for Raleigh-based startups and growing companies" on your services page. A mention of your city on your contact page.

These small signals tell Google you're a local business — which triggers local ranking factors that work heavily in your favor.

Your Site Is Slower Than You Think

Consultants and creatives often underestimate how much site speed matters. You're not running an e-commerce store or a news site — does it really matter if your five-page website takes an extra two seconds to load?

Yes. For two reasons.

First, Google uses site speed as a direct ranking factor, especially on mobile. A slow site ranks lower, which means fewer people find you in the first place.

Second, the people who do find you are forming an impression of your professionalism in the first few seconds. A slow, clunky site doesn't say "this person is a trusted expert." It says "this person doesn't pay attention to details." That's the opposite of the signal you want to send.

The usual culprits: bloated WordPress themes, uncompressed images, unnecessary plugins, and cheap shared hosting. If your site scores below 70 on Google's PageSpeed Insights (especially the mobile score), it's worth addressing before you invest in content or SEO.

You Have No Content That Builds Authority

Here's where most consultants and creatives hit a wall: "I'm not a writer. I don't have time for a blog. I don't know what to write about."

I understand the hesitation. But content for a consultant's website isn't about becoming a content creator. It's about answering the questions your ideal clients are already searching for — and demonstrating your expertise in the process.

Think about what someone types into Google before they hire someone like you:

• "Do I need a brand strategist or can I do it myself?"

• "What does a fractional CMO actually do?"

• "How to choose a business consultant"

• "How much does executive coaching cost?"

• "When should a startup hire a marketing consultant?"

Each of these is a real search query. Each represents a potential client in the decision-making process. If your website has a thoughtful, experience-based answer, you become part of their consideration. If your site is a five-page business card, you don't exist in their research.

You don't need to publish weekly. A few substantive articles per quarter — written from your actual client experience — will put you ahead of most consultants who have nothing.

And this matters increasingly for AI search. Tools like ChatGPT, Claude, and Perplexity are answering these decision-making questions directly. When your content is clear, specific, and grounded in real experience, AI tools cite your site. That's a visibility channel that's growing fast and rewards exactly the kind of authority-driven content consultants are positioned to create.

Your Google Business Profile Is Empty (or Doesn't Exist)

If you serve clients locally — even partially — a Google Business Profile matters. It controls whether you show up in the map results when someone searches for your type of service in your area.

Most solo consultants either haven't claimed a profile or set one up years ago and never touched it again. That means when a potential client Googles your name (which they will, especially after a referral), they either see nothing or see an incomplete listing that doesn't inspire confidence.

Claim your profile. Fill in every section. Add a professional photo. Describe your services with specific language. Ask a few clients for reviews — even two or three detailed reviews make a significant difference for a solo practice.

The profile doesn't need to be elaborate. It needs to be complete and current.

Your Website Wasn't Built with Search in Mind

This is the root issue behind everything above. Most consultant websites are built by designers who prioritize aesthetics, or built by the consultant themselves using a template. Neither approach typically considers how Google evaluates and ranks pages.

A website built for search has: proper title tags and meta descriptions on every page, a clear heading structure that tells Google what each page is about, fast load times, mobile-responsive design, and enough substantive content for Google to understand your expertise and relevance.

A website built for appearances has: a clean layout, some nice copy, and a contact form. It looks professional in a portfolio but does nothing in Google.

The difference isn't cosmetic. It's structural — and it's the difference between a site that generates leads and one that just exists.

Where to Start

If your consultant or creative website isn't showing up on Google, these are the highest-impact moves, in priority order:

Build dedicated pages for each service or engagement type you offer. Write them with the specific language your ideal clients would search for. Add location context naturally throughout your site. Claim and complete your Google Business Profile. Check your site speed on mobile and address it if it's lagging. Then start creating content that answers the questions your potential clients are actually asking.

These aren't advanced tactics. They're fundamentals that most of your competitors haven't implemented — which is exactly why they're so effective.

Worth a Conversation?

If your website looks professional but isn't generating inquiries from the right people, the structure is the problem — not your expertise.

I build custom, SEO-first websites on Framer for solo consultants, creatives, and personal brands where authority matters more than volume. Every site is built to rank, load fast, and convert the kind of clients you actually want to work with.

Reach out for a conversation about what your site could be doing for you.