The noindex error that made a Kent accounting firm invisible to Google
A Kent accounting firm was paying monthly hosting fees for a website Google had been instructed to ignore. A single line of bad code, left by a previous developer, had blocked every page from being indexed. We found it, fixed it, and had the firm ranking for its own name within 72 hours.
A previous developer had placed noindex tags on every page of the firm’s Wix site, making it completely invisible to Google.
We ran a forensic technical audit, migrated the site to a 300-page indexable infrastructure, and submitted an XML sitemap directly to Search Console.
Within 72 hours of sitemap submission, core pages were fully indexed and the firm ranked number 1 for its own brand name.
Paying monthly hosting fees for a website Google had never seen
This Kent practice had a website that looked fine on the surface. It loaded, it had pages listing services, and the firm was paying for hosting every month. What nobody had caught was that a previous developer had left a single meta tag in the site headers instructing Google to ignore every single page. Zero pages were indexed. The firm did not appear in search results for its own name.
KEY INSIGHT The firm was invisible for its own brand name, let alone searches from prospective clients in their area.
This happens more often than most firm owners realise. A developer turns on noindex during the build phase so the unfinished site does not get indexed prematurely, then hands the site over without switching it off. The firm carries on paying for hosting, occasionally paying for SEO work on top, and none of it has any effect because the entire site is blocked at the foundation. Wix made this particularly difficult to catch because the platform does not give users straightforward access to the headers to check for or override that setting.
A full platform migration and a manually forced re-crawl
There was no point working on keywords or content while the site was telling Google to stay away. The technical fault had to be fixed first, which meant moving off Wix entirely. We built a new site from a clean base where every line of code could be inspected and confirmed before anything went live.
- We deployed a 300-page site structure covering individual service and location pages, with each page carrying clean, indexable code verified before launch.
- Rather than waiting passively for Google to discover the new site, we submitted an XML sitemap directly through Search Console and triggered a manual re-crawl.
- We added Schema Markup across the site, explicitly identifying the business as an accounting firm, confirming its location in Kent, and specifying operating hours.
The reasoning was straightforward. The firm already had domain authority accumulated over time. Once Google could actually read the site, that authority had somewhere to go. There was no need to wait months for traction to build from scratch. The block just needed to be removed.
From 0 indexed pages to brand position 1 in 72 hours
The results split cleanly into a before and after. Before the audit, Google had indexed zero pages. The firm did not appear for its own name. Three days after the sitemap submission and migration, the position had changed across every metric we were tracking.
Core Pages Indexed
Brand Name Search Position
Time to Full Indexation
| Search Term | Position Before | Position After |
|---|---|---|
| Firm Brand Name | Not indexed | #1 |
| Accountant in [Town] | Not indexed | Appearing in results |
| Core Service Pages | 0 pages indexed | 100% indexed |
In practical terms, a prospective client searching for the firm by name would previously have found nothing. That is now fixed. The firm’s name, address, phone number, and services are all findable to anyone searching in their area. Sub-pages were still being picked up by Google’s crawlers beyond day three, but the core pages and brand visibility were confirmed within the first 72 hours.
A site they actually own, with infrastructure built to scale
The firm is no longer dependent on a platform that buried the underlying code. The new structure means that any service page or location page they add going forward will be picked up by Google because the indexation foundation is already in place and working. When they want to target a new keyword or expand into a neighbouring town, the site can support that without a rebuild.
Before Fiscal Flow touches content, ads, or link building for any firm, we check that the site can actually be found. In this case, that single check recovered a business asset the firm had been paying for and getting nothing from. The 300-page infrastructure now gives them a clean base, and any future SEO work will compound on a site Google can read and credit properly.
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How we share results
To protect our clients’ competitive advantage, we do not publish firm names in online case studies. However, we believe in total transparency during our 1-on-1 demos.
- Screen-shared results: See real-time lead volume and search performance from active firms.
- Backend inspection: View live Search Console data and CRM activity from partners who consented to share aggregate data.
- Video testimonials: Live interview case studies are available on request from partners who ran successful campaigns with us.