Why does my website not come up in Google or other Search Engines?
 

Each search engine (Google, Yahoo, Microsoft, Etc.) use different methods for searching websites. Each is trying to give the most accurate results for what people are searching for. They try to improve their listings over time, but the exact words someone uses when searching can make a big difference. Also, what's on your website pages, and if they were able to properly identify your website type and content are factors.

If you search in Google for your companies exact name (e.g. "XYZ Company, Inc.") the odds are that you will come up as the first listing.  But if you search for a broad term such as "computer repair New York City" there will be many more listings, and then what order to display them in is the question the search engine must figure out.  Often they try to order them with Paid listings first, then the ones people have clicked on in the past because they assume if someone clicked it and went to that site then that was the site they wanted for that search term. This often decides who comes out on top.

There are Search Engine Optimization (SEO) companies that promise to have your listing come up on top of a search, but there is just no guarantee as they do not control the search engine companies. They often exaggerate as to what they can do for you.

What a SEO company Can do is put keywords into your site and help improve your website to greatly improve your listing status and have you come up for the right categories. What is important to remember is that the way your site gets listed at all is usually from a search engine such as Google uses programs that search the web constantly indexing every website and they automatically try to put your in the right category. Sometimes it just does not work.  One inexpensive alternative to SEO companies is to actually Submit your site to the search engines.  There are Submission Services that using the description of your site and relevant keywords to update the information the search engines have in order to improve your listings.