FAQ: I published my project, but I can't find my project in Search. Why not? – Behance Helpcenter

Behance Search helps people discover creative work from millions of projects. This FAQ covers how search finds and orders projects, why a project might not show up where you expect, and what you can do to help your work get discovered.

Jump to:

How does Behance Search work?
I published my project, but I can’t find it in Search. Why?
My project shows up when I search the exact title, but not for other searches. Why?
How can I help my project get discovered in Search?
Other common questions

How does Behance Search work?

When you search for projects on Behance, we look for projects whose Title, Project Tags, and Creative Fields match your search terms. We also match the creator’s name and username.

* Note: The project Description and the text inside your project are not used for search. Tools Used and Color can be used as filters, but they’re not matched against search terms.

How are results ordered?

The default view is Recommended. With a search term, projects are ordered mainly by:

Relevance: How closely the project’s Title and Project Tags match the search. Projects that include all of the searched words rank above projects that only match some of them.
Recent community engagement: Appreciations from Behance members over the past month, especially from people who found the project by searching the same term.
Freshness: Newer and recently viewed work gets a lift.

We don’t publish every detail of how results are ranked, to help keep search fair and to reduce spam.

Other ways to sort

You can change how results are sorted using the dropdown on the Search page:

Recommended: The default view, described above.
Curated: Projects featured by the Behance team.
Most Appreciated: Projects with the most appreciations in the selected time period. *Note: This view matches Project Tags only.
Most Viewed
Most Discussed
Most Recent: The newest projects first.

You can narrow your results further with filters like Creative Field, Tools, Color, and Location.

I published my project, but I can’t find it in Search. Why?

First, try this quick check:

Go to the Search page.
Search your project’s exact title.
Change the sort to Most Recent.

If your project appears, it’s searchable! See My project shows up when I search the exact title, but not for other searches.

If it still doesn’t appear, check the following:

It was just published

New and edited projects usually appear in search within a few minutes, but it can occasionally take longer. If you just published, check back later that day.

Your project’s privacy settings

Only projects set to Public appear in Behance Search. Projects that are Private, Link Only, or Password Protected won’t appear. To check, open your project in the editor, go to Settings, and confirm the visibility is set to Public. Learn more in Privacy Settings.

Your project is marked as Adult Content

Projects marked as containing adult content aren’t shown to visitors who are logged out, or who have Safe Browsing turned on. If you can see your project while logged in, but a friend or client can’t, this is the most likely reason.

* Note: Please only mark projects as adult content when they contain it. If you believe your project was marked incorrectly, contact us and we’ll take a look.

Your project or account may not meet our Community Guidelines

Projects or accounts that don’t follow the Behance Community Guidelines (for example, spam, misleading content, or artificially boosted engagement) may be removed from search. If you believe this happened by mistake, contact us and include a link to your project.

You’re using filters

Search results must match every filter you’ve selected. Try clearing filters like Creative Field, Tools, or Location and searching again.

If you’ve checked all of the above and still can’t find your project by its exact title after a day, contact us with a link to your project and we’ll investigate.

My project shows up when I search the exact title, but not for other searches. Why?

Good news: your project is searchable! When it doesn’t show up for broader searches, it’s usually down to how search results are ordered.

Popular searches are very competitive. Terms like “logo,” “branding,” or “illustration” match a very large number of projects. A new project may appear far down the list at first, even if nothing is wrong.
The words need to be in your Title or Project Tags. If a search term only appears in your Description or inside the project, search won’t match it.
Partial matches rank lower. If someone searches “coffee packaging design” and your project only includes “packaging,” projects that include all three words will usually appear first.
Recent engagement matters. Projects that receive appreciations from the community, especially recently, tend to rank higher.

* Note: Projects tagged mainly with online-marketplace or product-listing terms are ranked lower in general search results. Behance Search is designed to highlight original creative work, so use tags that describe the creative work itself (for example, “packaging design” or “product photography”).

How can I help my project get discovered in Search?

Here’s what makes the biggest difference:

Write a clear, descriptive Title. Use the words people would actually search for. For example, “Coffee Shop Branding & Packaging” will be found more easily than “Project 07.” Shorter, focused titles tend to match better than long ones.
Add specific Project Tags. You can add up to 10 Project Tags. Mix broad tags (like “branding”) with specific ones (like “coffee packaging” or “café logo”). Specific tags have less competition, so your work has a better chance of appearing near the top.
Keep tags accurate. Only tag what’s actually in your project. Unrelated, misleading, or marketplace-style tags can hurt how your project performs.
Choose the right Creative Fields. They help people find your work when they browse or filter by field.
Don’t rely on the Description for search. Put your most important keywords in your Title and Project Tags.
Share your work. Appreciations from the Behance community help your project rank higher, so share it with your followers and network, especially in the first few weeks.
Keep publishing. New work gets a lift in search and brings fresh attention to your whole profile.

* Note: Please don’t use third-party services, groups, or scripts to increase appreciations or views. This activity is detected and can result in your projects being removed from search. Learn more in our Community Guidelines.