Did you knowWhat To Do When Your WordPress Site Gets De-Indexed From Google
In terms of web traffic, you’re absolutely dependent on how search engines rank you, whether you like it or not. Therefore, being de-indexed from Google is among the worst things that could happen to you. The purpose of this article is to explain how this may happen and how it can be fixed.
Obviously, you will look for an instant solution, but things don’t always happen this way. The best solution is to try and prevent it. Yet, if it already happened, it’s crucial to figure out why Google did it.
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Count that a proper remedy will take from one week to a month, and significantly more to take you back to the ranking you used to have before. A thing to have in mind is that there is a difference between being completely de-indexed, or having posts/pages disappearing from Google.
Further on, we are going to list the most common issues and situations that can lead to Google de-indexing. In case you recognize some of them as your issues, take immediate actions. Note that we’re starting with the easiest and moving to the most difficult problem to solve:
Mistakingly de-indexing it by yourself
WordPress has an option that can hide your website from all search engines, and in case it’s activated, you can go to the admin panel, scroll down, and click on ‘Settings’ to find the readings page.
It’s worth to check, because sometimes we accidently select the setting, and we don’t even know it’s active.
Therefore, go to the admin area, click on ‘Settings’, and then ‘Reading’, scroll to the bottom of the page and adjust engine visibility from invisible to visible.
There will be a small box next to the visibility option that should be unchecked, after which you need to save your settings, and, therefore, the problem will be fixed.
Running the website with expired domain names
You didn’t pay your domain name? No wonder the website is invisible! In such cases, the domain provider will make sure that your website disappears completely from search engines, so, please, keep payment in mind!
Here is what you can do about it: Access your website and see whether the name has expired. Even if that’s not the case, check it regularly, and plan your expiry date in advance. An even better idea is to login to the domain provider and to choose an ‘Auto Renew’ option or something similar. This option will automatically withdraw money for the renewal, and you won’t have to worry about it in future.
Running multiple websites from a single hosting account
Technically, there is nothing wrong with this approach, but nobody can guarantee you that all websites will be equally successful. In the worst case, Google can group them under the same category of domains, meaning that the first site you’ve hosted will be held responsible for the content of every additional site that you have.
This can be a problem in the future because if one website is targeted as improper, they all will be. Therefore, if you’ve decided to risk running multiple websites from a single hosting account, make sure that the content can only be accessed from one particular website. Don’t let a randomly chosen website access your content.
The hazard of duplicated content
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You may not know this, but black hat SEOs have a strategy for attracting traffic by creating several pages of the same content. The tactic sounds like a reasonable solution, but if you ask Google, it’s not. From their perspective, this is a spamming solution that can offend a user, which is why they drop it on the bottom of their rankings (or exclude it completely).
The truth is that duplicate content cannot be easily avoided (you’re always risking it by categorizing content, tagging, and archiving pages), so there is a big chance that Google may penalize you.
Instead of being angry about it, look on the bright side: What if someone was stealing your content and you needed protection? We bet you’d refer to Google.
The hazard of a server crash
Luckily, servers are nowadays reliable and secure, but you never know when your host’s server will crash and not be restored before Google’s next search. Even if this is not our fault, it can lead to a delisting of your domain, or even de-indexing altogether.
Here is the solution: Had you been de-indexed, refer to the web host and check what is happening. In case there was a crash, you’ll know it’s not your fault, and you can ask for compensation. You should be re-indexed soon, fairly likely to obtain the ranking you used to have. Might take time, but it will certainly happen.
Choosing keywords that have nothing to do with your content
Keywords are somehow losing their power in the search marketing game, which doesn’t mean that their misuse won’t harm your online presence. Failing to use them properly will almost certainly lead to Google penalties, which is why we still recommend smart SEO.
To start with, avoid keywords that are not related to your content, and most of all: don’t repeat them! A category you should certainly avoid are trademarks, brand names, and competitor’s keywords because this will not only rank you lower but can also get you banned or exposed to a lawsuit.
Linking your website to bad websites
OK, this is tricky, because you never know, but there is a way to check this in advance. Each site has its Google Page rank score (0 to 10), which means that if your website is associated to one with a 0-1 ranking, Google can perceive it as low content as well.
The same tactic can be used to attract attention by linking your website to a good one, and letting Goggle perceive that the quality is awesome. The reason why Google is doing it is that it wants to provide content that is genuinely helpful, so be careful who you’re ‘hanging out’ with.
Displaying broken links
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We all tend to forget the links we’ve included in our older posts, which is actually a destructive habit to have. What you should do instead, is to check those links once in a while, and see whether they’re still leading to an active page. Sites go down all the time, and you don’t want Google to punish you for something that is not even your fault.
Here is what you can do about it: Instead of checking link by link, use Google’s Webmaster tool or a free link-checker. All of the links displayed on your website will be there, and you can click on them to see whether they’re still working. Obviously, don’t do it just once! Do it as often as you can, at least once per month!
Having slow and unresolved pages
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Speed impacts matter to Google, so if your website is very slow (or even unresolved for a certain period), this could lead to a serious degrading of your position on result lists. Therefore, make sure you have a good hosting company that will keep you ‘live’, and if something goes done despite your efforts, get back on your feet as soon as you can!
Google knows best
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True story, even in this situation Google knows best! There are certain rules and guidelines prescribed by Google’s Webmaster, and to keep things under control, and you should follow those.
Your website is your responsibility, and will depend on your efforts to make it as good as you can, but once it goes live, the website falls fully under Google’s control. Instead of hiding and pulling through, submit the site for reconsideration from the very beginning. If Google doesn’t accept it, there is something you must change. Better safe than sorry!
