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Can't Find Your Website on Google?

If your website has suddenly disappeared from Google’s search results, it doesn’t necessarily mean you’ve been penalized, but it’s a possibility. Here’s why this might happen and what you can do about it.     

  We’ve all been there – you try to visit a website, and it’s nowhere to be found. But what if it was your site? How can you tell if your site is truly gone for good, or if there’s just something blocking your access?

Possible Reasons Why Your Website Disappeared from Google’s Search Results

Why Is Your Website Gone From Google's Search Engines?

While a website can drop in Google’s SEO rankings at any time for various reasons (i.e., increase in competition, dated content, technical issues, to name a few), if your website has disappeared completely from Google’s search engine, it may indicate one of the following more serious issues that will need to be addressed to get your site back in the rankings.

Common Reason - Your site was penalized by Google

Your site may have been penalized by Google. Google applies penalties, called Manual Actions, when your site violates their guidelines. You can use Google’s webmaster tool, Google Search Console, to see if a penalty is listed. If so, you can also use the same tool to identify the issue and fix it. 

Why Might Your Site Be Penalized?

  1. Violating Google’s Guidelines: Websites that are clearly trying to trick Google to increase it’s rankings. These include using black-hat SEO techniques like keyword stuffing, cloaking, or having low-quality content.
  2. Poor Backlinks: Spammy or unnatural backlinks can result in a penalty.
  3. Duplicate Content: Google values fresh, unique and original content. Copying content from other sites (even your own) can certainly hurt your rankings.
  4. Hacking: If your site was hacked and used to spread malware or spam, Google will often remove the site from search results and may even remove the site entirely from the web. 
 

How to Fix It

  • Manual Actions: If you’ve been hit with a penalty, use Google Search Console to identify and resolve the issue. Fix any guideline violations and submit a reconsideration request once the problem is addressed.
  • Security Fixes: If your site was hacked, clean it up and secure it by removing any malware, updating passwords, and ensuring your site is fully protected.
  • Improve SEO: Review your backlink profile and ensure content quality, removing any spammy or duplicated content. 
 
 

Other Reasons Your Site May Have Disappeared from Google’s Search Engine

While getting penalized by Google is often the issue, there are other common reasons why your site may have dissapeared from the SEO rankings.

  • You accidentally hid your website using Google’s Search Console tool, which is not that hard to do, if you are not sure how the webmaster tool works. If this is the case, it’s just as easy to undo the removals and restore your pages back to Google Search.
  • You have updated your noindex and robots.txt directive in your website which gives Google instructions to crawl or not to crawl your site. There are various reasons why site owners may not want their site to appear in the search engines (possibly it’s under construction, unfinished or is being migrated to different server). Often this tool is used inappropriately and results in undesired search engine rankings. Just look in the index error section of Google Search Console to see if this is why your site is not indexed.

Why Webwerx Design?

Webwerx Design is involved in all things SEO, and we love helping clients rank their websites. If you are having undesired search results or looking to increase brand exposure and enhance customer engagement, we would love to talk with you!

Call 888-355-0305 or reach us online.

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