There is no straightforward solution to this question. Over time, there have been numerous cases where the redesigning of websites resulted in one of three potential outcomes: an improvement in search rankings, a drop in rankings, or a neutral impact. These outcomes are intricately tied to whether the site redesign led to a degradation in the website’s overall quality. However, the focal point here pertains to the potential loss of Google’s Rich Results due to such changes.
For insight into this matter, it’s only fitting to turn to John Mueller, a representative of Google. His perspective is invaluable in understanding how alterations in site quality can influence search outcomes, encompassing the highly sought-after Rich Results. Let’s explore what John Mueller has to convey about the interplay between changes in website quality and their repercussions on search results, particularly the esteemed Rich Results.

Is it really a possibility we should consider?

In 2023, the concise response is affirmative! During a recent Google SEO Office-hours Hangout, a participant raised a compelling query. They highlighted a scenario where a customer had recently revamped their website while retaining the same CMS and content. Curiously, they observed that all their FAQ schema results ceased to appear in search results after the redesign. Even after three months and successful outcomes on the rich results test, the problem persisted. Seeking clarity, the participant inquired about the initial cause of this issue and whether the FAQs would ever be reinstated. John Mueller, the Google representative, shared illuminating insights that shed light on the matter.
“There could be two factors at play here… It takes more work to determine instantly. One possibility is that around the same time as your changes, we have reassessed the overall quality of your website. This could be coincidental. However, we may have needed more convincing about the credibility of your website. When our confidence in a website diminishes, we typically withhold displaying rich results, including FAQs.”
Mueller indicated that the loss of rich results might not necessarily be attributed to the website redesign itself but could instead stem from a decline in its overall quality. He recommended a comprehensive reevaluation of the website’s quality. This insight underscores a valuable lesson—a redesign might inadvertently trigger quality issues, potentially leading to the forfeiture of rich results or overall search result performance.How to perform a Quality Check for Rich Results?

“One way to kind of double-check that is if you do a site query for these individual pages, do the rich results show up there or not? If they do show up there then that means technically we can recognize them but we don’t want to show them. So that’s kind of a hint that maybe from a quality point of view you need to improve things. If they don’t show up with a site query then that means more that there’s still something technical which is broken with regards to that.”

He further added, unless there is a technical issue, there is usually no fixed delay o disruptions on Google’s part to crawl the website. “So it’s not that there is a fixed delay, after restructuring of a website, for us to start showing them again. It’s more like… maybe there was coincidentally weird timing or maybe there’s a technical issue.”

Does the Site Query Test help?

“Yeah, it’s not flawless, but it proves effective in many of these scenarios related to rich results,” remarked John. Based on his comprehensive insights, it’s reasonable to infer that site quality significantly influences the loss of Rich Results on Google. If you suspect that this could apply to your website or if you simply desire an evaluation of your website’s design to assess its compatibility with Google’s standards,
Feel free to reach out to us. We can provide insights into your website’s performance and alignment with Google’s requirements, and how can you improve its rankings, you can opt for one of our Monthly SEO Packages or just drop us a mail and we’ll be more than happy to guide you through it.

Lastly, if you have time to spare, do watch John Mueller answer the question at the 52:26 minute mark and then again at the 55:19 minute mark, and may be also stick around for the rest of the discussion for some other valuable insights.