Find out why websites disappear from Google search results, discover how to conduct investigations, and investigate the reasons behind drops in keyword rankings.
It is uncommon for a website to drop out of Google’s search results for just one keyword.
Before looking into a sudden ranking drop, see if there is a glitch.
A website may vanish from search results due to heightened competition, technical problems, or modifications to its link profile.
During Google’s recent SEO Office Hours, Analyst Gary Illyes tackled a website owner’s worry about their site vanishing from search results for a particular keyword. Despite previously holding the top position, the site was no longer visible despite being indexed.
Illyes provided reassurance, stating that it’s uncommon for a website to lose its ranking for a single keyword suddenly.
According to him, rival websites have typically outranked the website.
“Losing rankings for a single keyword is highly unusual. If you did vanish for this keyword, you usually get outranked by someone else in search results.
Here are additional observations on ranking drops from Illyes.
Investigating Fluctuations in Keyword Rankings
To determine whether the sudden drop in rankings is an isolated occurrence or part of a more significant trend, Illyes suggests examining whether the issue spans various locations.
He advises seeking help from friends in different regions to search for the keyword and note if they can locate your website. This comparative search could provide insights since search outcomes can be influenced by user location and browsing history.
If the disappearance of your website for a specific keyword is limited to certain regions or individual users, geo-targeting or personalization factors might be at play.
Illyes explains, “Initially, I would verify if this is a global phenomenon. Engage some friends from remote locations to search for the keyword and share their findings. If they spot your site, it might just be a ‘glitch in the matrix.'”
Alternatively, you can achieve this independently by using a virtual private network to change your location, enabling searches from diverse countries. This method helps assess if your website’s ranking remains consistent across various geographic regions.
However, if your site consistently fails to appear in these test searches, there might be a more substantial issue.
Illyes elaborates further, “If they can’t locate your website, the next step would involve reviewing past actions to identify potential causes. Have there been alterations in internal linking structures, page layouts, link acquisitions, or the use of the disavow tool? Each of these actions could impact rankings so that a thorough review might offer valuable insights.”
In addition to Illyes’ advice, a website may vanish from search results for a specific keyword for other reasons.
Among the possible reasons are the following:
Increasing Competition: Your rivals may have outranked your website for the targeted keyword because they enhanced their content or used more effective SEO techniques.
Technical Problems: Your website may only appear in search results if crawling or indexing problems exist. This might result from issues with your sitemap, robots.txt file, broken links, duplicate content, or sluggish page loads.
Link Profile Changes: The rankings of your website may be impacted by an abrupt loss or gain of backlinks. This could result from Google taking manual action, links from spammy or low-quality websites, or the loss of high-quality links.
To sum up
The disappearance of a website from Google’s search results for a single term is uncommon. Illyes suggests it could be a glitch, prompting a check across different locations using the keyword. Further investigation into other potential issues is advised if this loss persists beyond a glitch. If navigating this seems challenging, consider seeking guidance from our monthly SEO experts, who can offer specialized assistance.
