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Website Disappeared From Google

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Website Disappeared From Google

Over the past few years I've read so many complaints from webmasters on various forums about their websites disappearing from Google that I can't even keep count of them all.  If their sites didn't disappear from the search results completely, they dropped so far that they might as well have disappeared because nobody is ever going to search far enough to find their site.

As a matter of fact, I've experienced this phenomenon myself a few times.  Google drops websites all the time, and has for years with no logic or reason. 

Ranking high in Google is a great thing for a webmaster.  High rankings mean that you will get good traffic.  But high rankings do not always last.

If your site disappears from Google or crashes in the rankings, there really is not much you can do.  Most of the time, it isn't your fault.  You did not cause your site to disappear and you can't do anything to get it back but wait.

Here are a few things that are often suggested to webmasters who have experienced the nasty phenomenon of disappearing from Google.

Make sure your site is not banned

If you haven't already, sign up with Google Webmaster Tools to see if your site has been penalized.  Google will ban sites it considers to have broken its webmaster guidelines and, or, engaged in blackhat SEO.  If your site has been penalized, it will show a message in your account after you have validated your website. 

Some reasons Google may ban websites:

  • Cloaking:  presenting different content to the search engine than you show visitors.
  • Deceptive redirects:  using javascript or other methods of redirection to take visitors someplace else in an attempt to deceive the search engine into indexing and ranking content not presented to visitors.
  • Link exchange schemes:  using prohibited link exchanges or selling paid links to other websites in an attempt to influence rankings.
  • Keyword stuffing:  loading up your web pages with keywords above and beyond what would be found in legitimate content to the point your pages are nothing but spam.
  • Mischievous behavior:  attempting to install trojans and viruses on visitors' computers.

If banned, request reinclusion

If your site has been penalized by Google, you can request reinclusion in Google's Webmaster Tools. 

Validate your HTML

Use a HTML validation service like W3's validator to verify that your HTML code conforms to requirements.

Evaluate your SEO and markup

Make sure all your search engine optimization is proper.  Do things like ensure that you have only one <h1> heading tag per page.  

You will often be advised to submit a sitemap to Google.  But here's the truth:  neither Google nor any other search engine needs a sitemap to find your web pages.  If your internal link structure is good, search engine bots can find all of your content by following links from one page to the next.

Hope for the best

If you aren't violating any of Google's webmaster guidelines, your HTML validates, and your tagging is proper, there is nothing you can do but hope that Google eventually comes to its senses and returns your site back into the results where you think it belongs.  Be warned:  this could take days, weeks, months, or even years.

Other than that, there is absolutely nothing you can do to get your site back into Google.  Nothing.  Don't waste many hours trying to fix your site because it isn't broken.  The problem is not with you or your site.

Google Resources For Webmasters

If you take a few minutes to peruse the Google webmaster discussion group you will literally find hundreds of posts from desperate webmasters whose sites have disappeared from Google.

If your site disappears from Google, don't fret, it has happened to many thousands of other people just like you.