My Site Has Vanished From Google

1. 87

   andyozposted 13 years ago

   A few months back I created my own website all about iPhone games.  Over time I have been building it up, getting more and more views and doing quite well considering I have never created a website before.
   
   Today I logged into to my adsense acount and noticed my numbers were much lower than usual.  I then typed a few search queries into google, ones that I usually rank well for.  To my horror I have disappeared!  I then went into Market Samurai and ran a check on my ranks, most of my pages have totally gone!  Not ranked at all in google, the ones that are have dropped from the top few spots into the hundreds! 
   
   Does anyone know why this may have happened and what I can do to correct the problem, as at the moment it looks like all my ours of hard work has just gone down the toilet.

   replyreport
   1. 74

      Kangaroo_Jaseposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      Hey Andy,
      
      I hope someone whom has experienced this can provide a clearer understanding for you. But I think your websites may have been 'sandboxed' by Google, which means they will not rank well for a period of time. Either that or Google is doing a big re-index and your sites have been hit hard.
      
      Keep an eye out over the next few days on your rankings and scroll through the Google forums and see if any light may be shed there.

      replyreport
      1. 87

         andyozposted 13 years agoin reply to this

         Thanks for the reply, still not sure what is going on.  My page views were averaging around 500 a day now they are down to about 10 so far today.  I added a new page to my site yesterday but other than that I have made no changes to anything.  I simply can't understand how all my pages could suddenly plummet in the rankings all in one go.
         
         My site has good SEO and good content, way better than most of my competitors, so I just don't understand.

         replyreport
   2. 95

      CWanamakerposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      You were likely penalized by Google for violating the Google Webmaster Guidelines. This is also known as being sandboxed.  It will likely last for 90 days.  If you can figure out what you did to get penalized, you can try and correct it and submit a reconsideration request to Google.

      replyreport
      1. 87

         andyozposted 13 years agoin reply to this

         Any idea as to what I pay have been penalised for?  Any idea how I find out?  Cheers in advance.

         replyreport
         1. 95

            CWanamakerposted 13 years agoin reply to this

            First you should read through the Google Webmaster Guidelines:
            
            http://www.google.com/support/webmaster … topic=8522
            
            There are a lot of things that you can do to get sandboxed.  Here is a brief list:
            
            1. Linking to or from other sandboxed or banned sites. Try this site to check the links on your website for problems:
            http://www.bad-neighborhood.com/text-link-tool.htm
            
            2. Backlinking too quickly with poor anchor text variation 
            3. Having/owning multiple websites that are are densely crosslinked
            4. Duplicate Content (This is a big one, Sometimes if your stuff is copied, your page may be inadvertently omitted from the Google results). Try copying a few sentences from your pages and searching for it in Google. Make sure that no other sites have copied your content.
            5. Having hidden links or hidden keywords (like have text the same color as a background so that a search engine would see it but not your viewers)
            6. Excessive use of keywords
            7. Having automated re-directs in your pages.
            8. Participating in link buying, selling, or trading schemes
            
            If you haven't already, you should sign up for Google Webmaster tools:
            http://www.google.com/webmasters/
            
            The tools available to you there can really help you figure out the problem with your site.
            
            And finally, here is where you can apply for Google to reconsider your site:
            
            http://www.google.com/support/webmaster … swer=35843
            
            The video on the above link has plenty of great information as well.
            
            I hope this helps.

            replyreport
            1. 87

               andyozposted 13 years agoin reply to this

               Thankyou for all that, some good suggestions, although can't see any on your list that would apply to my site.  Am already on Webmaster tools and have had no help there in working it out. Will check out the video when I get chance to, cheers.

               replyreport
   3. 60

      nickm6556posted 13 years agoin reply to this

      Most likely google simply re-indexed all of the sites or maybe you were hit by google's panda update. You may have also been blacklisted by google for poor content or unacceptable practices such as the ones mentioned above.

      replyreport
   4. 79

      thisisoliposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      You may have been sandboxed.  Keyword stuffing is usually the primary cause of that.

      replyreport
2. 59

   MelissaBarrettposted 13 years ago

   I agree, you have been sandboxed.
   
   There's something about your site that Google finds particularly offensive.  From what I've heard sandboxing lasts anywhere from a month to three months.  Use that time to make your site more loveable to the big G.

   replyreport
   1. 87

      andyozposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      Wow, how can I find what is wrong with my site?  I have tried so hard to make Google love me, done everything I could to make it all nice and lovely, I can't think of any reason why they wouldn't like my site.  Don't no where to start?

      replyreport
      1. 61

         noenhulkposted 13 years agoin reply to this

         Don't trust google... others may have snatch you of that page.. lol I dunno either.

         replyreport
3. 87

   andyozposted 13 years ago

   Well I've just a done a fair bit of reading about Sandboxing.  It does sound about right for what has happened to me.  Although I got the impression sandboxing happens to new sites, mine has been running for around 3 months.  It is a bit of a slap in the face as it means my income will pretty much stop from the website and although the article I read on sandboxing said I should continue to build my site, it is a worry that I may not get back to my previous high rankings!
   
   I'm all confused and frustrated.

   replyreport
   1. 67

      brandonhart100posted 13 years agoin reply to this

      Andyoz - did you change your site at all or do a lot of linking?
      
      Also this is pretty standard and has happened to me many times... One time I had my site up to just about as many views are you are saying there.. it disappeared for 3 months... then one day I look at adsense at the end of the day and it said 1000 for that site... It's been fine and growing ever since.
      
      You can keep working on the site if you'd like or just wait it out... I personally find it really hard to be motivated during that period; however, I would suggest trying to do an article every week or two still.

      replyreport
      1. 87

         andyozposted 13 years agoin reply to this

         Hi, not made any majour changes, just the usual stuff.  Few backlinks mainly from Hubpages actually, but nothing serious.  Yeah will try and just wait it out and add a little more content every now and again.

         replyreport
4. 77

   psycheskinnerposted 13 years ago

   It could just be the end of the honeymoon.  Google gives new sites a rating boost for the first few weeks to months.  But then they can drop pretty quickly if they lack backlinks.

   replyreport
   1. 67

      brandonhart100posted 13 years agoin reply to this

      Yes, this is the "freshness query"; however, if you're noticing poor results for your long tail keywords it's really beyond all of that.

      replyreport
      1. 87

         andyozposted 13 years agoin reply to this

         Can't say I agree with this one.  I realise that sometimes Google give new content a boost, but this would mean individual pages would slip, not every page on my site.  I have around 30 pages all of which has seriously dropped off the radar. 
         
         Some of my pages are competing for keywords that are pretty easy to get at least a top 5 ranking, my pages went straight in to the top spot in many cases.  Now they have just vanished way way down the listings.

         replyreport
         1. 77

            psycheskinnerposted 13 years agoin reply to this

            If you Google spider-ed the pages within a few days, they will tend to go stale all at the same time as well.  Even if not, interlinked pages under the same domain do tend to suffer the same fate.

            replyreport
            1. 87

               andyozposted 13 years agoin reply to this

               So if what you are saying is true, how do I get them back up there?

               replyreport
               1. 77

                  psycheskinnerposted 13 years agoin reply to this

                  I am not sure my suggestion does apply.  But if it does the main thing to do would be to try and get an influx of links into you pages.

                  replyreport
5. 59

   caninecrtiticsposted 13 years ago

   Hey Andyoz where did you build your website at was it like a blogger or wordpress?

   replyreport
   1. 87

      andyozposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      Hi, it was on Weebly drag and drop builder.

      replyreport
6. 88

   Stacie Lposted 13 years ago

   in the meanwhile submit it to other search engines..i read that Google searches are not as accurate as Bing and Yahoo..

   replyreport
   1. 87

      andyozposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      Yeah but 95% of my traffic comes from Google

      replyreport
7. 73

   georgescifoposted 13 years ago

   You seem to be hit by the Google Panda effect..

   replyreport
   1. 87

      andyozposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      Thanks for the reply, but it's nothing to do with Panda.

      replyreport
8. 42

   iQwestposted 13 years ago

   I'm having a hard time making sense of Google's ways, too!
   
   I have a handful of blogs (made on blogger) and the traffic is all over the board.  The blogs will rank well for specific pages for a period of time and then seemingly disappear for a period of time (pages are still indexed, the ranking simply tanks), and then reappear again .... and the cycle goes on.
   
   Many of my Hubs are the same way.  Traffic seems to come and go randomly even with zero updates having been made.

   replyreport
9. 87

   andyozposted 13 years ago

   Thankyou everyone for your replies, some interesting ideas.  I think the most logical replies relate to Sandboxing.  That seems to perfectly describe what has happened to my site.  Still doing some research but from what I can gather there isn't really much I can do other than wait it out.

   replyreport
10. 58

    fontsposted 13 years ago

    you can wait to be out of sandbox. You may also try to verify if you have duplicate content. I hear that duplicate is pretty penalized .
    Regards

    replyreport
11. 61

    Savva Pelouposted 13 years ago

    have you been using webmaster tools in Google, webmaster tools will guide you in regards to your content etc.  you would need to do some research and then cross check it with your site to see if you have been penalized, if you post your url i can do some in depth checks

    replyreport
    1. 87

       andyozposted 13 years agoin reply to this

       Thanks, that would be very helpful. 
       
       www.iphonegamestipsandcheats.co.uk
       
       I have had a look at webmaster tools and can't find any clues there.

       replyreport
       1. 61

          Savva Pelouposted 13 years agoin reply to this

          you code is a little crazy, was this built using a website builder?

          replyreport
          1. 61

             Savva Pelouposted 13 years agoin reply to this

             i believe i have solved your dilemma, after reviewing your site i believe you may be a victim of the panda update.  Due to the update you have 0 good back links, and you content is failing to match up to the rest of the similar sites out there.  I would suggest you start to get your link building on.  Start with article submissions (i noticed their is only one link from hubpages to your site).

             replyreport
             1. 87

                andyozposted 13 years agoin reply to this

                Thankyou for taking the time to have a look, however, where are you getting your data from?  According to my sources I have 17 links from hubpages, as well as a couple from other sites.  The panda update hit home months ago, why would it affect my site now? 
                My content is far better than most sites, you click a some of the other sites and all they have is a page saying 'post your GAME cheats here'.  At least mine has actual content. 
                
                And yes I used weebly drag and drop to create my site?  I admit I know nothing about how code works or anything like that.  Would my crazy code as you call it lead to me falling down the rankings suddenly?

                replyreport
                1. 61

                   Savva Pelouposted 13 years agoin reply to this

                   your code is acceptable by google standards, my data comes from credible sources, one of which is yahoos site explorer (just search in on google and test your site)

                   replyreport
                   1. 87

                      andyozposted 13 years agoin reply to this

                      I use Market Samurai which is pretty reliable, that shows me far more links than one.  Thanks again for the info, Andy

                      replyreport
12. 50

    maxraviposted 13 years ago

    Well why not use some Free tools like seo tools to review your site.It will give your result about broken and backlinks.work on it.

    replyreport
13. 38

    Jennie Demarioposted 13 years ago

    Sounds like you have been penalized by google.  Have you purchased any links or placed any duplicate content on your site?
    
    If you are constantly leaving links to your website especially on unrelated pages or forums google will view it as "link spam".

    replyreport
    1. 87

       andyozposted 13 years agoin reply to this

       Nope, not bought any links, don't have that many, few from hubpages, odd one or two from other places.

       replyreport
       1. 51

          lauraphillipsposted 13 years agoin reply to this

          This might help, there's a few hints and tips on getting over Panda updates. Linking is great and very important but a sudden 'influx' will raise Google's suspicions, go steady with them, initially at least.
          http://www.atelier-seo.com/2011/08/keep … nda-caged/

          replyreport
14. 60

    Fiction Tellerposted 13 years ago

    Andyoz, the thing that jumped out at me was that you have no sitemap, about page, contact page, privacy policy...these are all "trust factors" with Google. Of course, they may not be the problem here, and I don't think they're very important overall in ranking, but I suspect they're a small but important detail, like the "on" switch to a blender - if everything else is working but the blender isn't, check that the "on" switch functions. If there are no problems with coding, linking, hacking, or content...make sure that all the basics of a trusted website are there.

    replyreport
    1. 87

       andyozposted 13 years agoin reply to this

       Thanks Fiction, must admit I don;t even no how to create a sitemap, add a privacy policy, I am very new to the website game so when something goes a little wrong I get a bit stuck.

       replyreport
       1. 67

          brandonhart100posted 13 years agoin reply to this

          Andy - you should get SEO yoast if you don't have it... however, don't expect a sitemap alone to fix your problems. Again, you'll just need time for those to get fixed.

          replyreport
          1. 87

             andyozposted 13 years agoin reply to this

             Had a look, is that not just for wordpress sites? 
             
             Anyone know how I actually create a sitemap??

             replyreport
15. 87

    andyozposted 13 years ago

    Well as of today all my results have returned back to their previous positions.  In fact they are actually a little higher than they were before I had the massive drop.  I assume I was either in the 'sandbox' or google had punished me for something I was not aware of. 
    
    Very nice to be out again and will get creating some fresh content asap.  Thanks for all the helpful comments on this thread.

    replyreport
16. 70

    Bill Manningposted 13 years ago

    Don't be surprised if this happens a few times. Google is doing lots of strange things and great high ranking sites are getting bounced all over the place.
    
    There seems to be no real solid way anymore with G, they are screwing everyone over. Getting traffic other than with G is the way to go.
    
    BTW is your site on a free host? If so that's bad.

    replyreport
    1. 87

       andyozposted 13 years agoin reply to this

       Hi Bill, no it's not a free hosting service, I pay a monthly fee.

       replyreport
       1. 70

          Bill Manningposted 13 years agoin reply to this

          That's good. I noticed that link in your footer to a hosting company. Normally that means a free site. You should put some text in your footer with your keywords. Just a summary of what your site is about.

          replyreport
          1. 87

             andyozposted 13 years agoin reply to this

             Cheers Bill, will have a look at doing that.

             replyreport
17. 98

    PaulGoodman67posted 13 years ago

    Interesting.  A similar thing is happening with HP subdomains too.  There's definitely something big happening with Google.  Let's hope it's temporary.

    replyreport
18. 37

    SubmissionWorkposted 13 years ago

    Copy and paste some of your contents from your popular page in google and see if any one copied your content or not.
    
    May be that can be also a reason.

    replyreport
19. 55

    onlygraceposted 13 years ago

    well, maybe you don't give enough backlink to your website, or maybe you give too much backlink in a short period, or maybe you don't have quality content. Google is unique and unpredictable

    replyreport
    1. 60

       Randy Godwinposted 13 years agoin reply to this

       This is a joke, right? 

       replyreport