One SEO professional asked John Mueller during a hangout about their new website. They are experiencing issues with ranking because their site dropped.
So they have a new website. They have been running the site for around 3 years. And everything was great with higher rankings and traffic.
On the first of March, their homepage was gone from the search results – it was entirely gone.
They ran everything. Every type of crawl they could think of, Google Search Console (GSC) for every keyword, and GSC even said they are still ranking even though the page had dropped from the results.
For an entire week, they did everything- nothing would work for them.
So then they bought a new domain and transferred their site to a new domain. Everything was indexed in a few hours. However, after three days, the ranking problem returned and affected the brand-new domain.
The major issue is that Google Search Console still shows that they are ranking in the first position, but their site is gone from the organic results completely.
They have tried many different devices and IP addresses, yet they can’t find their site on their keywords. Google Search Console is still saying they rank in the first position.
So every day they are still checking everything regarding this issue. Now they are out of options, hence their question to John Mueller.
John answered that first, what he would do is figure out if this is a technical issue or not by using the URL inspection tool in GSC.
The SEO pro explained that yes, he did use the URL inspection tool with the old website. He tried different crawlers, and all of them reported that everything is good. There are no errors with crawling or indexing. Also, Wore Web Vitals is 100 percent for both the old and new website.
He doesn’t believe it’s a quality thing because GSC says they are still ranking on the first page, but they can’t find it. And traffic is also gone – there has been a 90 percent drop.
John explained that the checks with the URL inspection tool are mostly to determine if a page is indexed or not.
And from what he can understand the SEO pro is saying that it’s indexed, it’s just not ranking, at least when they search.
John explained as well that he believes the performance report in GSC, especially with the position, is based on what people actually saw at any period of time.
And it can be the case that a small number of people saw your website, and when they did see it, it was ranking really well.
In these cases, Google would say “Well, that ranking is what they saw.”
It doesn’t mean that it will always be ranking that high when people search. It could be that for a short period of time, it’s ranking number one, and then for another period of time it is ranking at position 200, for example.
However, if nobody clicks over to position 200, then the only thing Google sees is that number one ranking.
And this is what Google would show in Google Search Console – reporting on what people actually saw, but not accounting for the positions that were never seen, which can lead to a misinterpretation of your ranking score on GSC.
This happens at approximately the 29:38 mark in the video.
John Mueller Hangout Transcript
SEO Professional 8 29:38
Hey, John. Hi. Thank you for your time. Yeah, I have a question. It’s kind of a lengthy one. So there is a problem going on with me. I have a news website. So what ‘s going on is I’ve been running this website for three, three years. So everything was perfect and good. So this month, I also asked you this question on the last Hangout. But the problem also comes bigger- now it has grown.
So like on the first of March, my website homepage, like it was gone from the search results, completely gone from there. Okay, so it’s a kind of Google thing. So I ran everything, I kind of did everything. I tried many things, but the homepage was not shown in the search results. But the interesting thing, in the Google Search Console, for every keyword Search Console says I’m still ranking in first position for every keyword I was ranking before the first of March.
But the significant amount of impressions and clicks has gone. About 90% has gone but the rankings and the CTR is the same. For about one week, I tried everything, but nothing works out for me. I’ve also gone through Central help forms and everything, but nothing. So I take a bold step, I migrate the website to a whole new domain.
So in a couple of hours, everything gets indexed. About 100 pages get indexed in a couple of hours, and the website, in three hours, was ranking in the first position for those keywords, everything was good. Redirection is[INAUDIBLE], but everything else is taken care of. After three days, the same problem happens with the new website also.
Only the home page is gone from the search results. And the Search Console is still saying that I’m ranking in the first position, but I can’t find my website in the search. I tried many devices, different devices, and IP. But I can’t find my website on those keywords, specifically my own. Google Search Console is saying I’m still ranking in the first position still.
But every day I’m checking, it is still ranking the first position. I don’t know. I’m out of options now. No, I can. I don’t know what I should do.
John 32:03
What I would do, first of all, is try to figure out if it’s a technical issue or not. Yeah, one, one way you could try to find out more there is to use the URL inspection tool. And…
SEO Professional 8 32:19
Yeah I used your inspection tool, with the old website also everything is–there is no error in the Search Console. I tried different crawlers also scanning for everything, everything is good. There is no error in everything. Now I also switched to AMP for–and the Core Web Vitals are 100% for the old website also. And for the new ones also.
There’s no error in the technical point of view and nothing like–it’s the homepage, I kind of not say it’s a quality issue because it can happen because it’s a Google thing. But I don’t think it’s a kind of quality thing, because Search Console is still saying I’m ranking on the first position, but I can’t find my website.
And the traffic has also gone like 90% off. I’m still getting the traffic from those keywords, but I can’t find my website. I try different IPs, countries, search engines, devices, but I can’t find my website anywhere.
John 33:21
Yeah, I mean, the check with the URL inspection tool is mostly to determine: is the page indexed or not? And from what you’re explaining it says it’s indexed, but it’s not ranking. At least when you search. And the thing with I think the the performance report in Search Console, especially the position number there is, that is based on what people actually saw.
And it can be the case that a small number of people saw your website, but when they did see it, it was ranking really well. And in those cases, we would say well, like that ranking is what we saw. It’s not, it doesn’t mean that it will always be ranking that high when people search, it might be that for a short period of time, it’s ranking at number one and then for a longer period of time it’s ranking at, I don’t know, position 200, for example.
And if nobody goes to number 200, then the only thing we see is that number one ranking. And that’s what we would show in Search Console then because we just essentially report on what people actually saw. And kind of the history that you said there with regards to, I moved to a new domain for a brief time, it was very good and then it disappeared again.
To me that hints very much at a bigger quality issue. Where when Google systems was able to understand your website again, it was like well, we’re not convinced. And kind of that period in between when Google says well, we don’t know much about this website yet. We will try to kind of treat it as something reasonable. That’s kind of that time when Google wasn’t even able to understand your website that well.
So to me, like without knowing your website, that sounds a lot like a quality issue. And sounds like something where it might help to have multiple people who are not associated with the website to also give you some tips and kind of say, like, here’s what you should be doing differently, or what you could be doing differently.
And I think as a site owner, when you’re running the website, you’re making the website, it’s sometimes really hard to take this kind of feedback. But it’s, I think it’s important, especially if you care about the bigger picture and the search traffic side of things.
