One of the dilemmas of a website owner or a webmaster, for that matter, is having Google de-index the site. Once this happens, website traffic will definitely be hit hard. Regardless of the reason, whether it was your own doing or you were clueless of what went wrong along the way, being removed from the Google index is not good for any business that relies on having web presence. According to research, a big chunk of direct web traffic is a result of organic searches. Having said this, being de-indexed can lead to reduced sales and consequently, less profit.
However, this is not all bad news since there are ways to reclaim the spot, so to speak. This can even be a chance for you to improve your site. If your WordPress site has been blocked from Google index, it pays to start recovery at once. The sooner you deal with the issue, the bigger the chance you can have your website re-indexed in just a week. This is, of course, if your site was not permanently removed from the index. It’s best to know the possible reasons you got penalized and how to get Google to get you back on the index list.
GETTING BACK ON THE GOOGLE INDEX LIST AFTER BEING DE-INDEXED
There are a myriad of reasons Google considers in order to penalize a website and block it from the index. It can be a server problem or an action from your end that was deliberately done to increase your rankings yet it did not conform to Google’s Webmaster Guidelines. This is why it is essential to review your website content and check for irregularities.
WORDPRESS SEARCH ENGINE VISIBILITY SETTINGS
There is an option in WordPress settings in which website owners can enable to keep search engines from indexing the site. This comes in handy if your site is still under construction or you are tweaking the pages. Unfortunately, this area is often overlooked by site owners. Perhaps you or anyone who is authorized to access your WordPress unintentionally checked the box requesting Google not to index the site. Have this corrected by allowing search engines to index your site. First, login to your WordPress and go to Settings on the left side of the page. Next, on the menu under Settings, choose the Reading sub-menu and you will see the Search Engine Visibility box. If it is enabled, uncheck the box to allow search engines to crawl your site. Last, do not forget to select the Save Changes toolbox.
Sign In to Google Search Console
Websites that have been de-indexed get notified about it through this support from Google. This was used to be referred to as Webmaster Tools. By signing in, you can add your site URL and verify that you own the website. After, you can learn about the indexing of your website. In WordPress, this is easy. Simply log in to your Search Console and you will see three submenus on the dashboard: Messages, Crawl Errors and Security Issues. Here, you will get a feedback from Google on relevant issues about your site.
Request for Reconsideration
Getting back on the index list is as simple as resubmitting your WordPress site to the Google index search. Before you do this, however, it’s important that you have corrected all the mistakes in your website, its architecture and if you have been notified about malware, take the necessary steps to fix this issue.
Removal from Google index can be challenging but there are ways you can have your WordPress site back on the list. You just need to know how to handle it.
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