Disappeared from Google searches. Any help please

[Prosperity]

For the last 3 years or so my site has ranked top 4 in multiple search terms on page 1 of Google mainly position one or 2.
For some reason we have vanished. Now in pages 3/4. The only thing that has changed recently is that we had our site made secure to HTTPS with as it was showing non secure. My host tells me this isn't an issue.
I'm totally at a loss. We have the most 5 star Google reviews. 176 over 300 Facebook reviews and 3 thousand likes.
I'm genuinely at a loss. Can Google penalise us for having higher reviews than everyone else bizarre as it may seem.
I don't do anything sneaky to bump the site either.
We've noticed with the lack of internet generated phone calls too so it is having an effect
Appreciate any help.

 

[fisicx]

Is your host pointing the http to https? If not it probably means google probably thinks the site has gone missing. Would need to know the domain name to check things.

As an aside, facebook likes are ignored by google. The FB reviews probably don't count for much either.

 

[Prosperity]

I contacted my host who doesn't think there's an issue as the site is indexed and ranked.
Definitely something amiss .
It's not ranked my end. Just try searching for tyres st Helens. We were always first or second. Then any variant such as... Car tyres. Cheap tyres. New tyres etc all with the location. We're nowhere... My site is www.stonetyres.net
Thanks

 

[fisicx]

It's the http v https thing. Google thinks you are http not https:

https://www.google.co.uk/search?sou.....0...1c.1.64.psy-ab..1.0.0.0...0.GWFU8A46qs0

Your host needs to set up the redirection so google knows about the change.

 

[Prosperity]

Thanks very much fiscicx I'll cut and paste this to them as I'm not the most IT aware. Really appreciate your help

 

[UKSBD]

Although it shows OK it appears to be returning a 500 error message when checking the headers.
Check that you are not blocking any scripts

 

[Wood Flooring Guy]

google treats it as a different site, but as i remember when we done it the drop only lasted a week or so.

you may need to set up a 301 permanent redirect....cant remember how that was done for us... also set up the new https version in webmaster tools and verify the ownership, then request reindexing.

regards
dave

 

[UKSBD]

The redirect looks fine, it's the 500 header return that is the problem.

You need to find out what is causing the 500 return (it's not all pages, the blog section looks fine)

If you don't do this quick Google will deindex you

 

[Prosperity]

Thanks for all the input. My host has seen this thread and is actioning all the required points. Really appreciate the help as IT is definitely not my forte.
Just hope we get back on Google searches quickly as it's really hitting the new business enquiries...

 

[Prosperity]

Apparently from speaking with my host it wasnt anything to do with the http HTTPS thing. This is just coincidental timing I've put 2 and 2 together and as usual came up with 5.
The 500 error was from a Facebook script.
The Facebook link has been down for well over a month with no effect on our ranking so it must have only just been picked up. I'm not fully technical with how it's been resolved but something has been made bigger to allow the script to run and not return an error but instead state it on the page? Anyway he thinks this will sort it so fingers crossed. I just want the site back on page 1 and the phone ringing again :-(

 

[UKSBD]

You need to add the Https version of site to search console now, fetch as Google and submit for indexing.

 

[Prosperity]

@UKSBD thanks. Are you sure that still needs doing. I've been told it is nothing to do at all with the https as this was all carried out correctly?

 

[fisicx]

Search for your site with https and Google still thinks you should be http. You have to tell google https is the default.

 

[UKSBD]

It doesn't really need doing if it's a good strong site but may speed up the process of Google knowing that site is back online

Little tip.
Never trust a browser, check headers responses and source code frequently

 

[Prosperity]

It doesn't really need doing if it's a good strong site but may speed up the process of Google knowing that site is back online

Little tip.
Never trust a browser, check headers responses and source code frequently

I wish I knew how to do that it would certainly make life easier. I hate when things are out of my control and it's not something I can personally fix... I'll go back to my host again and ask him to put HTTPS as the default..

Is there any rough idea how long it will be before my business has its invisibility cloak removed and we get back to plenty of phone calls...?

 

[UKSBD]

It's not really something a host should be doing for you, they shouldn't really be responsible for your bad scripts, so make sure you thank them.

Do you have a Google account and webmaster tools set up?
If not, get it set up and add site to it.

Looks like Google has re-indexed the site already, so should be back in same positions soon.
Unless off course ranking drops were related to the latest Google update.

You also need to add the https version to your the allowed sites of your maps api (or generate a new api key for the https version)

You have a listing in my directory, I've updated your listing to https and set you up a free upgrade

 

[Prosperity]

It's not really something a host should be doing for you, they shouldn't really be responsible for your bad scripts, so make sure you thank them.

Do you have a Google account and webmaster tools set up?
If not, get it set up and add site to it.

LoE]

Thanks for this I'vw clearly got some work to do today.

I'll definitely look into the Google account and webmaster. I have g suite .I have the Google business app so I'm assuming I have an account that I can add webmaster tools too.

Re the host shouldn't really be doing this...
All I know is the site was too of Google consistently for 3 years. I asked the host to change to secure and this happened
I don't just pay for hosting I pay for web management at £100 a year and then when I brought up there were other issues with the site such as the FB reviews not being there the instagram not loading properly and a header not opening . He suggested I buy another add on the web developer add on at £120 a year, which I did.
I have praised to the rooftop my host on here before even to the point of others complaining and am always courteous and genuinely appreciate his help.

I'll pay whatever it is to fix, I'm not after charity I just want my site fixing. I just thought with the add ons it was his remit if not I am happy to pay someone else to fix it I just need my business back up and running .

Appreciate everyone's input in this thread

 

[fisicx]

The problem with your low cost management contract is you will only ever get the bare minimum of support. Changing from http to https seems simple but it can have all sorts of ramifications as you have discovered.

Every time a change is made it needs testing and checking to make sure everything still works.

Regarding Instagram and Facebook, why do you even needs these? You want people coming from those platforms not visitors leaving the site and going elsewhere.

 

[Prosperity]

The problem with your low cost management contract is you will only ever get the bare minimum of support. Changing from http to https seems simple but it can have all sorts of ramifications as you have discovered.

Every time a change is made it needs testing and checking to make sure everything still works.

Regarding Instagram and Facebook, why do you even needs these? You want people coming from those platforms not visitors leaving the site and going elsewhere.

The Facebook reviews being visible on the front page of the site brought us a massive amount of work. We always ask where people seen us and the amount of people that say they seen all our reviews on the website and that's why they use us..

Instagram I had on there because everyone we get a nice car in it goes on Instagram. To save duplicating the work these then went over to the website to showcase the work we done.

We never found that customers left the site to go to the social media and even if they did in the case of FB the action button takes them back to the site to order tyres.

Everything was working great up until just over amonth ago when the insta and fb feeds died. But we still maintained the highest ranking.

Now we're invisible..

Who should I look for to sort issues like this if the add ons don't cover it?
Cheers

 

[UKSBD]

remove the facebook and Instagram feeds until you know they are working

at the moment they are stopping your footer from loading correctly

 

[Ginger Egg]

Run an SEO Audit and fix any errors. There are algorithm changes all the time and despite what Google says this is leading to businesses disappearing from Rankings.

 

[Calvin Crane]

Ranking changes because you moved across to https are typical and google needs to be told explicitly with the redirect to help things speed along. It looks like it is showing up first page on google now for 'billinge tyres'. You should do social media marketing as well as search engine marketing. Word of mouth on facebook locally is really working out for many people.

 

[justinaldridge]

I am seeing your site at #2 for "tyres st helens" so it looks like it's back. Id your traffic back to normal levels?

 

[MatMan]

Hi there,

A few points to consider;

• According to Ahrefs, your organic rankings have been increasing (just thought I'd mention it)
• You don't appear to have many links to your site, building a few more may help.
• The page titles look like a SEO agency has blasted through them, they're not really engaging, many are too long and look like they're stuffing keywords a bit
• META descriptions could also be improved.

The thing I'd most be concerned about is that horrid interstitial that pops up on your pages. Unfortunately I can't show the screenshot I took because I haven't posted enough, but when I land on one of your town/area specific pages the website is concealed by a white screen with some text only offer that looks like it was hurried together.

Not only is this a problem because my first though is "ah sh**! malware! virus! phising scam!" but google also introduced a penalty for this sort of thing. My advice would be to remove it ASAP!

 

[EmployMe]

Migration from http to htttps could be the reason. When we moved our website, we left sitemap for http together with https version for 6 months.
Are you sure that you did 301 redirects correctly?

 

[adamuk18]

You are supposed to vanish from the results. How do you think Google make money. I gave up along time ago on 'organic'

I guess there are many a business that had number 1 spot organic (I had my fair share) but Google only want you to have that position a short while. Then they want your £££

 

[PawUK]

I read in one of your replies that the problem was a 500 error from a Facebook script.. that was the cause.

For other reading this: switching from http to https is most probably NOT an issue. I have done this switch so many times. It's just a different protocol.. it's NOT the same as changing from www to non-wee or changing domain names.

Going from http to httpS is a pretty simple and straightforward process:

1) Buy and install a SSL certificate or us a free one (search for "let's encrypt")

This makes your site 'trusted' and makes the httpS 'work'.
Your site is now availabe on both https and https

2) Redirect all https traffic to https - this can be done on a server level (.htaccess rules) or in the content management system (Wordpress, etc) - just change the base address of the site to use httpS - follow instructions specifically for your cms.

3) Change internal links from http to httpS - to not confuse things - but since you have redirects in place, it will still work. update robots.txt to use https if not done automatically.

In fact, you should setup internal links as -relative- ..that is without the http/https and domain name in the link - this way you can even switch domain names without having to change the links (as they are all relative to the page linked from)

Hope this helps

 

[Ben F]

For the last 3 years or so my site has ranked top 4 in multiple search terms on page 1 of Google mainly position one or 2.
For some reason we have vanished. Now in pages 3/4. The only thing that has changed recently is that we had our site made secure to HTTPS with as it was showing non secure. My host tells me this isn't an issue.
I'm totally at a loss. We have the most 5 star Google reviews. 176 over 300 Facebook reviews and 3 thousand likes.
I'm genuinely at a loss. Can Google penalise us for having higher reviews than everyone else bizarre as it may seem.
I don't do anything sneaky to bump the site either.
We've noticed with the lack of internet generated phone calls too so it is having an effect
Appreciate any help.

Hi, Check if the Website is still in Google Index
This step helps to check whether Google has removed your website from its index completely. Go to Google and type site:[your domain url].

Reasons for the website not showing up:

• error in the robots.txt
• you should have committed something viewed as a crime in Google’s eyes and your website should have been banned by Google for severe breaching of the Google webmaster guidelines. This is a major issue. Otherwise, you might have offended Google lightly and likely get a rank suppression (there are rrumorson the internet that Google might suppress your ranking by 50 or so). But that should be rare.