I used to come up on the second page of a google search for 'youth magazine' - that was two days ago - today, I don't even appear on the 5th page....also if you entered my website name in google two days ago, my site would come up first...now it doesnt even list my site, it brings up blogs and other sites mentioning my site...plus I was on a social network just now and was sending someone a private message and mentioned my site URl - normally it would pick up on the site description and meta data and even include a snap shot of the website in the message...this time it didn't, it just had my web address and the words 'manage domain'...now my domain name is not due to expire for another five years so I don't know why it would say that or what is going on...any ideas...
I should also mention that when google used to index my site, it would list is as www.sitename.com but if i search for my site, it comes up bottom of the page, after blogs and other sites and it is listed as: www.sitename.com/index.php does this mean it doesnt think my site exists? But it is picking up on some of the articles I have on the site - I'm confused.
A lot of people are reporting drops in serps lately. The first round was about a week ago. One of my sites took a hit a few days ago, and ranks page 2 for its name. Lot's of garbage and irrelevant listings now hold the top ten. Let's hope Google fixes the problem. To see what page of your site are indexed, use the site operator: site:www.yoursitenamehere.com
I have also noticed the crappy results! My sites have also been hit and dropped a few positions which of course is taking its toll. Google has also decreased the number of backlinks for my site and I guess that has a big affect on the overall SERPs. Gota do more link building I guess!
Dropping your site SERP is normal to all....build more backlinks and continue to promote your site...it will come back soon it you do this...
I just had the same problem today, usually it happens for one or two of my pages at a time and comes back after three days, I guess that's an indication for me to enjoy the Christmas holiday.
This is nothing that I would remotely consider normal. My Website in question is in a very unique and non competitive niche. For my business name (site name and domain as well), I compete with a whopping 6,000 sites. I rank number 18 for my business name and have nearly 1,000 white hat backlinks. Sites ranking number 7 and 11 are parked domains with no backlinks at all. Just a week ago I ranked number one for my name and in the top five for countless related keywords. From what I am seeing in this niche is that Google through relevancy out the window.
Now I have a better picture of how things work with google. Thanks to everyone for taking the time to respond.