Why your site got deindexed from Google and what to do about it
If your website suddenly disappears from Google search results, it can be a stressful experience.
A significant drop in traffic with no clear explanation and the absence of a penalty usually means your site, in the eyes of Google, has fallen out of favor and potentially below the quality threshold.
This article explains why sites get deindexed, what to check first, and how to recover if it happens to you.
What does ‘deindexed’ mean?
When a page or a whole website is deindexed, it means Google has removed it from its search index.
As a result, your site won’t appear in search results for any keywords, not even when you search your domain name.
Sometimes, you may be partially deindexed, in which some pages may still be indexed and served by Google, but the vast majority of specific subfolders are removed from both serving and indexing.
Why Google might deindex a site
Whether it’s a technical mistake, a manual action, or a broader trust issue, understanding the root cause is the first step to getting your site back on track.
Below are some common reasons why Google might deindex a site and what to look for in each case.
Rogue noindex directive
If your pages have a <meta name=”robots” content=”noindex”> tag or an X-Robots-Tag: noindex HTTP header, Google will remove them from the index after crawling them.
From experience, this is most likely to occur when:
- A developer has misapplied a noindex sitewide when it was meant for specific pages.
- The noindex directive from staging is pushed to production during a deployment.
- Issues with CMS plugins setting noindex on large portions of the content.
Robots.txt blocking crawling
The robots.txt file tells Googlebot which subfolder it is allowed to crawl.
If it blocks important areas of the site, such as /blog/ or /products/, Google may be unable to access, process, and index your content.
This doesn’t directly cause deindexing, but it can lead to compounding issues such as:
- Inability to access pages.
- There is no way for Google to confirm if noindex or other directives have changed.
- Gradual drop in visibility if your pages are considered stale or inaccessible.
Server issues
A 5xx server error appears when your server is unavailable while Googlebot attempts to crawl your site.
Google could alter its crawling strategy if it detects multiple server errors from your site.
- Crawl your site less often.
- Temporarily remove inaccessible pages from the index.
This won’t cause immediate deindexing, but it can get worse over time.
Googlebot may reduce its crawl rate if your server struggles to handle its requests and regular user traffic.
This can slow the discovery of new or updated content.
Web application firewall (WAF) issues
Firewalls, DDoS protection systems (like Cloudflare), or server security rules can accidentally block Googlebot.
This is becoming more prevalent as CDNs respond to AI platforms’ increased crawl activities.
The desire to block Google Gemini has caused the accidental blocking of Googlebot.
You must make sure to allow Googlebot’s IP ranges, user-agent, and any other search engine crawlers that drive valuable traffic to your site.
DNS issues
When Googlebot tries to crawl your site, it first resolves your domain name to an IP address using DNS.
If your DNS server is misconfigured, slow, or unavailable, Googlebot can’t find your site.
If your domain isn’t correctly pointing to your web server (e.g., wrong A record or CNAME), Googlebot might crawl the wrong server or receive 404/5xx errors, which affects indexing.
JavaScript rendering issues
Search engines might have trouble rendering if your website is built with JavaScript frameworks like React or Vue.
When this happens, Google may crawl your site but not find any content, leading to a drop in indexing.
It’s common for ecommerce websites to be shown in Google Search Console, as Google overrides the canonical and points to a random page or product page.
Dig deeper: A guide to diagnosing common JavaScript SEO issues
Recovering after deindexing
Recovering from de-indexing varies by issue since restoring your site’s status might require an extended and complex process.
Addressing technical problems at the initial stage enables quicker recovery than fixing site quality or user experience problems.
Review and improve your content
Take a close look at your site’s content.
Identify any pages that are:
- Low in quality.
- Duplicated from other websites.
- Auto-generated.
- Packed with keywords.
Google wants helpful, original content that serves users, not pages created to game the system.
If most of your content falls short of this standard, you must rewrite or remove the affected pages.
Focus on building valuable, user-friendly content that answers fundamental questions or solves problems.
Dig deeper: The complete guide to optimizing content for SEO (with checklist)
Resolve any technical SEO issues
Technical errors are a common cause of unintentional deindexing.
Beyond the technical SEO basics of blockers in your robots.txt file or accidental noindex being pushed, other technical issues can go undetected by essential technical auditing tools that can cause mass deindexing.
After fixing the issues
Once you’ve fixed the issues, you can submit a reconsideration request through Google Search Console if manual action was applied.
Be honest and specific about what you’ve done to resolve the problem. It can take a few weeks to hear back.
If your site was deindexed due to a technical error and not a penalty, you won’t need a reconsideration request.
In that case, re-submit your sitemap to Google Search Console and wait for Google to crawl your site.
While you wait for your pages to be re-indexed, you can still drive traffic from other sources, such as social media or email.
This won’t replace search traffic in the long term but can help keep things moving.
Staying indexed in the future
After recovering, you must maintain vigilant oversight of your website’s performance. Keep your content updated and valuable.
Monitor your index status and backlinks regularly.
Steer clear of easy fixes, such as purchasing backlinks or duplicating other people’s content.
Google needs to ensure full access to all published JavaScript-intensive site content.
Deindexing doesn’t always come with a warning.
Signs of trouble emerge gradually through a drop in impressions and pages that vanish from search results without notice.
Detecting these issues is possible through API monitoring and ongoing technical health checks of your website.
Final thoughts
Experiencing deindexing from Google might seem like a significant problem, but recovery is possible.
Your site will regain presence in search results if you identify the root cause, adequately address the situation, and conduct follow-up actions with Google.
You should respond swiftly while focusing on sustained quality instead of temporary solutions.
After re-indexing your pages, you will be better positioned to handle future issues.