Search engine ranking especially Google is important for any businesses. Working as a Web Design and Internet marketing consultant, I often receive enquiries from customers for whom I have designed websites or assisted with search engine optimisation. One of the most common questions is to do with fall in the rank of a company’s website on Google.

My web design company itself relies heavily on SEO. A majority of our new business is generated from the high Google rank of the company’s website and the traffic it receives as a result. In the past, we have seen considerable drop in traffic on days when our website rank for our main keyword ‘Web Design Company’ has fallen. And by following these simple steps, our rank was reinstated.

What should you do when Google rank falls?

1) Don’t panic

Google updates its search algorithms regularly, sometimes every few days. From experience I have learnt that it is possible for a websites rank to fluctuate. My own company’s website fluctuates quite often. In hindsight I have learnt that if I took drastic steps every time my rank fell, I would have ended up damaging the rank of my website in the long term. Google advises against making drastic changes to a website. On many occasions, the fall in rank is only temporary. It is only important to act if the rank of your website continues to fall over a period of time.

2) Retrace your steps

Assuming that you have ruled out temporary fluctuations in rank, you should start by investigating any possible steps that you could have taken in the past that could have contributed to the fall in the rank of your website. If you perform SEO tasks frequently, then you should check to see if any of your recent tasks could have resulted in a fall in your website’s rank. You can easily confirm your doubts by retracing your steps and monitoring the results. This is common if using black hat techniques. Overuse of keywords, alt tags, headings or links on a single page of your website can easily result in fall in Google ranking.

3) Avoid Drastic Changes to your website

You should avoid drastic changes to your website. Although It is important to take action it is equally important to ensure they are done slowly and that you have sufficient time to evaluate the impact of each action that is performed. Search engines especially Google can penalise a website for making drastic changes too quickly. You should avoid this at all cost.

4) Check for server outages

It is also possible that your server was down when Google crawlers last visited your website. In some cases this can also account for sudden fall in rank. However if this is the case then you are likely to get your rank back when Google crawlers re-visit your site again.

5) Check incoming links

Incoming links to a website is one of the most important factors in determining its rank on Google. You should check to see that all your incoming links are valid. More importantly, you should check to see if any of the websites linking to you have been penalised recently. They are often referred to as links from bad neighbourhood sites. Google evaluates the quality of your incoming links from time to time and a recent update could have resulted in your site being devalued.

6) Check you outgoing links

You should also take a close look at all outgoing links from your website. It is possible that some of the sites you are linking out to have been recently penalised or flagged as bad neighbourhood sites. You can also check to verify that none of the links are broken. Offering paid links on your website is also sure to cause a drop in your Google ranking.

7) Check for Malware or security warnings

Google maintains an active list of sites that pose a threat to visitors to presence of Malware or virus on the site. You should also check to see if Google has flagged your website with a Malware or security warnings. This is usually a result of hacking. There are many online tools that you can use to check if your website has a malware.

8) Use Google Webmaster Tools

Google Webmaster Tools is a powerful resource for all website owners and webmasters. It can help identify common issues that could be affecting your websites rank. It also identifies possible areas for improvements. Google Webmaster Tools can also provide information on broken links, site accessibility and issues with crawling. All this can help with improving the rank of your website o Google. If your site has been de-listed or flagged with a malware warning, you can submit a re-inclusion request from Google Webmaster Tools after fixing the errors.

9) Write new content

It is possible for your website to be devalued if you have not published new content for some time. In any case, new content on your website will have a positive effect on your rank. You should add new content to your website. You should ensure the content is well written and keyword rich. You should also make sure that content is not added very frequently but spread over time.

10) Continue with other organic methods to promote your site

You should continue with other organic methods to improve your Google ranking. Press release and articles work well. You should write a new press release and submit it to all major press release websites. Similarly, you should write a new keyword rich article and submit it to all leading article directories. This will provide a boost to your back links and overall Google ranking. You should ensure that too many submissions are not done at the same time.

The author K.Singh is a London based Internet Consultant with over 10 years of experience working with established multi national businesses as well as SME’s.  He is an expert in  Web Design, Internet Marketing, E-Commerce, Joomla and Search engine Optimisation.