Banished from Google

A couple of weeks ago, I noticed that traffic to my Jazz Podcast website had dramatically dropped. I was puzzled as to why this was happening as I hadn't really changed anything on the website. About a week ago, I Googled the page and noticed that no matter what search phrases I used, I could not get a hit to my Podcast home page. It seemed I had been banished from Google. Of course, I freaked out. Over the course of a couple years I had implemented many techniques to improve my organic search rankings. I had improved my positions month after month till I came up second place when 'Jazz Podcast' is searched (only behind jazzpodcast.net). My podcast had become one of the most popular Jazz shows on the web. Page hits, podcast subscriptions, downloads and AdWord revenues were on the rise. All of this started to come crashing down in just a couple of weeks.

To try to find some resolution to the problem, I ended right back at Google and found Webmaster Tools. This site has a plethora of great information on how Google views your site, what phrases are returning the highest rankings and tips on improving your positioning.

While it gave me no clue as to why I had disappeared from Google, Webmaster Tools has a 'Reconsideration Form' that can be used to get Google to re-evaluate your site and place it back in the rankings. It took just a couple of days, and sure enough, my site reappeared... right back in second place where it belongs. A huge sigh of relief! I'm posting this info because it might be of help to others that find themselves in this situation.

When it comes to web traffic to your website, Google can giveth and can taketh away!!!