Most of my pages are gone

Google index

[marte5]

I have a website that consists of about 40 pages. Almost all the pages were indexed in Google last month. Lately I had a sudden drop in traffic, only to realize that all my pages except for two have dropped from the Google index.

Does anyone know why such a thing would happen and how could I bring my pages back into the Google index. All the pages have unique and original text. I have already uploaded a sitemap through Google's Webmaster tools.

Marte

[joelgreen]

Try clicking "similar pages" link on search results for your pages. Maybe someone has copied your content and made some SEO. In this case your pages could be assigned lower value, and pushed far from the top.
Or maybe your pages are not as unique as you think :(

[asinah]

Another reason could also be that the website in question is relative new and after a few weeks Google drops the traffic. It could take around 4-6 months before Google sends you any more traffic.

[marte5]

Thanks asinah,

The Web site is indeed recent. It is about six 4 months old. I am suprised! Is this a known Google practice to remove new Web sites from its index and then place them back after 4-6 months? Sounds strange. Where can I read about it more?

joelgreen,

I found nothing in "similar pages" therefore it doesn't seem as if anyone stole my content.

Marte

[netmeg]

I saw the same thing recently with a site I put together for some friends in a band, back in April. The entire site was indexed into Google in a couple of days, stayed there a couple of weeks, and then everything but the home page dropped out completely. The other pages only came back last week. I think it's just kind of standard practice with new sites.

[marte5]

Thanks! I feel a bit better now:)

Marte