Changed Website platform HTML to WordPress then Website Ranking Drop

[Jasmine11]

Dear Experts,

Recently I have converted my HTML website into WordPress. After the website updated Googlebot came to my website on Nov-22 and Indexed all the Pages of my Website. I checked my website ranking on Nov 23 Morning then I saw my website was dropped, Only 2 keywords were in Rank. My Website was in good position 350+ Keywords were in Rank. Now website speed is faster than before.

Bit, I don't know what is the reason for Ranking Drop, Now in my website too many 404 pages with Noindex tag. The developer builds my website using Tatsu Builder.

When updated WordPress website indexed in Google SERP than the Website ranking drop.
I want to recover my website ranking please help.

[goodroi]

Why do you have 404s? Using 301 redirects should avoid 404s (or greatly reduce them). Check your redirects.

[Jasmine11]

I have already set with

404 PAGE NOT FOUND
It seems we can’t find what you’re looking for. Perhaps searching can help.

[Jasmine11]

I want to know a reason for the ranking drop. Suddenly drop all the keywords from Google SERP when WordPress site index by Googlebot. Before my site was in HTML.

[goodroi]

Switching to wordpress changes many things. Some of those things can help you rank better & other things can hurt your rankings.

Google does not like 404 errors. Instead you should use 301 redirects so users trying to visit an old html page will seamlessly be redirected to the new wordpress page. This will also preserve the SEO link power which will help Google rankings. You might want to do a full audit on your wordpress settings to ensure you are utilizing SEO best practice.

[tangor]

I want to know a reason for the ranking drop.

Your site CHANGED. To g it is not the same site, thus starting over at ZERO.

Sometimes if it ain't broke, don't fix it.

Wordpress is common as blue sky ... and that's EVERYWHERE, thus diluted in some regards. WP is also open to all kinds of malicious attacks and server loads, thus taking on a hit in that regard.

Was there a reason to move to WP when you had a functioning website with good keyword stats?

Note, going back is probably not an option as that would send a flux signal to g ... so work on making sure there are NO 404s being generated. All redirects must be correct and on target.

That said, this month (November) the reports of site losses on g ranking are growing and perhaps it is something else at work none of us actually know about.

Just check all your redirects! Throwing 404s is not a good thing!

ON THE OTHER HAND, the spammer scammers send zillions of bogus requests that will always result in 404s ... though WP installations are more targeted in that regard than any other CMS (it is more common).

Lock it down!

Wishing all best results!

[n0tSEO]

In my experience, when your change URL structure or any URL becomes available even temporarily (just the time you need for the overhaul), your rankings will either drop or somehow "reset" and it will take a few days to some weeks to recover.

P.S. I wonder if even partial changes to a page code after an HTML-to-WP switch somehow contribute to the "reset". However, this is a suspect and I should look into it further myself, so take this thought with more grains of salt. ;)

[not2easy]

I want to know a reason for the ranking drop.

You have your answer:

Now in my website too many 404 pages with Noindex tag.

If you have "too many 404 pages", that means that the pages you had in the SERPs are gone. You can't keep a position without the content that got you to that position. Your old pages should have been 301 redirected to land on their replacement pages. The "noindex" part of your page is never seen if it is gone and returns a 404 error so that is irrelevant. Every html page that was on the site should have been redirected to land on your wordpress page that took its place. Without that, you have a completely new site that needs to start over to be found and earn its new place in the results.

[lucy24]

I have converted my HTML website into WordPress

No. You haven’t. You have possibly converted hand-rolled HTML into HTML that is generated by WordPress. But it’s still HTML; that’s what web pages use.

too many 404 pages with Noindex tag

What does 404 have to do with noindex? If a search engine can’t find a page, it won’t index it anyway--in the functional sense of “page will come up in response to ordinary human searches”.

Google does not like 404 errors.

They don’t dislike 404s half as much as they dislike bogus redirects. Only redirect if there is an exact equivalent to the old URL. Otherwise serve a 410, and make sure you have a nice useful custom 410 page. (On many sites you can get away with using the same physical page as your custom 404, but make sure you have something defined.)

404 PAGE NOT FOUND
It seems we can’t find what you’re looking for. Perhaps searching can help.

Searching what? Does your custom 404 page include a link to site search? The visitor probably got there from a search engine in the first place, and you really want to avoid error messages that inspire snarky replies.

[glakes]

As others have stated, your loss in ranks is because you failed to properly migrate the site to a new platform. All old URLs should have been mapped to the new Wordpress URLs, with 301 redirects in place, prior to going live. You need to get busy adding the redirects now or you may be permanently screwed.

The previous sitemap.xml file, or other URL record, may help you in your mapping efforts. Go URL by URL and add the 301 redirects to the correct live Wordpress URL page.

[not2easy]

404 PAGE NOT FOUND
It seems we can’t find what you’re looking for. Perhaps searching can help.

That appears to be the default WordPress 404 response page which includes site search. In WordPress, there is typically a site search on every page. If you have created a custom 404 page that is referenced in the .htaccess file, it will not function within WP.

[Jasmine11]

Dear Experts, If I move my WP site to the previous HTML site, then my ranking will recover or not?

Means, before converted to WP my site was in a good position and Now I want to upload my previous HTML website.

I want to recover my ranking Please tell me this process will help or not?

[browndog]

I moved to WP two years ago from an old and clunky joomla site/Duda mobile, the drop happened immediately and I have never recovered. Given up now.

There is a plugin called 'redirect to a similar page' or something which can be helpful if you have a lot of missing pages.

[tangor]

Are you speak of uploading a BACK UP of your original site and removing the WP upgrade?

If that is what you are saying then yes, you can do that, but again, g will see this change then reverse change as "unusual activity" and it is unlikely you will regain ALL you once had, but might get close to what you once had ... as all the rest of the web which is linking to you will return to "normal".

Can't say you get it all back, but it might be a sight better than what you are currently experiencing.

YMMV

Good luck!

[not2easy]

Because of the changes and errors, recovery would not be instant but you have a better chance with the previous site if you have a backup copy to upload after you uninstall the WordPress installation. Don't forget to remove the .sql and database that was set up for the WP install as that could cause future problems depending on where the keys are stored, faster server without it too.

Wordpress can be used to replace an existing html site but it requires a good understanding of WP and careful planning before flipping the switch.

[Jasmine11]

Thanks for the reply.
hello Mr. browndog, all the 404 are working in my wordpress site that means page is opening and then WP showing "404 PAGE NOT FOUND
It seems we can’t find what you’re looking for. Perhaps searching can help."

Today I checked Coverge Excluded results then It shows only 2 Not found (404) issues. and 190 pages showing Excluded by ‘noindex’ tag, these pages are working and opening with this text"404 PAGE NOT FOUND
It seems we can’t find what you’re looking for. Perhaps searching can help.".

[Jasmine11]

Yes, I have Backup copy previous HTML site. I am waiting only 2 days, If ranking not recover then I will upload my backup copy of html website

[Jasmine11]

Hello, Mr. tangor thanks for the reply, yes correct I am speaking of uploading a BACK UP of my original site.

[not2easy]

Pages that are

opening with this text"404 PAGE NOT FOUND

means that they return a 404 error and those are not what most people consider to be "working".

The question on whether your ranking will or will not recover is not going to show up in 2 days, but you can figure out whether you need to wait or revert. Try to visit your old URLs from your html version by pasting old html page URLs in your browser's address bar to try to visit your old html pages. If all you see is a 404 error then you are not going to recover but may eventually see improved rank. It may take months depending on the size of the site.

It depends on how your WP was set up and why it has so many 404 pages. Have you submitted a new sitemap? (I would manually check it first before submitting and be sure you are submitting only pages and posts, not categories or tags)

Are the "Excluded by ‘noindex’ tag" your old html pages? If so, there are no redirects so the new WordPress pages are seen as all new. Essentially, if visits to old html pages give you a 404 "Not Found" error, then you can't possibly recover but you may eventually rank as before. Google sees it as a new site so you are starting over.

[StupidIntelligent]

Major code changes will take 6 months or more to come back; unless you were ranking for head keywords. Just wait it out.

[lucy24]

page is opening and then WP showing "404 PAGE NOT FOUND

What, exactly, do you mean by “page is opening”?

[tangor]

@Jasmine11 ... If you do decide to upload a backup in an attempt to recover lost rank, please report back on any success!

[londrum]

if the new version of the site was problem-free and miles better than the old version then maybe I’d wait it out, but given that it’s not I would probably switch back as soon as possible. I would still expect to take a hit, but it might be better than the big hit you’re taking now.

I feel your pain... I once did a huge change on my old successful site with a totally new layout, huge new sections, and google just dropped everything fifty places as if it was a brand new site.
It’s the fact that you changed so much in one go that they don’t like.

Now I don’t recommend making huge changes on a site that’s already ranking well. Change one section at a time and see how it goes before moving on to the next one... but don’t make wholesale changes across the entire site because you’re just asking for trouble.

[randle]

First thing I would recommend is to calm down - believe me I get the panic, been there many times myself but try not to quit and go all the way back to square one at the first sign of trouble. It sounds like (and I could be wrong given our collective language barrier) that you had an older site, that had no CMS functionality at all, and perhaps some other short comings due to that. Generally speaking most people move to WP because its the easiest path to making a site responsive, and it affords you far greater ease to make changes to the site.

So, you must have had a reason for converting over to WP; - what was it?

The other thought that comes to mind is was the site https before the switch? after the switch? never was with either?

And finally you have repeated the term "no-index" several times;

"Now in my website too many 404 pages with Noindex tag"

You want to be absolutely sure of what your doing and why with no-index tags. Why are you implementing that?

Take it slow and steady, and there are lots of really smart people here that will have good advice.

[Jasmine11]

My website is ranking well in the USA but in the USA there is no competition. Website Ranking dropped in the UK, In the UK high competition for my website.
I am not understanding, why website ranking dropped in the UK, not in the USA. If google hates huge changes on the site then website ranking should drop in all the countries.

[Jasmine11]

Today I am going to upload old backup on my website.

[nshep]

This sounds a lot like you made the switch without proper planning. If your URL structure changes, you need to adapt to that and set up proper redirects. However, if you have many 404 errors, this sounds like something else is wrong and someone made a mistake with the new site. You can reset to your old site and then do a proper analysis as to why your new website is messed up.

[tangor]

Today I am going to upload old backup on my website.

Keep us posted!

[tangor]

Meanwhile ... if not there already, this would be a good time to think about moving to https.

[tangor]

And ... review all changes for 301 redirects to pertinent urls in the new set up!