Pages disapearing from Google index...?!?

[SEOMG]

So I occasionally run our site through the Website Grader tool from Hubspot - I'm sure there are more accurate ways of getting this info, but it seems a nice way to gather it all up in a simple report...

I ran it through the other day & have around 80 pages less indexed in Google than I did a couple of weeks ago...

Any ideas? I know the actual amount in the index is what's important, but there must be a point of reference these tools use, so why has it changed?

Is there ever a case where Google drops pages from it's index if they've not changed/developed in any way? We've not changed the site in any way to effect this change, so I'm stumped???

Cheers,

Tom

[urb100]

I noticed similar things with website grader but most of the time it's the grader's prob not google's.

Check back in a week, and things should be fine.

And like you said, site command on google or yahoo explorer gives more accurate pic than website grader.

my 2 cnets.

[SEOMG]

Thanks - was hoping others had similar issues, though it's a shame, as it's a cracking tool to use with clients given it's simplicity in reporting the basics...

Be interested to know what reference point this & similar tools use though & why it may show such large variation!?

[danlefree]

As discussed in the What's happening with the Google Index? thread, Google's first-page reporting will vary a bit (and it may vary fairly significantly between Google datacenters).

The grading utility you are using is most likely scraping the total pages figure off of the first page of Google's site: operator results (and it will be hitting the datacenter closest to its hosting, not the datacenter nearest you).

[deepsand]

However, as DCs are periodically synchronized, one would not expect pages once known to a given DC to later vanish.

[danlefree]

However, as DCs are periodically synchronized, one would not expect pages once known to a given DC to later vanish.

Ah, but then you get into the problem of whether redirected content / non-canonical content has been purged from one index and not the other. I believe that was a part of the potential downfall of the first-page estimate for total pages returned, yes?

[deepsand]

Interesting thought.

As an SE never physically removes anything from its indices, but rather flags it so that it is logically not used for certain purposes, and such changes should be marked with a time/date stamp, it is then theoretically the case that such "purging" should not result in other than a temporary loss of synchronization.

However, as has oft times been noted, while there is, in theory, no difference between theory and practice, in practice there is frequently a great deal of difference.

[Clint1]

So I occasionally run our site through the Website Grader tool from Hubspot - I'm sure there are more accurate ways of getting this info, but it seems a nice way to gather it all up in a simple report...

I ran it through the other day & have around 80 pages less indexed in Google than I did a couple of weeks ago...

Any ideas? I know the actual amount in the index is what's important, but there must be a point of reference these tools use, so why has it changed?

Is there ever a case where Google drops pages from it's index if they've not changed/developed in any way? We've not changed the site in any way to effect this change, so I'm stumped???

Cheers,

Tom

Tom that's typical, been going on for many years and generally nothing you can do about it (assuming the pages are "ok"). This post goes into some of the detail why.

I've found that if you change a page, and if it's already ranked well, they'll screw you. If it ain't broke don't fix it.

Also, it's not "the actual amount in the index is what's important", it's the amount in the main index, and the amount that shows up well for searches that's important. I'd much rather have them trash some lesser important-to-me pages if that somehow resulted in more of the more important pages ranking well.

[SEOMG]

Thanks for the responses guys. I know the tool is a little crude & changeable, but got the fear a little when 25% of the indexed pages just dropped off!

I'd been referring to the grader every so often to monitor rough progress, and it normally raises a smile, so maybe I was a little sensitive to the sudden backwards movement. Maybe as more & more people use a tool like this, they have to re-jig their rating system... Having looked closer, a couple of our competitors have dropped off somewhat too!

Thanks again...