There are light years and dog years, but what’s the unit of measurement for local business owners who saw their page ranking suddenly take a tumble due to technical problems on Google’s part? EZlocal has been fielding questions from customers since last Friday morning, April 5, 2019. We’re happy to do so, but we wanted to make mention of it here too, just for good measure—especially since it’s not quite as knotty as you might’ve expected.
If the prospect of your page being “de-indexed” sounds a little alarming to you, not to worry. You’re not alone.
First off, just know, there’s cause for optimism. There was a bug—so says Google. An estimated 4% of indexed sites were affected and it might as well be said: this kind of thing has happened before and this most recent instance won’t be the last time it does. However! Google has been quick to resolve these kinds of issues in the past and we have every reason to believe they’ll do likewise here. To be clear, it is unfortunate for local business owners who rely on their page’s hard-earned ranking. The issue shouldn’t be trivialized. A loss of ranking, however temporary, means a loss of traffic, a loss of conversion and ultimately, a loss of money. We hate to see that happen, but the saving grace here is this—it’s only a matter of time before the issue is resolved!
In the meantime, please note that there are a variety of ways to successfully compensate for the temporary loss. One of the first solutions that comes to mind is the more immediate gains you can see in a well-targeted Adword campaign. The results are easy to track and while there’s no one-size-fits-all solution for online marketing, most users agree that it’s great to have control of when their ads are shown (Adwords makes it easier to target peak windows while keeping your budget under control). Another solution is to simply notify our social media department. Don’t hesitate to reach out to your account manager. A quick conversation and we’ll have you in the capable hands of our SM team who can work to diffuse the hit within the context of another platform, whether it’s Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter.
In any case, have no doubt, there are numerous solutions to combat any (temporary!) negative impact that this Google mishap has had on your business. Just a friendly reminder from your online allies here at EZlocal!
