"I have a WordPress site with a blog that was ranking 2nd in search results. I mistakenly applied a no-index tag on the categories page, thinking it would only affect that page. However, I believe it removed my 2nd place post from the search index. I quickly reverted the change. Will my post come back or am I in trouble?"
It is possible that accidentally applying a no-index tag to your categories page could have deindexed your blog post, causing it to disappear from search results. While you quickly reverted the change, Google’s search engine takes time to re-crawl and re-index websites.
Here are some steps you can take:
- Submit your blog post to Google Search Console: This will help Google prioritize crawling your post again.
- Wait for Google to re-crawl: It can take several days or even weeks for Google to re-index your site and re-rank your post.
- Check for other indexing issues: Ensure that there are no other factors preventing Google from indexing your post, such as broken links or incorrect meta tags.
- Monitor your search rankings: Use Google Search Console to track your blog post’s position in search results.
It’s important to note that even after you have fixed the no-index issue, it might take some time for your blog post to regain its previous position. Google’s algorithm considers various factors, and a temporary de-indexing could affect your ranking for a while.