Skip to content
    Moz logo Menu open Menu close
    • Products
      • Moz Pro
      • Moz Pro Home
      • Moz Local
      • Moz Local Home
      • STAT
      • Moz API
      • Moz API Home
      • Compare SEO Products
      • Moz Data
    • Free SEO Tools
      • Domain Analysis
      • Keyword Explorer
      • Link Explorer
      • Competitive Research
      • MozBar
      • More Free SEO Tools
    • Learn SEO
      • Beginner's Guide to SEO
      • SEO Learning Center
      • Moz Academy
      • SEO Q&A
      • Webinars, Whitepapers, & Guides
    • Blog
    • Why Moz
      • Agency Solutions
      • Enterprise Solutions
      • Small Business Solutions
      • Case Studies
      • The Moz Story
      • New Releases
    • Log in
    • Log out
    • Products
      • Moz Pro

        Your all-in-one suite of SEO essentials.

      • Moz Local

        Raise your local SEO visibility with complete local SEO management.

      • STAT

        SERP tracking and analytics for enterprise SEO experts.

      • Moz API

        Power your SEO with our index of over 44 trillion links.

      • Compare SEO Products

        See which Moz SEO solution best meets your business needs.

      • Moz Data

        Power your SEO strategy & AI models with custom data solutions.

      Save big on Moz Pro!
      Limited time offer

      Save big on Moz Pro!

      See pricing
    • Free SEO Tools
      • Domain Analysis

        Get top competitive SEO metrics like DA, top pages and more.

      • Keyword Explorer

        Find traffic-driving keywords with our 1.25 billion+ keyword index.

      • Link Explorer

        Explore over 40 trillion links for powerful backlink data.

      • Competitive Research

        Uncover valuable insights on your organic search competitors.

      • MozBar

        See top SEO metrics for free as you browse the web.

      • More Free SEO Tools

        Explore all the free SEO tools Moz has to offer.

      Access the Moz API for less
      Save on Moz Data

      Access the Moz API for less

      Hurry - ends Dec 13th!
    • Learn SEO
      • Beginner's Guide to SEO

        The #1 most popular introduction to SEO, trusted by millions.

      • SEO Learning Center

        Broaden your knowledge with SEO resources for all skill levels.

      • On-Demand Webinars

        Learn modern SEO best practices from industry experts.

      • How-To Guides

        Step-by-step guides to search success from the authority on SEO.

      • Moz Academy

        Upskill and get certified with on-demand courses & certifications.

      • SEO Q&A

        Insights & discussions from an SEO community of 500,000+.

      Save 20% on all Moz Academy courses
      Limited time offer

      Save 20% on all Moz Academy courses

      Level up your SEO
    • Blog
    • Why Moz
      • Small Business Solutions

        Uncover insights to make smarter marketing decisions in less time.

      • Agency Solutions

        Earn & keep valuable clients with unparalleled data & insights.

      • Enterprise Solutions

        Gain a competitive edge in the ever-changing world of search.

      • The Moz Story

        Moz was the first & remains the most trusted SEO company.

      • Case Studies

        Explore how Moz drives ROI with a proven track record of success.

      • New Releases

        Get the scoop on the latest and greatest from Moz.

      Explore Moz updates & save up to 40%
      Big Savings!

      Explore Moz updates & save up to 40%

      See the latest
    • Log in
      • Moz Pro
      • Moz Local
      • Moz Local Dashboard
      • Moz API
      • Moz API Dashboard
      • Moz Academy
    • Avatar
      • Moz Home
      • Notifications
      • Account & Billing
      • Manage Users
      • Community Profile
      • My Q&A
      • My Videos
      • Log Out

    The Moz Q&A Forum

    • Forum
    • Questions
    • Users
    • Ask the Community

    Welcome to the Q&A Forum

    Browse the forum for helpful insights and fresh discussions about all things SEO.

    1. Home
    2. SEO Tactics
    3. Technical SEO
    4. Need help in diagnosing what I may be doing wrong

    Need help in diagnosing what I may be doing wrong

    Technical SEO
    seo expert seo ranking seo tactics
    8
    8
    278
    Loading More Posts
    • Oldest to Newest
    • Newest to Oldest
    • Most Votes
    Reply
    • Reply as question
    Log in to reply
    This topic has been deleted. Only users with question management privileges can see it.
    • SOM24
      SOM24 Subscriber last edited by

      I have a site that has been having problems ranking. Initially, spam rate was at 18%. I have since changed the URL and forwarded to the original so now the spam rate is under 5%. Phone calls started picking back up very slowly but then by August 2024 things came to a screeching halt. Phone has been dead and very little business has been written. I did notice on the robots.txt file it had this:

      User-agent: *
      Disallow: /
      User-agent: Googlebot
      Disallow:
      User-agent: bingbot
      Disallow: /no-bing-crawl/
      Disallow: wp-admin

      and now I have since changed it to this:
      User-agent: *
      Disallow: /wp-admin/
      Allow: /wp-admin/admin-ajax.php

      Sitemap: https://urlishere.com/sitemap_index.xml

      My question is what else do I need to do to get this site to start ranking again? We are blogging once a month, writing press releases once a month, updating the social media a few times a week. I feel like maybe there is something on the backend that needs to be done to get this site back to ranking. I am using SEO by Yoast and I have filled in the title and meta description fields for all pages. There is a spot in Yoast where I can validate the site with Google, Bing, etc. I'm trying to figure out how to do that. I do see in the site's Google Webmaster Tools there are several pages not indexing. Any ideas on what else I can do to get this site to start ranking again? Thank you.

      PurgeDigital chhamza7853 2 Replies Last reply Reply Quote 0
      • chhamza7853
        chhamza7853 @SOM24 last edited by

        @SOM24 I was facing the same problem on my website https://capcutprodl.com/. Check the robots.txt file to ensure that it's not blocking important pages from being indexed by search engines. Also, review your URL forwarding settings to ensure they're properly configured and not causing SEO issues.

        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
        • meltingpointgoat
          meltingpointgoat last edited by

          To get your site ranking again, it seems like you’ve laid a solid foundation, but there are a few additional strategies that could boost your efforts.

          You could conduct a thorough technical SEO audit. The fact that some pages aren’t indexing could indicate underlying issues like crawl errors, broken links, or duplicate content. Dive into Google Search Console to identify these problems. For example, accidental "noindex" tags or slow page speeds can block search engines from properly crawling your site. Fixing these can improve your site's visibility a lot.

          Also, focus on content refresh and expansion. Monthly blogging is a great start; just remember that Google favors websites that regularly update and expand their content. Go back to older posts and update them with fresh insights or new statistics. Perhaps consider creating longer, in-depth articles that provide real value to your audience, such as detailed how-tos or comprehensive guides. Something that responds to their pain points and offers a genuine solution. This shows search engines that your site is a source of expert information, which can help improve rankings over time.

          Don't ignore the strategies that can help indirectly with ranking, for example, try to drive more traffic or improve engagement. You can experiment with QR codes in your marketing efforts. By placing QR codes on product packaging or print materials, you can drive offline traffic directly to your site. Using trackable URLs in these QR codes helps you measure engagement and identify areas where your SEO efforts can be fine-tuned. This gives your site a boost in both traffic and relevance.

          Or work on event-based or location-specific marketing if possible. If your business participates in trade shows, events, or even collaborates with local businesses, you can place QR codes in high-traffic physical locations. These codes can direct users to exclusive online content, downloadable resources, or content tied to the location or event. By driving targeted traffic from offline events to these pages, you increase site traffic and improve user engagement and dwell time - both factors that Google considers in ranking. Plus, if the content users access through these QR codes is valuable and shareable, it could lead to natural backlinks, which further boosts SEO.

          Basically, all your marketing campaigns add up, contributing to better rankings. One last thing, check the latest Google core update, this could also be affecting your drop in rankings.

          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
          • themadrastiffins
            themadrastiffins last edited by

            Be specific about the issue. What is not working as expected?

            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
            • PurgeDigital
              PurgeDigital @SOM24 last edited by

              @SOM24 I highly suggest you run an audit of your current backlinks and try to identify if you have any toxic or spammy backlinks pointing to your site. If so, you can create a disavow file of the toxic links and submit to Search Console. Off-Page SEO is Important!

              1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
              • pixelsweb
                pixelsweb last edited by

                If you’re struggling with getting your site to rank again, I can help. With extensive experience in SEO optimization, content creation, and digital strategy, I specialize in crafting solutions that drive real results. Whether you need to boost your on-page SEO, fix indexing issues, build high-quality backlinks, or improve your site’s overall performance, I offer tailored services designed to meet your unique needs.

                1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                • Atlanta123
                  Atlanta123 last edited by

                  I was facing the same problem, but updating the sitemap solved this problem.

                  1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                  • sarahwalsh
                    sarahwalsh last edited by

                    Hi, have you changed the web design or lost any good links recently?

                    1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 2
                    • 1 / 1
                    • First post
                      Last post

                    Got a burning SEO question?

                    Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.


                    Start my free trial


                    Browse Questions

                    Explore more categories

                    • Moz Tools

                      Chat with the community about the Moz tools.

                    • SEO Tactics

                      Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers

                    • Community

                      Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!

                    • Digital Marketing

                      Chat about tactics outside of SEO

                    • Research & Trends

                      Dive into research and trends in the search industry.

                    • Support

                      Connect on product support and feature requests.

                    • See all categories

                    Related Questions

                    • CerenSEO

                      Remove the link from Google

                      reputation seo consulting seo expert pdf searchresultshelp

                      Hi,
                      I am new here and I have an issue to solve. I do not anything about SEO.
                      My ex harasses me using SEO and causing defamation by crawling unwanted website. Google does not remove the website as it is public record. 1: how can I remove it? I am not even sure if he uses backlink because website link is pdf and he might do some other technics
                      2:Although I am sure he uses SEO, I can not prove it and nobody believes me. How can I proof it?

                      SEO Tactics | | CerenSEO
                      0
                    • Ravi_Rana

                      How to rank a website in different countries

                      seo tactic seo international seo seo rankings seo expert

                      I have a website which I want to rank in UK, NZ and AU and I want to keep my domain as .com in all the countries. I have specified the lang=en now what needs to be done to rank one website in 3 different English countries without changing the domain extension i.e. .com.au or .com.nz

                      SEO Tactics | | Ravi_Rana
                      0
                    • fslpso

                      Unsolved SEO And Digital Marketing Training

                      seo seo tactics seo training digital marketing training

                      Hi Everyone, I have a basic SEO and Digital Marketing knowledge and looking for a course /training which will teach me step by step SEO and tools need to use with hand on training. I have a website (https://gemslearninginstitute.com/) which I need bring in Google Packs and on the first page of Google. I have attended a few courses but none of them offered in depth knowledge with hands on training so whatever I do it is not producing results. Thanks

                      SEO Tactics | | fslpso
                      0
                    • jgoethert

                      Unsolved GMB along with Company Name & URL Change

                      local seo google my business seo tactics

                      Our company has been purchased. As part of the rollup, our company name will change to theirs and our website will be removed with all web presence being a basic landing page. I am looking for ideas on how to minizine the huge SEO losses we will have soon. I plan to focus on local SEO starting with GMB. Any other tips or direction?

                      Moz Local | | jgoethert
                      1
                    • NikitaG

                      Should I Parent/Child my Website Pages (need help with terminology too)

                      Hello I have a website that I am trying to SEO optimise.
                      The current structure of the site is that all pages are linked directly after the domain:
                      example:   www.domain.com**/page01**  www.domain.com**/page02** The website is however logically organised in the following form:
                      www.domain.com**/page01/page02** Sometimes the parenting goes to 3 levels: (please help me with the right term here) Domain
                      ↳ Page001
                           ↳ Page002
                                ↳Page003 My question is: should keep the current structure, or is it worth the effort to re-link the website in a parented way. Are there any benefites to one or the other, and could you point to some video tutorials or documentation to read. BqoDAsx.jpg DMMIC5o.jpg

                      Technical SEO | | NikitaG
                      0
                    • astahl11

                      Google not found errors in webmaster tool help

                      Hi, Google Webmaster tools sent me a few messages recently about the jump in the number of 'not found' errors. From 0 to 290 errors, ouch. I know what it's from but I think Google is seeing things.  We developed another page/subdomain we're working on with links back to the root domain. Basically a complete list of articles page that lists each article and links back to the root domain. Not sure what Google is crawling but the links that would result in a 'not found' error aren't there. Will these disappear over time? Thanks for the help!

                      Technical SEO | | astahl11
                      0
                    • Nightwing

                      How can you manually diagnose the canonical problem

                      Good Monrning from snow dusted minus 3 degrees C Wetherby UK... Is there a quick way to diagnose wether or not a website has a canonical problem or not? So far Ive been doing this for example: Typing a full web address then one without the w's and seeing if a 301 redirect has been set up. But I'm not confident this is the best way to diagnose if there is a canonical problem with a site. I would like to ad that I want to see if a canonical problem exists with any site and webmanster tools is not available. Any insights welcome 🙂

                      Technical SEO | | Nightwing
                      1
                    • netviper

                      I need some HTACCESS help (Magento)

                      Hi Guys, I need some help on this htaccess issue in Magneto. So here is what I am trying to do: I wanted to change mysite.com/index.php/etc to mysite.com/etc so I turned on the web friend URLS. That did that, BUT there are still two versions of every page on the site. www.mysite.com/etc and mysite.com/index.php/etc So that isn't good for SEO. So then I applied a 301 matching redirect, RedirectMatch 301 /index.php/(.*) http://www.mysite.com/$1 That solved that problem. But now I am not able to log into the admin. It is mysite.com/index.php/pg45admin.  It should redirect to mysite.com/pg45admin but the page just hangs.... It goes into a continuous loop. I tired using the custom URL and then the site crashed and I had to redo it. So what do I need to do for this to work?

                      Technical SEO | | netviper
                      0
                    Moz logo
                    • Contact
                    • Community
                    • Free Trial
                    • Terms & Privacy
                    • Accessibility
                    • Jobs
                    • Help
                    • What's New
                    • News & Press
                    • MozCon
                    © 2021 - 2024 SEOMoz, Inc., a Ziff Davis company. All rights reserved. Moz is a registered trademark of SEOMoz, Inc.

                    Looks like your connection to Moz was lost, please wait while we try to reconnect.