Having a website suddenly deindexed from Bing can be a frustrating experience for any webmaster or content creator. It often leads to significant drops in traffic, loss of revenue, and concerns about the site's overall health and visibility. However, with a strategic approach and proper understanding of Bing's indexing policies, recovery is achievable. This case study explores the journey of restoring a deindexed blog on Bing, highlighting effective methods, common pitfalls, and actionable steps to ensure your site regains its rightful place in search results.
Case Study: Recovering a Deindexed Blog on Bing
Understanding Why Your Blog Was Deindexed
Before attempting to recover a deindexed website, it’s crucial to identify the root cause of the deindexing. Common reasons include:
- Violation of Bing’s Webmaster Guidelines: This includes duplicate content, spammy backlinks, or cloaking.
- Technical Issues: Crawl errors, server downtime, or incorrect robots.txt directives can prevent Bing from indexing your site.
- Manual Actions: Bing may apply penalties for unnatural link schemes or thin content.
- Security Issues: Malware or hacking can lead to deindexing as a precaution.
In our case, the blog was deindexed after a series of aggressive backlink acquisitions that appeared to violate Bing’s guidelines. Identifying this was the first step toward recovery.
Step 1: Conduct a Thorough Site Audit
The first actionable step involves auditing your website to understand its current state and identify issues that might be preventing indexing:
- Use Bing Webmaster Tools: Check for manual actions, crawl errors, and index status.
- Review Robots.txt and Meta Tags: Ensure that your robots.txt file isn’t blocking Bingbot and that noindex tags aren’t mistakenly applied.
- Analyze Backlinks: Use tools like Ahrefs or SEMrush to review your backlink profile for spammy or unnatural links.
- Check Site Security: Scan for malware or hacking issues and resolve any security breaches.
For example, upon audit, it was discovered that the site’s robots.txt file disallowed Bingbot, unintentionally preventing indexing.
Step 2: Rectify Technical and Content Issues
Once issues are identified, take corrective measures:
- Update Robots.txt: Remove any disallow directives that block Bingbot from crawling your site.
- Remove or Disavow Spammy Links: Use Bing’s disavow tool to reject harmful backlinks.
- Fix Crawl Errors: Resolve server errors, redirect chains, or broken links that hinder crawling.
- Enhance Content Quality: Remove thin or duplicate content, ensuring your blog offers unique value.
In this case, removing the disallow directive and cleaning up the backlink profile led to improved crawlability and signaling to Bing that the site was trustworthy.
Step 3: Submit a Reconsideration Request
If manual actions or penalties were identified, submit a reconsideration request through Bing Webmaster Tools:
- Provide a detailed explanation of the issues identified and the steps taken to resolve them.
- Show evidence of content improvements and security fixes.
- Request Bing to review the site for re-inclusion.
This step demonstrated proactive behavior and commitment to following Bing's guidelines, which helped in the recovery process.
Step 4: Re-Indexing and Monitoring
After addressing issues and submitting the reconsideration request, focus on:
- Ensuring the sitemap is updated and submitted in Bing Webmaster Tools.
- Using the "Fetch as Bingbot" feature to prompt Bing to crawl your site.
- Monitoring the index status regularly for updates.
- Creating high-quality, engaging content to encourage natural backlinks and shares.
Within a few weeks, the blog started reappearing in Bing search results, confirming successful recovery.
Fix Bing Deindexing
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Additional Tips for Preventing Future Deindexing
- Maintain a Clean Backlink Profile: Regularly audit backlinks and disavow spammy links.
- Follow Bing’s Webmaster Guidelines: Stay updated on policies to avoid unintentional violations.
- Ensure Technical Health: Keep your site secure, fast, and free of crawl errors.
- Publish Original, Valuable Content: Consistently produce high-quality content to attract natural backlinks and improve authority.
- Monitor Webmaster Tools: Regularly check for alerts or issues flagged by Bing.
Conclusion: Key Takeaways for Recovering a Deindexed Blog on Bing
Recovering a deindexed blog on Bing involves a combination of technical fixes, content improvements, and proactive communication. The critical steps include conducting a thorough site audit, rectifying technical issues, removing harmful backlinks, and submitting reconsideration requests if necessary. Monitoring your site’s health and adhering to Bing’s webmaster guidelines are essential for maintaining good standing and avoiding future deindexing.
Remember, recovery is possible with a strategic approach and persistence. If you find yourself overwhelmed or unsure of how to proceed, professional services are available to help you expedite the process and restore your site's visibility.
Fix Bing Deindexing
Has your website been deindexed by Bing? Don’t worry—we’ve got you. We offer Bing Website Recovery services with a 90% recovery rate. Send us an email now and your website will be back in Bing SERPs in no time.
