Google Search will index web resources marked as inaccessible for the last few days.
At the recent video conference with web developers, the senior analyst from Google actively discussed the topic of how to minimize all possible risks when it comes to search engine optimization for a site that had been inaccessible for over a week.
The specialist directly stated that avoiding consequences from prolonged downtime is unlikely to succeed. The Google Search system will start indexing all pages of web resources that have been marked as inaccessible in the last several days.
For a site that is non-functional during the day, it is advisable to return the server status code – 503. However, if the situation does not change in the near future, within a couple of days, the search engine will assign this code a permanent status and initiate the process of deindexing the site’s pages.
In this context, it is crucial to understand that as soon as normalcy returns and the site becomes operational again, Google will begin scanning the resource once more. While the search robots are still crawling the site, it may not reflect in search results or could significantly drop in ranking.
Thus, if the site remains inaccessible for more than a couple of days, be prepared to face issues in ranking. Ideally, you should avoid prolonged outages altogether, but if changing the situation is impossible, addressing it is also unnecessary. You simply need to focus your efforts and dedicate time to return to previous positions in search results.
