Organic drop with server down?

[ssjd2000]

What do I do? My website server through my ad agency has been down at least since morning, Worried about organic drop also it is has been down so long, very concerned with why. Should I try to get the files and request it put on another server or wait it out?

 

[djbaxter]

If your server is down for a day or two, it's unlikely your rankings will suffer (assuming there are no other issues with your site).

However, you do need to worry if

• your server is frequently down - time to get new hosting; or
• your server is down for an extended period of time - if it's down for a week or two, you can expect some effect on rankings but they should recover quickly once the problem is resolved, if there are no additional outages.

 

[ssjd2000]

Thank you for your reply. Going on 24 hours now and really stressed as I have a service/ repair business.
From an SEO prospective is it better to have a server local for for my local business or does it matter?

 

[djbaxter]

It doesn't matter. What matters is that your host is responsive to any problems you have and works quickly to correct them. The servers don't even need to be in the same country.

Has your host issued any progress reports on what us causing the outage?

 

[ssjd2000]

Nothing and that is what is so frustrating. The only reports I have gotten is we will email you when its back up. They did call me when I asked if it was not up by Sunday, if I could have access to my website file to put it on another server. They said it should be resolved by then. After 24 hours I am loosing hope that a quick resolution is in the cards.

 

[djbaxter]

That's always frustrating.

It's still early though (at least on the east coast - do you know where your histing is located?). With any luck, they will resolve this today.

 

[ssjd2000]

I believe it is located at the agency in Raleigh, NC and they said they are working with Linode to pinpoint the problem.

 

[djbaxter]

@ssjd2000

Is your site back up yet?

 

[ssjd2000]

Thanks for asking it came back up Saturday night. There has been a slight organic drop in some cities resulting from this or maybe just a coincidence. One particular city had a major drop. Pretty disappointed.

 

[djbaxter]

Given the March 2019 Google Update, it is possible that the drops were unrelated. See March Core Quality Update - March 12, 2019 - Local Search Forum.

But let's hope you see some quick recovery.

 

[ssjd2000]

After the March core update we had actually gained some ground in a few organic searches. Things were looking good, before the server went down. 24 hours after it was back up the dip occurred.