Broken images & Rankings

[BeckyKey]

Hi

I have seen a big drop in a keyword going from position 3 to out of the top 100.

The only thing I can see that went wrong, was an issue with broken images - could this be the reason for the drop?

Becky

[seoman10]

To me it sounds like you have a bigger problem, most likely a penalty.  Quality of content does make a difference, but I very much doubt it would make that much.  If it is that it's an easy fix anyway although it may take a bit of time to re-gain ground.

If you have a completely broken page, then yes, that could be why.  But if it is just an image or two not working it would only have a small impact.

I presume you are using a proper tool to lock keyword position? I have seen that sort of variant when checking manually.

1. Check Google Search Console for any messages
2. Do a backlink audit to check that you don't have too many bad quality links
3. Scan your website to make sure there is no malware

[BeckyKey]

Thanks for the reply.

There was an issue, so it was the bulk of the images on our website.

We have no penalty in webmaster tools, and yes I have a tool to monitor the rankings.

I'll check to see if thre was a google update recently

Thanks!

[seoman10]

Yes, that been the case definitely sounds like that was the issue.  You could potentially speed up the process by doing a Fitch and Submit from Google Search Console.

Would be interested to know if fixing the problem gets back your rankings, if you think about it, let me know.

All the best

Richard

[BeckyKey]

Great thanks - it hasn't affected everything, just a few things.

I'll give it a go and get back to you

Thanks!