How do I improve the site ranking in the search?

To make your site pages take the desired position in the search results more often and bring more visitors, track the following site indicators:
Quality
Check out signs of a low-quality site from the Yandex point of view, and also make sure that the site doesn't have violations (on the Diagnostics → Security and violations page in Yandex.Webmaster).
Security
Check if the website is safe for visitors. To do so, go to the Troubleshooting → Security and violations page. If Yandex.Webmaster detected a threat, follow the service's instructions and see the What should I do if a site security threat is found? section.
Convenience

Use the recommendations for creating a site. To display the site on mobile devices, create a mobile site version or use Turbo pages.

Specify the website region on the Display in the search → Region page in Yandex.Webmaster. For details, see the Region section.

Usefulness

Check how well the site answers visitors' questions and solves their problems. You can see it by the badgesthat can be issued to the site, and by the Site quality index. Also use the Yandex.Metrica tools. They help you test the visitors' behavior on your site and, for example, identify weak pages.

Site's representation in search results

In search, information about the site is displayed in different ways. Yandex uses various technologies to present the site in search results. For example, Yandex.Maps may show your organization's data, or a snippet can feature a badge that indicates that the site is the organization's official page or that it is preferred by users. This helps users find information faster.

To check out how the site is displayed in search results and what improvements you can make, go to the Display in the search page.

Also, make sure that the pages relevant to the search queries:

Why does my site change its ranking in the search results?

The site ranking in the search results changes for various reasons, for example:

Reason Description
Search algorithms changed Ranking algorithms are constantly being updated in order to improve search quality.
The search database was updated Site characteristics are continually updated based on the latest data about the pages as well as their popularity among users. In addition, machine learning algorithms and ranking factors are regularly updated. As a result, positions in search results can also change.
There were changes on other sites included in search results for the queries you are interested in Your site's position in search results might change if other resources increase their relevance for the same queries (as owners of other sites also update them). If top positions in search are taken by suspicious sites, use this feedback form to report it.
The site URL changed After you change the site URL, its position in the search results may drop, since old pages disappear from the search index. If your site has a redirect with HTTP code 301 set up, check out the rules for processing it.
Pages that were previously in search results are no longer shown

To check if a page is included in search, use the Check URL status tool or enter a search query with the url operator (example). Check out the reasons for excluding pages from search.

To find out about changes to the page status in the search, use the Important page monitoring.
There are other changes on your site Any change to a site can affect its position in the search results. For example, updates the site structure, URL or the content of the page that matched certain queries.
Users' interests or needs changed The decision whether a site page will appear in the search results is made by special algorithms based on many factors. One of them is if the page can be interesting to users. If the algorithm considers that a page doesn't match queries, its position in the search results may decrease, or this page may not be included in the list of pages in the search.
Reason Description
Search algorithms changed Ranking algorithms are constantly being updated in order to improve search quality.
The search database was updated Site characteristics are continually updated based on the latest data about the pages as well as their popularity among users. In addition, machine learning algorithms and ranking factors are regularly updated. As a result, positions in search results can also change.
There were changes on other sites included in search results for the queries you are interested in Your site's position in search results might change if other resources increase their relevance for the same queries (as owners of other sites also update them). If top positions in search are taken by suspicious sites, use this feedback form to report it.
The site URL changed After you change the site URL, its position in the search results may drop, since old pages disappear from the search index. If your site has a redirect with HTTP code 301 set up, check out the rules for processing it.
Pages that were previously in search results are no longer shown

To check if a page is included in search, use the Check URL status tool or enter a search query with the url operator (example). Check out the reasons for excluding pages from search.

To find out about changes to the page status in the search, use the Important page monitoring.
There are other changes on your site Any change to a site can affect its position in the search results. For example, updates the site structure, URL or the content of the page that matched certain queries.
Users' interests or needs changed The decision whether a site page will appear in the search results is made by special algorithms based on many factors. One of them is if the page can be interesting to users. If the algorithm considers that a page doesn't match queries, its position in the search results may decrease, or this page may not be included in the list of pages in the search.

Click to solve the problem

Tell us what your question is about so we can direct you to the right specialist:

The site's position on queries dropped
The site has low ranking in the search results
Another site page is found by the certain query
The site is not in the search results
Website traffic decreased
Report unauthorized copying of information from my site

Check out the reasons for changes in ranking, and check the site for security and violations. If Yandex.Webmaster finds a threat or violation, follow the recommendations provided in the service.

Changes in the site's search ranking are acceptable in most cases. It may be due to constant adjustments of algorithms and the dynamics of the search results.

Contact the support service if the ranking change is accompanied by all listed conditions:

  • The site was a leader for a long time.
  • The site ranking dropped by more than 30 points (with smaller changes, check if your site meets the recommendations set out in this section).
  • Site traffic decreased.


If your site doesn't have high ranking for some queries, it may be that it didn't gain sufficient relevance yet. Check the site metrics described in this section.

Use the [url] operator (example) to check if a page is included in search.
  • The page may be a duplicate. For information about how to check and fix this, see Duplicate pages. Also, the page may not be included in the search or disappear from it for other reasons.
  • If the site changed its URL but the page is displayed in the search at the old URL, make sure you moved the site correctly.

A special algorithm determines if the page will be displayed in the search results or not. For example, for the page to be displayed, its content must match the search query. For more information, see Stage 4. Generating search results.


If you don't find new site pages in the search, go to the How do I add a site to search? section. If the pages were previously in the search, but are missing now, check out the reasons for excluding pages.

If you notice a decrease in website traffic, check out what traffic sources this issue is associated with. You can do this using the Sources, summary report in Yandex.Metrica.

The traffic obtained from search results may decrease for various reasons, for example:

If the traffic doesn't change within two weeks of fixing the issues described above, contact customer support.


If another resource has content identical to yours, this isn't enough to exclude the site from the search results.

To protect your copyright, you can file a complaint directly with the administrator of the site that you believe has content identical to yours, or use other legal means to protect your rights.

If you can't come to an agreement with the site administration, try writing to the site's hosting provider.