My Keyword Reached Page 1, Then Dropped After a Plugin Error — Would Love to Hear Your Experience

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mezzah2

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I launched a new domain about two months ago, and since day one, I’ve been building thousands of backlinks.
I’ve also done proper on-page SEO as best as I can, following best practices and studying countless guides on my own.


Right now, my Trust Flow is at 28 and Citation Flow is at 36, and backlinks are getting indexed daily, which gives me some hope and reassurance.


Here’s the part that’s really been bugging me:


During the first month, I experienced what felt like a miracle.
The main keyword I was targeting with anchor texts suddenly reached page 1, position #5 on Google and stayed there for about three days.


But then… disaster struck.


My WordPress plugin had a bug on the homepage, and somehow that version got indexed.
The very next day, my ranking plummeted to beyond page 15, and for weeks now it’s been fluctuating between pages 11 and 15, not recovering.


I know I may be impatient, and it’s only been two months, but seeing those initial results and then losing them so suddenly has been hard to swallow.


Have any of you experienced something similar?
I’d really appreciate hearing your thoughts or stories — it would help me a lot right now.
 
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Yes, this happens quite often with new sites early rankings can be temporary, especially during Google’s testing phase. Once the technical issue is fixed, staying consistent and giving it time usually leads to recovery.
 
What you’re seeing is normal for a new site. Google can give a new domain a quick boost at first, but small issues—like your homepage bug—can make rankings drop. Two months is still very early, so fluctuations are expected. Keep building quality backlinks, fixing technical issues, and improving content. With time and consistency, your rankings will definitely stabilize and grow.
 
That early page 1 ranking was a temporary Google test and your aggressive backlink velocity on a brand new domain not the plugin bug is why you’re now stuck in a cooldown phase waiting for trust and time.
 
That early page-1 ranking wasn’t a loss—it was Google testing you, and now you’re in the slow phase where real trust is earned, not borrowed.
 
Absolutely, that "honeymoon ranking" followed by a technical triggered drop is a classic and brutal SEO rite of passage. Your strong backlink foundation is still there, so fixing the error and being patient should allow a recovery.
 
This is common with new domains. Early ranking spikes often happen because of fresh content and initial backlinks, but problems like a homepage bug or indexing errors can cause sudden drops. The best approach is to fix any site issues, keep building quality backlinks consistently, and give Google time to reevaluate your site stable rankings usually take a few months to establish.
 
This is a classic indexation of a broken page issue. Google likely crawled and indexed the error-ridden version, causing a sharp quality drop. The fix is to ensure the clean page is re-indexed: fetch it in Search Console and request indexing, then monitor. Recovery can take weeks as the old cached version is replaced.
 
What you saw was likely a mix of the freshness boost and Google testing your new site. The plugin error didn’t help, but it’s usually not the main reason for the drop.

Getting a lot of backlinks too fast can make your site jump in rankings for a short time, then drop as Google checks how trustworthy they are. Being on pages 11–15 isn’t a penalty. It’s normal for a new site.

Fix the plugin, deindex the bad version, focus on quality links, and be patient. Rankings usually recover gradually once signals stabilize.
 
Yes, this is common with new domains, your early jump was a temporary freshness/algorithm test, and the indexed homepage bug likely caused a trust reset, so recovery usually takes time once the issue is fixed and Google reprocesses signals.
 
google rewards new sites by boosting to page 1 for few days and then ranks them a real positions.
for your keyword it determined rank 15 was best. its not penalty nor anything to do with plugin.
be glad that it didnt think to rank it on 55th position.
 
That’s frustrating, I can totally relate. A plugin error messing with indexing can really throw things off. I’d recommend fixing the issue then giving it some time. Google might just need to reprocess the site. Hang in there!
 
What plugin you are talking about? Somehow I missed it if you mentioned it already.

It seems google is trying to place your keyword on different places to find a suitable place. This is normal for any new sites.

Just be consistent on quality and you will see better results.
 
I wouldn’t over-attribute the drop to the plugin issue alone.
New sites often move a lot in the first 2–3 months, even without obvious technical problems.
The timing makes it feel dramatic, but the volatility itself isn’t unusual.
 
plugin bug didn’t nuke you - timing just made it look guilty. Page 1 for 3 days on a 2 month domain with thousands of links screams test + recalibration, then link velocity + anchor patterns got reweighted.

Being stuck 11–15 is actually decent, means you’re in the mix not sandboxed - slow link velocity, diversify anchors, keep homepage clean + stable for a few weeks and let Google re-score without new noise.
 
This is normal. New sites get a push at early stage and then fallback to where it is supposed to be.
 
Seen this scenario multiple times. In most cases the plugin error is just the trigger, not the real cause. After a disruption Google often reassesses the page and if link velocity, anchor balance or internal structure isn’t strong enough, the page doesn’t regain its previous position. We’ve noticed recovery is much slower when authority signals aren’t reinforced after the fix, even if the technical issue is resolved quickly. Curious: did you make any link or internal changes after fixing the plugin, or did you just wait for rankings to come back?
 
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