Google Analytics also showed a corresponding drop in traffic, which meant something was definitely on the rise. As an SEO, I naturally prepared for the worst...
Step 2: Algorithm Panic
I clicked on Barracuda's Panguin tool to see if our issue coincided with the confirmed update.
And no updates.
Step 3: Diagnose the problem
I finally came to my senses and figured out what was going on: it was extremely rare for keyword rankings to disappear completely, and it had to be technical.
It must be an index.
A quick Google search for the pages that lost rankings portugal mobile database for their keywords confirmed that the pages were, in fact, gone. Search Console reported the same thing:
Note the warning at the bottom: 'no-index' detected in 'robots' meta tag
Now we are a little bit closer. Next, it is time to confirm this discovery in the source code.
Our pages are marked for de-indexing. But how many pages have actually been de-indexed so far?
Step 4: Investigate the damage
It was confirmed that a deployment on Thursday evening August 1, 2019 accidentally pushed the noindex code onto every page.