A Google Webmasters Help thread has a webmaster upset that he lost his rankings in Google. He switched web hosting companies and days later, his Google rankings plummeted. On typical server move, you should not really lose rankings, if done right. But this person lost his/her rankings.

Google’s JohnMu chimed in on the thread, saying:

Good news, the rankings should come back. But I noticed an interesting tweet from @JohnMu saying:

Clearly that is related to this post. This is a good tip for anyone who is moving or setting up a site. I would completely avoid showing a generic message on the server, if possible, but if you can’t, the advice above makes sense.

If you want to see a live site with one of these starter pages, see http://commgrad.uky.edu/.

Forum discussion at Google Webmasters Help.