It is essential to have consistent organic traffic to run a successful website. If there is no organic traffic, the content of your website goes unnoticed, and this would impact visibility and conversions. However, it is also possible to experience a steady flow of traffic and at the same time lose quite a number of visitors in a span of a few days, which can be alarming to think, "Why is my website traffic dropping?"
Below are the Top 10 Reasons Websites Have A Drop In Organic Traffic
1. Updates from Google Algorithm
Reasons for a sudden drop in website traffic can be attributed to many factors, of which the most common is attributed to algorithm updates. In order to enhance the search experience, Google periodically updates the search engine with several core updates made in a year, however, those updates happen all the time. These updates affect search rankings by adjusting how content is paired with search traffic.
Unfortunately, Google is often secretive about the specifics of these changes. To stay informed:
- Google updates to keep track of news and announcements & other revered sources of SEO information, such as Moz and SEMrush.
- Perform an audit of your SEO strategy to ensure it is up to date with the latest developments and improvements by manual action.
- Search engines like Google Analytics and Google Search Console to assess performance metrics and their implications affected by algorithm shifts.
2. You’ve Set a No follow/No index Code
Common reasons for sudden traffic loss are using “no follow” or “no index” that can block your pages invisible in search engines. These are strategic blocks where Google doesn't crawl certain pages which probably are meant for crawling in some cases (for example, login screens or duplicated content). But inappropriate use of these can cause very serious reasons for a drop in traffic.
Solution:
- Evaluate the meta tags of your site through the use of webmasters such as Screaming Frog or alternatively perform the task manually from the content management system.
- Especially after a redesign or migration, make sure to get rid of the no follow/ no index tags from important pages.
3. Low-Quality Content
The creation and distribution of high-quality content is critical for gaining and keeping organic traffic. Google prioritizes the contents that provide some value to the users. Hence, if your site comprises thin, low-quality articles, it may have an adverse effect on your ranking.
Solution:
- Examine the contents present on the website to locate pages whose performance is below average because of that your website is not ranking and having a sudden drop in site traffic.
- Get rid of or enhance poor-quality articles by increasing their length, adding recent data, and employing SEO.
- Create content that is well thought out, original, and useful to the user rather than focus on writing for the users only.
4. Misplaced Tracking Codes
Tracking codes that are embedded within the HTML or JavaScript of your web page serves a crucial purpose in order to help you integrate with various platforms such as Google Analytics. If these codes are misplaced, then not only will you fail to obtain important data but you may also interfere with how the page works which would consequently reduce website traffic from Google.
Solution:
Make sure you have entered the code correctly using Google Tag Manager or by manually reviewing the HTML code to avoid penalties. Make sure all lighting equipment is connected and working properly.
5. Linking to Dead Links or PBN
There are many reasons why a website may lose organic rankings to your site. Some of them participate in Private Blog Networks (PPN). A broken link will usually yield poor user experience and poor SEO. PBNs are not good in that they go against search engines' guidelines and lead one to get penalized. These practices have a negative impact on domain authority and ranking and, thus, adversely affect traffic directly. Therefore, regular audits and ethical SEO practices will help keep traffic flowing.
- Expired links
- Irrelevant or broken external/internal links
- Links to suspicious PBNs used for black-hat SEO
Solution:
- Use tools like SEMrush or Sitechecker to identify broken links.
- Fix or eliminate any outdated links.
- Avoid engaging in link schemes and PBNs.
6. Over-Optimization
The use of SEO is very important, making excessive use of keywords ranking on the top or cramming them can lead to penalties. Over-optimisation leads to a website looking quite spammy while also diminishing the overall satisfaction that users get from visiting the site.
Solution:
- Employ technical SEO utilities such as Clearscope or SurferSEO to achieve the optimal ratio of keywords index in your content.
- Do not cram meta tags, titles, content, and other key areas with the same keywords more than necessary.
- Maintain a natural style of writing while following the practices of SEO writing.
7. Outdated Keywords
With the advancement of natural language processing and the increase of voice search, there has been a shift in user experience. Traffic decline is due to the keywords that used to work in the past may no longer work in line with how the searcher behaves.
Solution:
- Update your existing keyword approach with the help of tools such as Ahrefs or Google Keyword Planner.
- Develop content that targets conversational queries and long-tail keyword search patterns.
- Tracking keyword performance on a regular basis and improving outdated content.
8. Not Optimizing for SERP Layout
There have been major changes to Google's search results page (SERP) rankings. Major areas now include rich video, featured video, etc. failure to adjust your content to these changes may mean a lower rank.
Solution:
- To optimise the content for featured snippets, do the following:
- Respond to the question in bold form or in other direct formats.
- Keep it short and precise.
- Arrange the content in doing as lists, illustrations, graphs, and tables for easy readability Understandable contents.
- Provide appealing images and enhance the use of SEO for rich snippet features.
9. Migration Issues
The process of migration occurs when a website losing traffic or even redesigning a new website corresponding to the same domain may result in technical complications like crawling errors, unattended redirects, loss of content, and so on. These issues may see a drop in URLs if not handled carefully.
Solution:
Strategize the operations of migration regarding SEO considerations by engaging with specialists.
Make use of applications such as Google Search Console for crawl error detection and rectification.
Re-verify all redirects and important page components are preserved during the transitional phase.
10. Slow Website Ranking Drop
Slow websites do carry an adverse effect on organic traffic drop as a result such websites have a subpar user experience, increased bounce rates, and decreased engagement. Search engines benefit from fast-loading sites in their rankings; for this reason, a slow site loses its visibility. It directly translates to decreased traffic because users grab on when sites can boast of speed and efficiency. Hence, speed optimization is essential to retain Google search rankings and organic traffic to your site.
Solution:
- Conduct speed tests employing either Google Page Speed Insights or GT Metrix.
- Optimise your website by:
- Minimizing the excess of CSS and JavaScript bloat.
- Compressing and resizing media files.
- Avoiding excessive or unnecessary use of plugins.
Conclusion
You've seen a sudden drop in organic traffic can be infuriating; the latter makes it possible for one to take steps to rectify the situation. Fix problems such as changes in algorithms, technical glitches, or the standard of content, and performance will bounce back and traffic will be more consistent. Do regular audits, using Google Analytics and carry out current SEO activities with an emphasis on user-content development for traffic back to your website to be active and rank well in rankings. Hopefully now your confusion about "why is my website traffic dropping" is sout out.