How to Investigate a Drop in Website Traffic
Everyone who owns or is responsible for a website will have seen traffic declining once or twice, and it can sometimes be a cause for concern. If this has happened to you, try not to panic, as it might not necessarily mean something is wrong. It could be due to seasonality, perhaps you have reduced your PPC budget, or maybe there’s a new competitor in the market. It might even be down to an algorithm update!
Which Traffic Source is Responsible?
In order to get to the bottom of why your traffic might be declining, you’ll first need to figure out which traffic source is the problem. You will find this in the Acquisition section of Google Analytics. It may be that your paid advertising campaign has come to an end, which will easily be resolved as long as you have the budget.
If it seems to be organic traffic, start by doing some research to find out if Google have released an algorithm update. Google usually announces these updates, so it shouldn’t be too hard to uncover if that’s what the issue is.
Have Your Rankings Dropped?
You should also keep a watchful eye on your keyword rankings. Fluctuations in your rankings are perfectly normal, but if they have dropped significantly then this might explain why your traffic has declined. It’s important that you focus on targeting these keywords going forward as part of your SEO campaign, in order to help them rise again. Your rankings may have dropped due to lost backlinks, or perhaps because a competitor is heavily targeting these keywords themselves.
Do You Have a Manual Penalty?
If you have done something that goes against Google’s guidelines, whether accidentally or on purpose, you may have had a manual action or penalty issued against you. Head to your Search Console to find out whether or not that is the case.
There’s no denying that a drop in website can be disheartening, but there is usually a reason why and if you can find that reason, you should be able to fix it. If you need some help, don’t hesitate to contact us and a member of our team will be able to help!
