Your site’s search rankings have plummeted?
You’re not pulling in the same traffic you once were?
Don’t panic!
There are plenty of possible reasons why your figures have changed. And here are seven of them to get you started.
Making big changes to your existing content
Removing blog posts, articles, or other types of traffic-fueling content may contribute to a dip in your rankings. This could be the result of trying to reduce the number of older posts on your site, particularly if they no longer align with your products, services, or values as they used to.
Check the performance of a piece of content before you remove it, and replace it with something likely to perform just as well (if not better).
Your pages are too slow
New or older pages on your site could be to blame for a drop in rankings. For example, if you’ve added multiple videos or lots of large images to a blog post or service page, this could noticeably reduce its speed.
Bounce rates are higher on slower pages: the probability of a bounce rises 90 percent when a page takes from up to five seconds to load. So the sooner you resolve the issue, the better.
Search engine algorithms have been updated
Algorithm changes can disrupt rankings in some cases (remember Mobilegeddon?). That’s why it’s so important to keep your digital marketing campaign spread across multiple channels, including Facebook, YouTube, etc.
Your competitors are reigning supreme
Your site’s search rankings could drop if your competitors start offering users a superior experience, utilize more effective marketing techniques, or enjoy a sudden spike in traffic through successful promotional events.
Keep track of your competitors’ marketing activities and performance to reduce your risk of becoming inferior without warning.
Your website needs updates, fast
Updating your content on a regular basis will help you maintain or improve your rankings. And if you leave too much time between updates, your visibility may start to fall before you realize.
Create a realistic content calendar and focus on publishing valuable pieces multiple times per week.
Sites linked to yours are no longer online
You might notice a change in your rankings when sites linking to yours, such as those on which you published guest posts, go down. This can be frustrating if you worked hard to secure a spot on an authority site and are no longer receiving the traffic you expected.
If the linked site is down temporarily, you may start to creep further up the results pages again when it returns. But if it’s permanent, you might need to look elsewhere for quality links.
You have server issues
Your server could be to blame for sinking rankings. For example, a sudden spike in traffic may push the server too hard and trigger a crash, whether related to your site or one on a shared server.
If this happens more than once within a short space of time, it may be time to reassess your hosting situation.
Our Orange County SEO experts are dedicated to helping businesses just like yours improve your rankings and gain greater online visibility. How can we make this happen for you?