Mostly, your website traffic should be steady or increasing. But sometimes it can crash. And the worst bit: you have no idea why!
In this post, we take a look at some of the common causes of falling user numbers and what you can do to bring them back.
Search Engine Updates
Every so often, search engines update their algorithms to reflect the new priorities. For instance, in May 2021, Google will release its page experience algorithm that will take things like page loading speed when ranking websites.
When these changes happen, there are always winners and losers. For instance, when the industry moved over to a mobile-first model in 2015, companies that didn’t have mobile-friendly sites saw their ranking fall.
The trick here is to use a SEO digital marketing company that understands upcoming changes and how to cater to them. If you prepare, you should be able to avoid problems and perhaps even rise through the ranks at others’ expense.
Layout Changes
Another problem you might encounter is layout changes. These occur when search engines change how they present results to offer more value to users. For instance, most search engines post paid ads above organic content. They also add extra callout boxes, feature snippets and “people also ask” sections. All these obscure your website and often provide the data that users need without visiting you specifically.
The trick here is to make sure that you’re a part of this extra content. For instance, even top-ranking brands will sometimes place ads for particular keywords to ensure that users see them in search results, not their competitors. You can also try answering FAQs in your content so that Google pulls your answers and displays them in callout boxes.
Lost Links
You can also lose traffic to your site if the number of inbound links to your pages falls.
Remember, links are a vital component of SEO. The more you have, the higher your site ranks. So if linking sites cancel them, then it can cause your pages to fall in the ranks, reducing your organic traffic.
If there’s a problem, try contacting the site owner and asking them to restore the link. Usually, there will be some sort of technical issue at their end that’s causing the problem, and not any particular distaste toward your brand.
Manual Action
Search engines will sometimes take what SEOs call “manual actions” against websites. These procedures usually occur when a bot flags up an issue with your site indicating you’re breaking the rules. A Google rep will then visit your site to see if you’re actually going against its code. If the rep finds you guilty, it’ll de-rank your pages, or de-list you altogether.
The best way to avoid this is to use white hat SEO methods. Don’t use any marketing agency offering quick fixes. Usually, they have practices that search engines don’t permit.
So there you have it: why your website traffic is crashing and what you can do about it. Was this post helpful?
