If you own or operate a website, you understand how important it is to monitor your web traffic numbers. So, what would you do if you found yourself facing a sudden steep drop in your organic search traffic? The first logical step in recovering from this kind of hit is to find out why it happened in the first place. Here are a few of the most common reasons that we see clients suffer from a drop in organic traffic numbers:
Shady Backlink Practices
As Google continues to develop its already very sophisticated algorithms, we are noticing that this is becoming more and more of a problem for webmasters. You, the unsuspecting business owner, may not have realized that the sites linking back to your own were of a questionable nature, but we’re sure that whoever purchased those backlinks on your behalf was well aware of the potential consequences.
If you’ve suffered a penalty due to poor backlinking practices, it surely feels like the kiss of death. However, rest assured that there is hope for recovery, which we’ll explain in our next post on the subject.
You’ve Gotten Lazy
Nobody wants to admit when they’ve gotten lazy, especially when it comes to their own business. However, when you get lax about posting fresh content to your website, your traffic will suffer. Google has made no secret about the fact that they favor websites offering original content on a frequent and regular basis. So, if you used to post daily and have reduced your postings to once per month, there’s your answer.
Recovery from this type of drop in search traffic is relatively simple: quit being lazy and create some fresh new content for your audience.
Survival of the Fittest
So, in all the years that you’ve been managing your website, you’ve made sure to acquire all of your backlinks naturally and you’ve never missed a scheduled posting day. You’ve done everything right, and your website should be perfectly optimized for Google and every other search engine. You’ve still seen your organic traffic drop, though, so what could possibly be the explanation?
It’s simple, really. Internet evolution has gotten the best of you. Your competition has proven to be bigger and stronger, and the search engines have noticed.
If this has happened to you, do a bit of spying on your competitors and see what they are doing that has given them the upper hand. In most cases, freshening up your website (with a new design, new meta information, and reworked content) will go a long way in helping you reclaim that top spot.
Of course, there are countless other issues that may be hurting your traffic numbers, most of which can be remedied with SEO’s best and most current practices. If your site’s rankings are suffering because your site holds “spammy” or plagiarized content, however, you’re looking at a completely different set of circumstances. These low-value websites are exactly why Google’s algorithms exist, and it’s best to stay away from them entirely.
