It can be a gut-wrenching moment to find that your keywords have either dropped by a number of places, or fallen off entirely. It may also be that organic traffic to your website has taken a massive hit. The important thing to remember is that this is part of SEO, and there are a number of reasons as to why results tend to fluctuate. So, why have your results suddenly dropped?
There are a wide number of reasons as to why SEO results may have dropped suddenly, including but not limited to:
- Google Updates
- Technical Issues
- Changes to Backlink Profile
- Recent Website Changes
- Manual Actions
- SEO Competition
- Hackers
- Changes in Search Intent and User Behaviour
Keep reading to find out more about how SEO results can drop suddenly, and what steps you can take to identify the issue causing drops.
Top Reasons for SEO Ranking Drops
The first step to diagnosing the cause of a drop in rankings is to first verify that there is in fact a problem. You can do this by using a number of tools such as Google Analytics, Google Search Console and others to check that organic traffic and keyword rankings have actually dropped.
It will then be vital to evaluate the extent of the drop in results and, if there are multiple drops, try to identify a pattern. Below are some of the common reasons as to why SEO results tend to drop.
Find out more about what can cause drops in organic traffic by reading our detailed blog.
Google Updates
One of the more common reasons for a drop in results often comes after Google updates their algorithm. It is important that if there has been a drop in results, try to match this drop with a recent algorithm update.
Google is also constantly reviewing and updating the layout of the SERP (Search Engine Results Page). The addition of new features such as the new ‘AI Overview’ box can push your rankings down.
Find out more about Google’s Core Algorithm Updates and how they can affect search volatility in our detailed blog.
Technical Issues
Technical SEO can also have a major impact on website rankings. For example, it is vital that search engines are able to crawl and index every URL on your website in a logical way. Some of the top technical factors to check are:
If there have been changes made to any of these factors, it could have a major impact on SEO results.
Another common mistake is to block all traffic from bots, or traffic that originates in the US. This would prevent the Googlebot from crawling and indexing your website. A way to test this is to use a VPN to set your location to somewhere in the US and try to browse the website as a Googlebot.
Find out more about crawling and indexing in our detailed blog.
Backlink Profile
Backlinks are one of the most important Google ranking factors. If your website has recently lost a number of backlinks, this could result in a drop for SEO results. It is often tempting to move through your website’s backlink profile, disavowing any backlinks that seem too spammy. However, this can actually have a negative impact on your SEO performance. Unless there is clear malicious intent behind backlinks, you will not usually be given a penalty by Google.
Find out more about backlinks and why they are important in our detailed blog.
Recent Website Changes
To diagnose what may have caused the drop in rankings, try to analyse recent website changes that may have been implemented. Changes in content, especially title tags, can significantly influence SEO rankings. Other factors that can influence SEO performance include a website migration, optimised/reworked content, or implementing a responsive design. Whenever a website is redesigned, the link structure is often affected. As this affects the way that search engines crawl and index your website, this can also have a major effect on results.
Manual Actions
A common fear for SEO professionals when they notice a drop in results is that they have received a manual action from Google. The most extreme manual action that Google can award is having entire websites de-indexed, however this generally only happens to websites that are offering no value to users and are clearly spam. A quick way to check if you have received any manual actions is by reviewing your website in Google Search Console and navigating to the ‘Manual Actions’ tab.
SEO Competition
A SERP is highly competitive by its nature, as countless websites are battling to reach higher rankings. Your competitors will be, like you, considering all the possible ways to reach that number one spot. If a gap of any kind opens up, your competition will likely take advantage of your drop in results to overtake your website. If you are noticing a drop in results, it is worth completing a competitor review to review the websites that are overtaking you.
A competitor review looks at the following:
- Do your competitor websites load faster?
- Is there more content on their websites?
- How does their UX compare to your website?
- How does their backlink profile compare to your website?
- Have your competitors recently won featured snippets for your targeted queries?
Find out more about how to conduct competitor research in our detailed blog.
Hackers
While it is highly unlikely that your website has been hacked, it is nevertheless a good idea to make sure that there are no security actions to be taken to protect your site. To check this, navigate to the ‘Security & Manual Actions’ section of Google Search Console, and select the ‘Security Issues’ tab to identify any potential security risks.
Search Intent and Behaviour
One step that is often overlooked following a drop in results is to take a look at the bigger picture. How has the search volume changed for your targeted queries? Are people still searching for your topics? Consider how user behaviour and search intent may have changed recently, and account for this when attempting to determine why keywords or traffic may have taken a hit.
Find out more about search intent by reading our detailed blog.
Next Steps
If you are still unable to find the reason for the drops in ranking, it may be time to consider enlisting the services of a professional SEO agency like Wildcat Digital. Our expert SEO team can identify gaps in your website’s performance to help you outrank your competition. Contact a member of our team today to find out more.
Andy Blanchard
Senior SEO Executive
