When you’ve dedicated time and effort to thorough keyword research and optimisations, it can feel discouraging to review your progress and notice a notable drop in keyword rankings. It can be confusing to establish what might have gone wrong or what external factors may have influenced the situation, making it challenging to pinpoint the cause. So, how can you effectively diagnose a decline in keyword rankings?
A technical issue on the back end, a UX analysis of your website, and monitoring your competitors are all ways to identify why your keywords have dropped. You can better understand any changes that could impact your ranking by being vigilant and monitoring your performance frequently.
To find out the 5 main reasons why keyword rankings drop, how to recover, and why keywords fluctuate – continue reading.
Why Do Keyword Rankings Drop?
Many factors can cause keyword rankings to drop. Minor fluctuations in keyword rankings, typically within a range of 1 to 5 positions, are considered normal and not cause for alarm. However, substantial drops in keyword positions, spanning 10 to 30 places, call for closer attention and concern. So, why do keyword rankings drop?
Google Algorithm Update
A Google algorithm update is carried out to improve results and keep users satisfied with the results that show up on Google SERPs (search engine result pages). Therefore, Google will often update or tweak its algorithm to change what the SERP shows. For example, Google can decide that they want to prioritise SERP results from websites that have a certain amount of reviews. This would therefore impact the keyword rankings of smaller businesses that have not received a lot of reviews yet.
Changes Competitors Have Made
When you carry out keyword research and identify missing or weak keywords, you consistently monitor your competitors. Therefore, if your competitors make changes that go unnoticed by you, your keyword rankings will inevitably decline. Ultimately, nothing may be wrong with your website, it might just be that your competitors improved theirs. This is where you would evaluate your website and take a look at what could be improved, for instance:
- The content on your website may be outdated. If there has been a significant update or change in your industry, ask yourself: is your content up to date with the latest information?
- Your competitors may have gained more backlinks/you may have lost some. Backlinks are vital for enhancing your domain authority, and a higher domain authority the more likely you are to rank higher on SERPs. Check the number of backlinks your website has and see if there’s been a change.
- The layout of your website might not be optimal for user experience (UX), or even if it is, there may still be areas for improvement. Even minor details on your site can significantly impact its effectiveness. For instance, if the text size is too small and difficult to read, if images lack quality, or if colour schemes clash – all of these elements can be refined to enhance UX.
- Your title tags and headings may not be optimal. The optimal length of a title tag is 51-60 characters and for headings, it is a maximum of 60 characters. They should also, ideally, contain your keyword.
Technical Issues
Another reason why your keyword rankings can drop is because of technical issues. If there are technical problems with your site, Google will not be able to crawl and index it smoothly. You should double-check that search engines are still crawling and indexing your site. Check for changes in your canonical URLs, robots.txt, meta robots tag, and HTTP status codes.
Recent Website Changes
Making changes to your website, such as a redesign, will inevitably affect your rankings. Even a minor oversight could lead to significant repercussions for your SEO performance, potentially resulting in a noticeable decline in keyword rankings. Therefore, it’s reasonable to anticipate drops in Google rankings following major overhauls like altering the URL structure or migrating the website.
User Behaviour Changes
Simply put, if a website fails to meet user expectations, their behavior will indicate it. For example, if visitors quickly return to Google after only briefly viewing your page for a few seconds, it implies they didn’t find what they were looking for, impacting user experience (UX). Consequently, such pages are unlikely to maintain high rankings over time.
Why Do Keyword Rankings Fluctuate?
As mentioned above, keyword rankings can fluctuate for various reasons. These fluctuations may stem from changes in user behavior, algorithm changes, or technical issues. While it’s often challenging to pinpoint an exact cause, it underscores the significance of understanding quality SEO practices. Understanding the importance of SEO for your business and choosing the right SEO agency is crucial. By doing so, you ensure the application of best practices and utilise the expertise of professionals to address issues efficiently.
What Do You Check First When You See A Drop In Keyword Rankings?
There are a few things you can check when you see a drop in your rankings, this includes:
- Manually Google the keyword to see if it has dropped. It’s important to remember that your location influences what is shown, so you can view rankings nationwide or at your desired location by using a tool like SerpAPI.
- Check to see if the page is live
- Check to see if the page has been modified recently
- Ensure that the drop is not impacting organic traffic
- Do a “site:yoursite.com/exacturl” into the Google search bar to see if the page is indexed
- Use Google Search Console to see if the page is indexed
- Check for algorithm updates
- Review keyword intent
- Check for canonicalisation issues
- Ensure there are no server issues
How Do You Recover When Serp Rankings Suddenly Drop?
Recovering from a sudden drop in SERP (Search Engine Results Page) rankings requires a systematic approach. First, conduct a thorough analysis to identify potential causes such as algorithm updates, technical issues, or changes in competitors’ strategies. As soon as the root cause is identified, correct it as soon as possible.
Additionally, focus on enhancing user experience and engagement metrics, such as reducing page load times and improving mobile responsiveness. Continuously monitor rankings, adapt strategies accordingly, and stay informed about industry trends to maintain long-term visibility and competitiveness in search engine results.
SEO Services at Wildcat Digital
Struggling to maintain your keyword rankings? At Wildcat Digital we have a reputation for high-quality content through our award-winning services. To get in touch, fill out our contact form and a member of our team will be happy to help.
