5 Reasons Why Your Website Traffic is Down

Your website traffic is down, and you’re wondering why. It’s quite a puzzle, isn’t it?

You’ve thought of all possible reasons, and none of them seem to explain it.

You may be able to spot one thing here and another there, but can’t pinpoint the key reasons for such a decline.

No worries.

Here’s a list of top 5 reasons why your website traffic isn’t what it used to be:

1. Not investing in SEO

With better ranking, the chances of getting steady website traffic significantly improve.

Remember, don’t optimize once and forget about it. It’s a full-time engagement. You need to keep at it to get it right and stay ahead of the curve.

Google continues to test your SEO toolkit with its changes in algorithms and other things. If you are not at your best with SEO techniques, you’ll end up wondering what went wrong while the traffic steadily declines.

Your SEO tricks can be good, but outdated. Google continues to reinvent everything. Try to keep up with it.

So, take a moment, step back, and think:

What have you done in the last six months or so to boost your SEO?

If the answer is “nothing,” “very little” or “let me think,” you know why your website traffic is down.

However, there’s no reason to panic, you can turn it all around with a laser-sharp focus on SEO for all the time to come!

2. Change in search behavior trends

It’s not always your fault.

It’s possible that there’s something else at work here.

Don’t think of searches as something repetitive and static. Users evolve, search engines get even better, and the popular keywords transform.

There could be a change in search behavior trends that you have not considered.

Have you ever heard of Google Trends? You should explore it to find out what’s happening to your keywords. You should also dig into Google Search Console’s Search Analytics to capture how your site appears in search results.

If you haven’t looked into any of it so far, this could be the missing piece of the puzzle! In other words, not keeping pace with the changes happening in search trends could explain why your website traffic is down!

3. Poor content

Do you remember Panda? In 2011, when Google rolled it out and a lot of websites felt the pinch due to poor content?

Of course, you do.

In fact, you might be aware that content is king.

What you may have ignored is how Google ranks content TODAY.

Google strives to provide the best possible content to the users. In the process, it keeps reworking its definition of what good content is.

First, it should be relevant.

Gone are the days of keyword stuffing. You can no longer win this game that way.

As far as your content is concerned, ask yourself:

  • Does my content answer the question the users are asking?
  • Does it solve their problems?
  • Is anybody searching for it today?

If you publish content that does neither of those three, Google won’t rank your website higher. Users won’t acknowledge your site, or they’ll leave it, because they did not find the answer to their questions.

If the content has more errors than actual content, you’re in for even more trouble.

Powerful and relevant content makes you an authority on a given topic. If users and Google don’t think you fit the criteria, the traffic is set to go only one way – down.

There could be any or all of the following three things plaguing your website:

Lack of content: Google will not even bother about your site too much if there’s too little content there.

Copied content: This kind of stuff is hardly ever tolerated. Maybe you didn’t mean to, maybe somebody else writes your copy, maybe you didn’t notice. But, you need to look into it anyway.

Articles with similar titles: If there are quite a few articles that carry identical titles, it could possibly upset Google and the users. It would be better to focus on publishing only a few, but high-quality articles that build credibility and authority of your site.

You can read Biggest Mistakes I Made with Content Marketing and learn from Mile’s experience.

4. Ignoring mobile-first indexing

Google knows what mobile revolution means for search and search engines. This is precisely why it has introduced mobile-first indexing.

What does it mean for you?

If your website is not mobile-friendly enough, it’s less likely to top the search results. Focusing too much on the desktop version could very well be the reason why there’s little traffic on your website.

If you’re not sure if you’re doing enough, check out the article: Is Your Website Mobile-Friendly? Is It Mobile-Friendly Enough?.

Also, get more tips here: Mobile Optimization: Changes You Need to Make on Your Site in 2018

5. Slow site speed

Slow site speed leads to poor user experience. Google deems it unacceptable and ranks it lower.

When a page doesn’t load, it’s easy to guess what the user is going to think or do next. They’ll make a mental note to never return to this site!

This is how, bit by bit, the traffic slows down, due to users who get annoyed by the website speed.

Google’s quick to capture this and rank you accordingly. Gradually, your ranking comes down and eventually it may stop the traffic altogether.

That’s why you should always improve it. You should read Three Simple Ways to Improve Site Speed and start cutting the loading time down today.

Parting note

As website traffic gets affected by a variety of factors, study your website traffic holistically. Steer clear of quick fixes that could provide an immediate boost, as it can be harmful in the long run.

Study the root causes of your website traffic decline and fix it in an organic way. It will take a lot of time and effort but, believe me, it’s the best way.

Author: Lalit Sharma is the Founder & CEO of Ranking By SEO. He’s been working in the SEO industry since 2005. He can be seen contributing to SEMrush, Social Media Today, and Entrepreneur.

5 Reasons Why Your Website Traffic is Down

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