Search Traffic down 50% but rankings same?
-
One of my client's sites is experiencing a major decrease in search traffic (by 50%) but the main terms she usually gets traffic for, she's ranking the same or even better over the period of time that the traffic has decreased.
What could cause this?
-
Thanks-I based the question on the rankchecker plugin results and I always make sure to log out of google, but I usually don't rely on my own search results. RankChecker shows either the same rankings over the last 2 months or improvement but actual visiters have dropped dramatically. I still need to go through the data in the webmaster central about actual impressions and all that.
-
.....or make sure your OWN search results are personalize and "disable" web history on Google. If you have your own search personalized, or if you have the web history "enabled", Google will serve up the client's site in the same ranking position but the rest of the world may not see it as you do. I use RankChecker plug in to always get another set of eyes to check rankings.
-
This is probably not the case, but are you absolutely sure that there is no personalized search issue? It could be that she thinks her rankings are high, but really they're not.
It's a long shot, but thought I'd mention it!
-
Thanks for the excellent detailed info. I'm going to check on all of it and get back...
-
This is a pretty broad question, so hard to tell exactly what's going without more information. Things I'd investigate first:
-
Go to your Google Webmaster Tools account (assuming you have it installed on the site) and check number of impressions and CTR. Has the site not been showing up in as many searches overall as compared to the past?
-
Go to Google Insight and see if there has been a decrease in search volume overall for your keywords to correlates to the drop in traffic.
-
Go a little deeper into the analytics, and see if you can pinpoint specifically where search traffic decreased. Did it decrease across all keywords? Can you segment out certain keywords and isolate ones which dropped where others did not?
-
Also, check analytics for a drop in search traffic on all engines or just google, just bing, just yahoo etc.
Overall, at least the way you described the scenario, it seems when diagnosing an issue like this you really need more information. And specifically, you need more information that correlates to the drop in traffic, ie other changes that occur parallel in time to the drop in traffic.
- Also, how are you tracking rankings? You'll want to verify its accuracy perhaps by getting rankings from another source just to be sure.
-
-
I was just nervous to tweak the title tag for fear that it would anger google:)
I experiment with title tags a lot. I believe that Google will not be bothered if you tweak them once or twice.
Do you find that adding a word, like FREE to the title tag drops you at all?
We have lots of title tags with FREE in them - often as the first word. They rank great and are in moderate competition.
More info on kickass titles here.
-
Do you find that adding a word, like FREE to the title tag drops you at all? I was just nervous to tweak the title tag for fear that it would anger google:)
But if it's not a big deal, I'd love to change it to accomplish your larger point that you can try to get more mileage out of the real estate you're already getting from google.
-
Over time, most of my first page Google rankings have delivered less and less traffic even though my positions on the SERPs have remained the same.
Google has placed image results in the SERPs, news results, product results, local map results, video results, left side bar options. Each time they implement these I see a drop in traffic.
Google is finally becoming a better webmaster instead of just a search engine. They are learning how to keep traffic on Google.com instead of giving it to me.
So, the format of the SERPs can really cut into your traffic.
In addition, the actions of your competitors can cut into your traffic and even more into your sales. Here are a couple of examples...
One of my competitors is a publisher who sells at MSRP. I will never beat them in the SERPs for their own brand. However, I can rank #2 below them and shout a discount price in my title tag. Guess who started getting LOTS more traffic and lots more sales after that price went up? My competitor lost what I gained.
I also was able to give something away for free that other people were selling. I was ranking #4 at the time. When I placed the word FREE at the front of my title tag, traffic shot up and the number of links, likes and tweets that I received also went up. Not long after I was #1 and my competitors took a traffic loss - even before my rankings improved.
So, go out and look at the SERPs for changes that Google has made or changes that your competitors are up to. THat might explain it.
Finally... if this ranking drop was recent, remember that public schools and colleges just dismissed for the summer. Academic search is huge for some sites. Another seasonal change might also be at play.
-
I assume that you/your client are using google analytics? Have there been any changes in urls etc recently as this can affect how GA calculates your traffic. If your client any adwords campaigns, have they made any changes?
Otherwise, have their been any external changes eg
1. seasonal or other product/service demand changes which affect traffic to your clients site?
2. Changes in competitor SEO activity eg improved meta descriptions increasing their ctr
3. Changes in competitor adwords either spend or ad copy?
There will be an explanation though it may take some detective work..
Got a burning SEO question?
Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.
Browse Questions
Explore more categories
-
Moz Tools
Chat with the community about the Moz tools.
-
SEO Tactics
Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers
-
Community
Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!
-
Digital Marketing
Chat about tactics outside of SEO
-
Research & Trends
Dive into research and trends in the search industry.
-
Support
Connect on product support and feature requests.
Related Questions
-
Ranking for keywords in multiple zip codes
Hello, We are trying to rank for keywords locally. We are on the edge of four zip codes in our area and are competing with businesses in those zip codes. Should we track each keyword separately for each zip code, or just one zip code we're in?
Keyword Research | | ifixcars0 -
Keywords with no search volume
Hi there! What are your thoughts on optimizing pages for keywords that have no search volume (using the Keyword Planner)? I'm not sure it should be done, since optimizing for keywords that no one searches for is kind of useless, right? Or should I do it hoping that sometime in the future the keyword will have a surge on searches? Thanks!
Keyword Research | | sararufo0 -
What's better, lots of keyword targeted pages or fewer pages with more traffic going into them?
We have just introduced targeted pages for all of our keywords, however their is lots of overlap with existing established pages. For instance for the keyword Small Meeting Rooms we have the new page, titled Small-Meeting-Rooms which is now competing with the more established Meeting-Rooms. Its early days for both pages, about 2 weeks and 6 weeks respectively. But is it counterproductive to spread out our search juice between lost of pages? Should we just focus on a few? Any feedback, especially feedback based on real experiences is much appreciated!?
Keyword Research | | HireSpace0 -
9600 exact searches position 3 but only 125 clicks????
Seeing something a little strange on one of my clients sites. They are position 3 in Google and the only result on the page Google Authorship installed on their site. Exact match terms in the UK via Keywords tool are 9600 yet they only get 125 clicks on average for the month. There rank has not changed in the last 3 months and they have had a solid position 3.
Keyword Research | | tempowebdesign0 -
How to calculate how much traffic and how much revenue we shoudl expect?
Hi, I am trying to select some keywords and keywords I selected i know that it'll be bring traffic but how would i know how much traffic it could bring and what revenue i should expect? Thanks
Keyword Research | | Rubix0 -
Ranking history
I am having trouble on getting a ranking history for some of my keywords. Is this feature still working? thanks
Keyword Research | | cardif1 -
No real traffic, but moderately high PPC value - how come?
I've been given some terms with no noticeable traffic in the Keywords research tool, but have a moderately high PPC value - why is that and are they worth pursuing if they have no recordable traffic? FYI, this may be a newbie assumption on my part that -- means no noticeable traffic... Thanks guys!
Keyword Research | | Designbuddy0 -
How do you check your KW rankings?
I'm currently using the PRO campaigns to track my main keywords. However, I'm trying to do some research on KW opportunities, and having no luck finding a way to conveniently check rankings for new keywords. What tool do you use to get ranking results for large keyword lists?
Keyword Research | | AdoptionHelp0