Huge Drop in Direct Traffic in G4
-
Our direct traffic dropped 50% in October. Is anyone else seeing a drop in direct traffic in October in G4? It hasn't shifted to another source or unassigned it's just gone. Has anyone else experienced this and what might be the reasons?
-
Yes, my site also had a huge drop in direct traffic since the update. It's still down by 21% today.
-
Experiencing a drop in direct traffic can indeed be a head-scratcher, and you're not alone in noticing this. A sudden decrease, especially as steep as 50% in direct traffic in Google Analytics 4 (GA4), can be attributed to a variety of factors.
One of the first steps in troubleshooting is to check the context of the traffic drop. For instance, if the drop occurred over a weekend or during a holiday period, it may not be cause for alarm as these periods can naturally experience lower traffic. It's also beneficial to compare your current data with historical data to see if there is a pattern or seasonality to the traffic fluctuations.
Another area to look into is your website's direct traffic landing pages. Sometimes, a drop in direct traffic can be indicative of issues with onsite redirects or tracking configurations in GA4. It's worth investigating if there are any commonalities among the landing pages that have experienced drops in traffic, as this could point to specific areas of your site that are affected.
It's also important to understand what qualifies as direct traffic in GA4. Direct traffic is typically recorded when a visitor types your website URL directly into their browser, uses a bookmark, or clicks on a link that GA doesn't track. If there's been a change in how visitors access your site, or if there's been an update to GA4's tracking mechanisms, this could impact your direct traffic reporting.
Furthermore, consider whether there have been any recent changes to your web host's service, such as downtime, or if there have been any algorithm updates from Google that could have affected your site's visibility and, consequently, your traffic. Sometimes the issue could be on a larger scale and beyond immediate control, such as algorithmic changes that impact how traffic is directed and tracked.
Overall, the best course of action is to conduct a thorough review of all the potential factors and to check for any notifications in GA4 that might explain a manual action or a significant change. If you're unable to find a clear reason, it may be worth reaching out to a professional who can help dive deeper into your analytics and site performance.
-
@inhouseninja said in Huge Drop in Direct Traffic in G4:
Our direct traffic dropped 50% in October. Is anyone else seeing a drop in direct traffic in October in G4? It hasn't shifted to another source or unassigned it's just gone. Has anyone else experienced this and what might be the reasons?
Experiencing a drop in direct traffic can indeed be a head-scratcher, and you're not alone in noticing this. A sudden decrease, especially as steep as 50% in direct traffic in Google Analytics 4 (GA4), can be attributed to a variety of factors.
One of the first steps in troubleshooting is to check the context of the traffic drop. For instance, if the drop occurred over a weekend or during a holiday period, it may not be cause for alarm as these periods can naturally experience lower traffic. It's also beneficial to compare your current data with historical data to see if there is a pattern or seasonality to the traffic fluctuations.
Another area to look into is your website's direct traffic landing pages. Sometimes, a drop in direct traffic can be indicative of issues with onsite redirects or tracking configurations in GA4. It's worth investigating if there are any commonalities among the landing pages that have experienced drops in traffic, as this could point to specific areas of your site that are affected.
It's also important to understand what qualifies as direct traffic in GA4. Direct traffic is typically recorded when a visitor types your website URL directly into their browser, uses a bookmark, or clicks on a link that GA doesn't track. If there's been a change in how visitors access your site, or if there's been an update to GA4's tracking mechanisms, this could impact your direct traffic reporting.
Furthermore, consider whether there have been any recent changes to your web host's service, such as downtime, or if there have been any algorithm updates from Google that could have affected your site's visibility and, consequently, your traffic. Sometimes the issue could be on a larger scale and beyond immediate control, such as algorithmic changes that impact how traffic is directed and tracked.
Overall, the best course of action is to conduct a thorough review of all the potential factors and to check for any notifications in GA4 that might explain a manual action or a significant change. If you're unable to find a clear reason, it may be worth reaching out to a professional who can help dive deeper into your analytics and site performance.
-
@inhouseninja said in Huge Drop in Direct Traffic in G4:
Our direct traffic dropped 50% in October. Is anyone else seeing a drop in direct traffic in October in G4? It hasn't shifted to another source or unassigned it's just gone. Has anyone else experienced this and what might be the reasons?
It's not uncommon for fluctuations in direct traffic to occur, but a 50% drop is significant. I'm curious, have you checked if there were any changes made to your website, such as updates to the URL structure or any canonicalization issues? Additionally, did you implement any redirects recently?
As for my experience, one of my clients has encountered a similar situation with traffic decline. After optimizing my content and keyword density, I was able to recover a significant portion of the traffic and impressions. It's possible that there could be similar optimization opportunities for your site.
It would be helpful to also consider any potential external factors, such as changes in search engine algorithms or updates in user behavior that could have impacted direct traffic. Additionally, keep an eye on your referral and organic traffic to see if there have been corresponding changes in those channels.
I'd be interested to hear if anyone else in the G4 community has experienced a similar drop in direct traffic and what strategies they've employed to address it. Sharing experiences and insights can often lead to helpful solutions.
Best regards,
Tony -
@talentwide said in Huge Drop in Direct Traffic in G4:
, or tracking errors could all be contributing factors. It's advisable to investigate further, check for any technical issues, and monitor traffic patterns to identify the
Two of our client sites have also seen a large drop in traffic, both direct and organic search, coinciding with the implementation of GA4. Both sites are > ten years old, with a deep search history. As these are e-commerce sites, the impact is directly reflected in a significant drop in 'sales' volume.
Are there any indicators of how the 'ranking' methods have changed with GA-4 or any other 'factors' that should be accounted for in the site structure for GA-4 that would have altered the SEO results pages in google?
-
A significant drop in direct traffic in Google Analytics 4 (G4) can be attributed to various factors. To address this issue:
Check Tracking Code: Ensure your tracking code is correctly implemented and hasn't been altered.
Data Sampling: View unsampled data for accuracy.
Website Changes: Assess any recent website changes that might affect tracking.
Bot Traffic: Monitor for unusual bot traffic.
Referral Traffic: Review UTM parameters to prevent misclassification.
Filters and Segments: Ensure you're not applying filters or segments that modify data.
Cross-Domain Tracking: Configure cross-domain tracking if applicable.
External Factors: Consider external influences on traffic.
Competitor Activity: Monitor for malicious competitor tactics.
Google Analytics Support: Seek assistance from Google Analytics support if the issue persists.
By investigating these possibilities, you can identify and address the cause of the drop in direct traffic.
-
Direct traffic refers to visitors who arrive at a website without being referred from another site or source. This can happen in a few different ways:
-
Typing the URL directly into the browser address bar: This is likely to happen for users who are familiar with the website's URL and have bookmarked it or saved it to their address bar.
-
Clicking on a link from a non-web document: This could include links in emails, PDFs, or Word documents.
-
Accessing the website from a secure HTTPS page to a non-secure HTTP page: This can happen if a user clicks on an older link that points to an HTTP page from an HTTPS page.
-
Using a mobile browser that does not support referrer tracking: This is a relatively rare occurrence, but it can sometimes happen with older mobile browsers.
-
Dark social media: This refers to sharing links through private channels like instant messaging or email, where the referrer information is not tracked.
[To learn how to exploit the digital marketing opportunities using Google Analytics you can join "Digital Marketing Course"]
.
There are a few reasons why a drop in direct traffic might occur after making changes to GA4.-
Changes to tracking code: If you made any changes to your GA4 tracking code, it's possible that there was an error in the implementation that is causing some direct traffic to be misclassified. Carefully review any changes you made to the tracking code and ensure it is properly installed on all pages of your website.
-
Changes to attribution model: GA4 uses a data-driven attribution model by default, which means that it distributes credit for conversions across all of the touchpoints in a user's journey, rather than just the last click. This change could result in a decrease in direct traffic, as some conversions that were previously attributed to direct visits may now be attributed to other channels.
-
Changes to data processing: GA4 processes data differently than its predecessor, Universal Analytics. This could lead to some discrepancies in the way direct traffic is reported, especially if you are comparing data from before and after the switch to GA4.
-
Changes in user behavior: It's also possible that the drop in direct traffic is due to changes in user behavior. For example, users may be more likely to use search engines or social media to find websites, or they may be more likely to click on links from other sources, such as email or messaging apps.
.
Warm Regards
Rahul Gupta (Digital Marketing Consultant)
Suvidit Academy - Digital Marketing Course & Training Academy -
-
Yes, I've experienced this too. I lost many keywords, and an article that used to rank on Google's first page has dropped to the second page.
-
It's not uncommon for websites to experience fluctuations in traffic, including direct traffic, over time. A 50% drop in direct traffic in October can be due to a variety of reasons. It's essential to investigate further to pinpoint the cause. It might be related to seasonal trends, changes in user behavior, website updates, or technical issues. It's a good idea to analyze your website's performance data and consider seeking input from peers or industry forums to see if others have experienced similar drops and to gather insights on potential causes and solutions.
.
.
.
(PMP Exam Prep) (Business Intelligence Analyst Salary ) (Study abroad) (Canada PR) -
A drop in direct traffic of 50% in October is concerning. While I can't provide specific data for October in G4, fluctuations in website traffic can be due to various factors. Seasonal changes, changes in user behavior, technical issues, or tracking errors could all be contributing factors. It's advisable to investigate further, check for any technical issues, and monitor traffic patterns to identify the root cause and take appropriate actions. Additionally, reaching out to web analytics experts or SEO professionals for a detailed analysis might be beneficial.
.
.
.
(Canada PR) (Canada PR Process) (Study abroad) (PMP Exam Prep) -
same happened with me. one of my site even got penalty without any reason.
-
@skchad13j same happened with me. even one of my site has got penalty. very depressed after new update.
-
Yes, our direct traffic also dropped significantly in October. It's not shifting to another source or getting categorized as unassigned; it seems to have disappeared. We're curious if anyone else has experienced this, and if so, do you have any insights into the potential reasons behind this drop in direct traffic?
.
.
(Study abroad) (Masters in Computer Science in Canada) (Canada PR) (PMP Exam Prep) -
@inhouseninja I am seeing big drops in my SERP rankings since Nov 1
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
-
Making the change to GA4?
We have a few clients we routinely do SEO work for, and we have campaigns set up for them here. However, with the change to GA4, how is that going to impact those campaigns? How do we make that switch? Where do we go for that? And how do we set up future campaigns for GA4? Right now it looks like the only option is still for UA, but the switch happens in less than three months, which is a little unnerving.
Reporting & Analytics | | buckii_modernoffice0 -
Increase in Direct Traffic plus Bounce Rate rise for all traffic sources
Hello, I work for an agency and we have seen a big rise in bounce rate for 4 of our clients which happened on the exact same day. This rise on bounce rate is across all traffic sources. We are also seeing a big increase in direct traffic, starting on the same day. Is it possible for bot traffic to affect the bounce rate of all other traffic sources? We have ruled out double reporting in GA but can explain how the bounce rate has increased for all traffic sources. How is this linked to the rise in direct traffic (in some cases as high as 500%)? Thanks
Reporting & Analytics | | jenallen0 -
Different language with direct translation: duplicate content, meta?
For a site that does NOT want a separate subdomain, or directory, or TLD for a country/language would the directly translated page (static) content/meta be duplicate? (NOT considering a translation of the term/acronym which could exist in another language) i.e. /SEO-city-state in English vs. /SEO-city-state Spanish -In this example a term/acronym that is the same in any language. Outside of duplicate content, are their other conflict potentials in rankings you can think of?
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | bozzie3110 -
Drop in SERPS and little movement after redesign
I took over a project in mid-March 2015. Rankings went from 5th page to roughly #11 - #13 (but never into first page). Launched a redesign on August 15, 2015. Rankings dropped from #11 - #13 down to #20. Weird part: On 3 different Mondays since Mid-August, I have noticed that the rankings shoot back up to about #11 in the morning, then drop back down to #20 by the evening. Three questions: 1. Has anyone seen a drop like this after redesign? (Assuming you kept the same content, just different layout). 2. Did it seem like the redesign resulted in some sort sandbox effect, where the rankings wouldn't move for a period of time? 3. Any advice on how to get it moving again? Or is this just a function of time? Ps. The interior pages are moving well. domain: getinjuryanswers.com KW: San Diego Personal Injury Lawyer, Personal Injury Lawyer San Diego I understand these are hyper-competitive terms. What puzzles me is how calcified the rankings appear to be.
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | mrodriguez14400 -
Enormous 7 page drop after switching servers and adding load balancers. Thoughts?
Hello Everyone, I'm a longtime Moz user but I had to switch accounts after switching jobs. I was hoping someone might be able to give me some insight on whats going on if possible. Our startup had first page position for our most valuable keyword: "Crowdfunding real estate" for about 6 or 7 months. Once we launched and switched to a production server behind load balancers, we dropped almost overnight to 7th page and we've been there for about a month. We don't have many links yet and some of the ones we DO have are kind of spammy (no idea where they came from and in process of trying to get them removed) but we thought it'd be strange to see that massive drop. We are even pages below a competitor who has NO links and basically zero content on the page. We don't have any notifications in WMT about a manual penalty or anything. I'd really, really appreciate any advice and If anyone has any ideas, the page is at: PatchofLand.com Thanks, Jason
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | PatchofLand0 -
Drop in rankings
Our keyword rankings have dropped greatly since July'12. Our site used to be in the top 8 rankings for the most competitive keywords on our industry and now rank 30+. Being new to this industry any help would be greatly appreciated. www.fragileremovals.com.au
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | RobSchofield0 -
Rankings dropped - lost 3,000 backlinks (but from same domain)
lost a lot of rankings. 2 things have happened to my site over the past 2 weeks and I am trying to establish which may be the case: My site has 30.000 links from a top news site (on main bar across all pages - not for SEO, it just happened). My site lost 3,000 links from this site last week, when they were doing some cleaning up, which means I still have 25,000+ links from them. My site - job site - has published another job board's jobs so I get paid per click. This means ratio of my job vs external jobs is 1 to 5. So basically, I added last week 5 times more jobs that is already live on external site to get paid per click. In other words, my own site's unique content went down big time. Which of the 2 is more likely to cause the massive drop in rankings since last night?
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | knielsen0 -
I need help with a local tax lawyer website that just doesn't get traffic
We've been doing a little bit of linkbuilding and content development for this site on and off for the last year or so: http://www.olsonirstaxattorney.com/ We're trying to rank her for "Denver tax attorney," but in all honesty we just don't have the budget to hit the first page for that term, so it doesn't surprise me that we're invisible. However, my problem is that the site gets almost NO traffic. There are days when Google doesn't send more than 2-3 visitors (yikes). Every site in our portfolio gets at least a few hundred visits a month, so I'm thinking that I'm missing something really obvious on this site. I would expect that we'd get some type of traffic considering the amount of content the site has, (about 100 pages of unique content, give or take) and some of the basic linkbuilding work we've done (we just got an infographic published to a few decent quality sites, including a nice placement on the lawyer.com blog). However, we're still getting almost no organic traffic from Google or Bing. Any ideas as to why? GWMT doesn't show a penalty, doesn't identify any site health issues, etc. Other notes: Unbeknownst to me, the client had cut and pasted IRS newsletters as blog posts. I found out about all this duplicate content last November, and we added "noindex" tags to all of those duplicated pages. The site has never been carefully maintained by the client. She's very busy, so adding content has never been a priority, and we don't have a lot of budget to justify blogging on a regular basis AND doing some of the linkbuilding work we've done (guest posts and infographic).
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | JasonLancaster0