Steps to take when you face a website traffic drop

Realising that your website has suffered a sudden drop in traffic immediately triggers a sense of panic, even if the traffic slump only relates to a short period of time. Our best advice is to try to understand the underlying reasons by asking for advice from an SEO professional.

In this blog, we discuss what immediate action to take and how to optimise your content strategy for better SEO.

Immediate Actions

Check for technical issues

A sudden drop in traffic could be due to technical problems with your website. This could include server downtime, broken links, or other issues that are preventing users from accessing your site. Use a Google Search Console account to monitor your website's uptime and performance, and be sure to fix any technical issues as soon as possible.

Review recent updates

If you've made any recent changes to your website, such as a design overhaul or new content, it's possible that these changes are causing a drop in traffic. Review your analytics data to see if the traffic drop coincides with the timing of these changes. If so, you may need to revert to the previous version of your website or make adjustments to your new content.

Analyse your traffic sources

Use Google Analytics to identify which traffic sources are experiencing the biggest drop. This will help you focus your troubleshooting efforts and identify potential problems with specific channels, such as organic search, social media, or email marketing.

Backup Plans

Leverage social media

Social media platforms can be a powerful backup channel for driving traffic to your website. Share your latest content, interact with your followers, and run targeted social media ads to keep your brand top of mind and attract new visitors.

Utilise email marketing

Email marketing is another effective way to maintain a connection with your audience and drive referral traffic to your website.?

Explore PPC advertising

Pay-per-click (PPC) advertising can be a quick way to boost traffic to your website while you're working on addressing the underlying cause of the traffic drop.?

Optimising Existing Content for Better SEO

Keyword Research

Identify relevant keywords that your target audience is searching for to drive more search traffic. Use these keywords strategically throughout your content, including titles, meta descriptions, and headings.

Content Structure

Organise your content into a clear and easy-to-navigate structure. Use headings, subheadings, and bullet points to break up long blocks of text and make your content more scannable.

Content Length

Aim for a content length that is appropriate for the topic and target audience. Longer, more in-depth articles tend to rank higher in search engine results.

Internal Linking

Create a network of internal links within your website. This helps search engines understand the hierarchy and relevance of your content and therefore increase your search rankings.

Image Optimisation

Optimise your images for search engines by using relevant filenames, alt text, and captions.

Content Repurposing

Repurpose existing content into different formats, such as infographics, videos, or social media posts, to reach a wider audience.

Contact us for tips on how to recover from a traffic drop

Need help getting your website performance back on track? Contact us for a free SEO audit of your site and expert tips for improvements.?