5 Simple Ways to Bounce Back from Falling Web Traffic

It is common for all websites to experience a fluctuation in traffic from time to time. Because you cannot expect the same number of people to visit your website every day, it’s okay to see some minor decline in traffic here and there. However, a sudden significant drop is a cause for concern. It’s because you have either received a penalty from Google, or there is a technical issue on your site that’s affecting its performance.

Fortunately, all is not lost as there are ways to get back on your feet after suffering a drop in website traffic. Read on and discover how you can recover falling traffic and turn your site’s performance around.

How to Recover Falling Web Traffic

If you recently experienced a significant drop in web traffic, here are the solutions you can apply:

1. See if you received a Google penalty

A common reason for a sudden decline in website traffic is getting a penalty from Google. Most of the time, the search giant doesn’t explain why it gave you a manual penalty. However, you can confirm if you received one by checking your Google Search Console for notifications. 

If there’s a notification, you’re likely using a black hat strategy, or you have spammy/plagiarised content. Correct the mistake as soon as possible. It should remove the penalty and help you recover web traffic. Also, if you’re working with an SEO professional, talk to them about the strategies you’re using.

2. Check your backlinks

If you segmented your web traffic and discovered that there’s a considerable dip in the amount of referral traffic you’re receiving, you should check your backlinks. You probably lost a few of them, especially if several of your webpages have seen a drop in traffic.

Regaining lost links can be challenging, but it doesn’t mean that you won’t be able to obtain new ones again. The most effective strategy is to update your old content with further information to make it relevant. If the site or webpage that has been linking to you no longer exists, you can republish your content or share it on social media.

3. Determine if you have links to bad sites

Google can punish you not only for spammy and plagiarised content. It can also give you a penalty if spammy and shady websites are linking to you. Whether you did it on purpose or not, it gives the search giant the impression that you paid for those links and are using bad SEO practices You need to remove those links ASAP if you want to recover lost website traffic.

Ask the websites linking to you to remove the unwanted backlink. If they refuse to do so, you can disavow the link so bad sites won’t be associated with you anymore. 

4. Take a look at the competition

Another common reason you’re losing traffic is your competition. Perhaps a competitor has offered something, such as a piece of content, which is more valuable and engaging than yours? If this is the case, you have two ways to get back on your feet.

If you’re targeting the same keyword your competitor is ranking well for, you can abandon your pursuit and focus on other keywords or strategies your competitor hasn’t discovered yet instead. Alternatively, you can go head-to-head with them, especially if you think you have a winning chance. Before you do so, however, make sure that you have researched your competitor well and you have enough resources to see you through.

5. Determine if there are issues with SERPs

You can still lose web traffic even if your content has a good search ranking and the keyword you’re targeting has excellent search volume. The most common reason for this is that Google might be providing your answer to users on the search result page. As a result, users don’t have any reason to visit your site since they already got the information they need from the SERP.

This trend has become very common in recent months. There’s even a name for this kind of searches. They are called the “no-click search.” A recent study showed that 49% of Google searches are no-click searches. 

To address this issue, you can refurbish your content and write it in a way that would convince your target audience to visit your site. For instance, you can expound on a specific topic and make your content more comprehensive so it will be too long to be read on the search result page. 

Conclusion

Losing website traffic after working hard to obtain it can be disheartening. However, it is not the end of the world as there are ways to recover it and even come out stronger from the ordeal. As the saying goes, “What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.” As such, consider the pointers discussed above so you can quickly get back on your feet if you experience a sudden dip in online traffic. On the other hand, if you want to save time, we can do the recovery efforts for you.

Contact us at Springhill Marketing today so you can quickly and efficiently recover lost web traffic.