Google ranking drops can result from changes to your website. They can also come from algorithm updates or market shifts. Reclaiming first-page results can be challenging. There are millions of competitors and the complex, ever-changing Google algorithm. With a bit of insight from this article, WPamplify hopes to provide expert tips for diagnosing and fixing these drops. Let’s get started.
What Is a Ranking Drop?
All right, let’s start with the definition of a rankings drop. Simply put, a Google rankings drop occurs when your sites consistently fail to rank. This results in a continual decline in rank. A drop in rank means a big issue with your website. You need to act fast.
Detecting a Ranking Drop
So, how do we detect a ranking drop? Good question. You can detect an SEO ranking drop through various factors. These include a decline in organic traffic, low revenue, and traffic stats. It also includes pages being kicked off the first page of SERP. There may also be issues with indexing new posts and a surprising drop in your rank tracker. These signs show a broken site that is no longer appealing to Google.
Did Your Ranking Actually Drop?
Check if your rankings have dropped. Or, if your rank tracker is acting up, check its website and Twitter for known issues. Google and trackers often need to update their software, so the rankings reported may be off. Check your Google rankings and organic traffic. Do this by looking at your web analytics suite and Google Search Console. Set up rank tracking for important keywords using a backup for verification.
Why Did Your Google Rankings Drop?
SEO experts often check tools like Google Search Console (GSC) each week. They do this to monitor their SERP rankings. However, unexpected ranking drops can still occur, leading to a sudden traffic hemorrhage. Regular monitoring of GSC can help you stay proactive and prevent such drops. Many things can cause a significant drop in a Google ranking. These include content changes and algorithm updates. Also, technical issues, competitor improvements, SERP layout changes, and a Google penalty.
Website Structure
Bloggers often change website themes, codes, and permalinks. Doing so can lead to unknown problems that cause rankings to drop. Rebranding your website can also cause problems. These include page deletion, URL changes, internal link updates, and navigation changes.
Recovery from these issues is simple. However, it’s best to use backup data before rebranding and a staging environment for testing. Cloud hosts like CloudWays offer free backup programs and staging environments. Also, use 301 redirects. They tell Google about changes in page URLs.
Search Engine Errors and User Experience
Google’s main focus is to improve user experience. A website with search engine errors can lead to ranking drops. To boost your website’s ranking, you must keep improving content quality. This includes page headings, keyword usage, and ad placement. You also need to fix 404 errors and reduce page load time. This ongoing improvement is key to maintaining and improving your site’s ranking.
Ensure your articles are grammatically correct, readable, and word-structured, and regularly update older posts. Avoid keyword stuffing and over-optimization. Limit the number of ads on a single page to help improve user experience. An increase in 404 errors can give Google a negative impression and lead to a drop in Google ranks. Create engaging content. Doing so can help keep users on your page for at least 2 minutes. When you can, improve page load time.
Bested By Your Competition
If your competitors outrank you, you may see a slight drop in your position. Google now favors their articles over yours. To recover your previous positions, you must analyze why your competitor’s page outranked you. You can do this by comparing a past version of the content using archive.org. You can also check backlinks from good websites. You can examine interlinking and user experience for further insight.
Tools like SEMrush can help compare your site with competitors. They can help you understand their methods for success. This will help you understand why your competitors rank above you. It will also help you regain your previous positions.
Loss of Quality Backlinks
Backlinks established over time must stick and be relevant and authoritative. Pages rank in the top rankings with more linking domain names. Losing backlinks from respectable sites can hurt a site’s authority. It can cause a dip in ranking.
To avoid this, analyze the reasons behind backlink removal and ask the owner to include it again. Alternatively, acquire a similar quality link from another authority website. SEMRush can be deployed to monitor missing backlinks.
Low Quality Unnatural Links
High quality backlinks to your website significantly improve search engine rankings (SERP) positions. Backlinks act as a voting system. They increase your website’s value and give Google a signal. Conversely, low-quality backlinks indicate poor practices and trust issues. A sudden increase in low-quality unnatural links can lower your authority. It can also harm your SERP positions.
To fix this issue, keep track of your backlink profile using tools like SEMrush and Ahrefs. To remove bad links, ask the owner to remove the link or use Google’s disavow tool. This can help eliminate directory traffic that was damaging your Google rankings.
Robots.txt File
The Robots.txt file is a text file. It is for search engine spiders and crawlers. It gives instructions on how to index pages on a website. Do not edit the file. If you or a plugin update it, this could affect how Google bots crawl. Disabling this permission can stop bots from indexing your pages, which could cause a loss of site rankings.
Visit www.yoursite.com/robots.txt to see if you have disallowed any search engine bots. Remove the rule if needed. If you’re new to WordPress and have indexing issues, you may unknowingly have blocked search engines.
Google Algorithm Updates
Google’s algorithm updates are crucial for improving user experience and resolving issues. However, these changes can significantly impact SERP rankings. Google algorithm changes have evolved. In 2015, they were quick. They are now more gradual and use machine learning. To improve your website, you must stay updated with the latest updates. They can significantly impact your rankings. Enlist the help of WPamplify to stay updated and maintain a healthy SEO ranking.
Googles EAT Model
Google’s machine learning algorithm favors sites with high expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness. Before changing your site, consider if changes boost industry credibility. Changes should be based on solid research. Also, consider if you can still recommend the site. If you want your site to grow, contact an SEO company for a sustainable strategy. Google rewards hard work with a top ranking spot. So, be patient and consider E-A-T: Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness.
Google Penalties
Google penalties can be devastating. Your website fails to comply with guidelines. This causes it to lose its rankings. To check if your site has been penalized, go to Search Console. Select your property, then go to Search Traffic and Manual Actions.
To fix the issue, you can ask Google to reconsider it. You can do this on the same manual activity page. To get a reconsideration, provide evidence of your work on the issue and explain why it occurred. Google will then visit your site to verify if it adheres to Google guidelines.
A Hacked Website
A hacked website can significantly impact your Google rankings and the information and data of your blog. A warning stating “this site may be hacked” under your domain on SERP indicates that your site may be hacked. Hackers can insert links to low-quality sites or malicious scripts, leading to a drop in rankings.
Google understands this dilemma and has created a troubleshooter to help identify if your site is hacked and how to fix it. Once the issue is fixed, you can request reconsideration from Google. Google understands the importance of protecting your blog’s data and reputation.
Your Website Is MIA
Cheap and inexperienced web hosting can hurt your website’s online presence. This is especially true if you are busy on the weekends. If your site goes down, it can give Google a false impression, leading to a drop in Google rankings. Hacks or low server loading speed can also cause issues.
To fix this, consider using a better web host with a guaranteed 99% uptime, such as HostGator or GoDaddy. Use a downtime notifier to get notifications and track your site’s downtime. Also, consider using a CDN like CloudFlare. It ensures visitors can access a cached copy of the site if it is down.
Sudden Google rankings drops hurt. But with the right procedures and plan, you can almost always regain rankings. This article aims to help you recover from this experience. It will also help you keep your position in the Google rankings. Also, contacting a seasoned team like WPamplify can help. They can make sure your site ranks well. Since 2011, WPamplify has helped small businesses everywhere to boost their online presence. Contact us now for a pricing quote today.
