Have you ever witnessed how your website traffic goes down, even when your main keywords are continuously ranking in the top position? It somehow sounds like Google punishes your success, but that is not always the case.
Google knows its users better than it knows you. Your content might rank in the top position, yet your traffic keeps on declining; many times, you are not at fault.
The following are some steps you can take in order to fix your website’s traffic decline.
How to Investigate Decreases in Traffic Despite High Rankings
Your stakeholders are applying pressure, and seeking answers, but there’s no need to panic—take a breath. While you can’t magically regain users to your site in an hour, conducting quick research can help pinpoint the reasons behind the decline.
Start by checking search trends; this should be your initial move. Examine keyword trends using SEO tools. Many SEO research tools now provide data on search volume interest over time, such as Semrush.
Let’s take this keyword for instance: Best Movie Theatre 2019
Anticipate a significant drop-off for most “2019” keywords once January 2020 arrives.
Keyword: Best Movie Theatre Near Me
Now let’s look at a more evergreen topic. Notice a spike around August and September, then decline again; that may be related to the Movie Theatre that has just opened in late July and stayed popular during these months.
You’re an SEO guy for a large restaurant chain, and your boss comes to you concerned about a long-term traffic decline. Go to Google Trends and zoom out for some context:
Check Google Trends
This tool can sometimes provide valuable insights into the cultural impact of search terms.
It’s important to quickly distinguish between search terms and topics in Google Trends. In simplified terms:
- Search terms are individual keywords or search queries.
- Topics are entities that may encompass multiple search terms.
Now, let’s input “Best Movie theater Near Me” and select Topic to gain a more comprehensive view of the landscape.
Before moving forward, take note that the “Best Movie theater ” as a topic closely follows our main topic. Remember this for later!
Next, let’s extend the date range to the longest option, say 2010 – Present. Note any substantial drop-down and wonder what happened. That corresponds with the global shutdown during one of the most significant pandemics in history. It’s no surprise that traffic plummeted during that period.
This also elucidates the heightened interest in “Best Movie theater ” on Google Trends during that time.
While the pandemic is technically over, and despite the reopening of various establishments, COVID-19 still lingers. However, the curiosity in searches hasn’t fully rebounded.
Streaming services like HBO Max and Disney demonstrated innovation by collaborating directly with film production companies, allowing for streaming theatrical releases. Although this trend has slowed, it hasn’t restored demand to pre-pandemic levels.
But what about that notable peak before 2020? Marvel movies played an important role, creating a unique demand for movie theaters during that time.
So, what’s the solution? While we may not all have the allure of Marvel or the star power of Robert Downey Jr. to draw people to our sites, I’ll delve into some tactics later in this article.
Adapting to Changes in Search Volume
The effectiveness of SEO is closely tied to both the quality of your product and people’s interest in it. When interest starts to wane, it’s time to explore innovative alternatives.
Examine Fresh SERP Features
Certain keyword tracking tools provide a useful metric that measures the distance in pixels from the top where your result appears. Observing the change in this metric can serve as a simple indicator that recent SERP features might be impacting your organic click-through rate (CTR).
This situation can be exasperating, given that Google frequently experiments with new features, making it uncertain how long they will persist.
Embrace Classic Approaches with Above-the-Line Ads
For those with budgetary flexibility, collaborating with the marketing department to invest in traditional advertising, specifically above-the-line advertising, can be a strategic move. This consists of avenues like TV commercials, streaming ads, radio ads, and magazine ads.
While the digital landscape has transformed advertising, traditional methods can still effectively influence specific demographics. The key lies in identifying where your audience allocates their time and exploring potential advertising opportunities.
How to Optimize Keywords for Service Providers and Transforming Blog Content
Embrace Social Engagement
In my experience working in the behavioral health sector, especially during the COVID era, I noticed a fascinating trend: a surge in interest in virtual therapy and psychiatry. Fortunately, my clients had already invested in these services before the pandemic. However, the question arose—how did our audience become aware and start searching for these services?
I searched online, and what I found from the search was that, during the early days of the pandemic, behavioral health professionals flocked to Instagram and TikTok, touting good information on coping with depression during lockdowns, and subtly promoting their telehealth services. This created a snowball effect: more and more professionals started endorsing telehealth options, and it spread like wildfire.
Undeniably, social media is definitely driving search demand. At times, it is ephemeral; at other times, it has the capacity to reinstate demand. So, if your business faces a challenge similar to that of a movie theatre chain that is struggling, for instance, use creative social media to get them back into theaters. Give them reasons for not waiting for streaming services.
Below-the-Line Strategies for B2B
Above-the-line strategies may not be in concordance with your goals if you are working for B2B. In this regard, below-the-line strategies come to the rescue. Explore tactics such as trade shows, direct mailers, conferences, and so on and so forth.
Sometimes your target audience simply won’t know what to look for, or maybe they just don’t realize they need you. That’s when reaching out to them and demonstrating your value becomes even more important.
Bring New SERP Features into Your Account
As mentioned above, new SERP features can be one of the most difficult signals to prevent a loss of traffic. They literally mean that each stakeholder would always look at any solution, when, very often it is beyond your circle of control. Now, what to do?
Get to Know How SERP Features Work
If you want to win some click share back in the SERPs, it’s worth targeting a ranking in any new SERP feature. To do that, you need to know how each of the features works.
Typically, SERP features rely on content structure or schema markup to identify the most relevant pages. Analyze which page or post is currently ranking in these features and identify commonalities. Determine if there are quick implementations you can undertake.
Google Ads Introduces Innovative Multi-Format Ads for Video Reach Campaigns
Exercise Patience
As much as it may be challenging, sometimes taking no immediate action is the most prudent approach. SERP features undergo continuous changes, and some may be temporary. Trust your instincts and assess whether it’s worthwhile, in terms of both time and resources, to strive for ranking in these new features, or if it’s a temporary test that will phase out over time.
Assessing Permanence or Cyclicity
It falls upon us to ascertain whether the decline in traffic is a lasting consequence of our niche or a cyclical occurrence.
Consider the scenario of movie theaters; there’s a potential that a new franchise or a novel theater experience could emerge, enticing audiences back to the cinematic experience.
However, if your business revolves around CD sales, it might be necessary to explore alternative avenues. The resurgence seen in vinyl is improbable for CDs.
Use available tools to scrutinize audience behavior, exploring possibilities beyond the SEO to revive search demand.
