Here's How SEO Experts Analyze a Google Rankings Drop—Step-by-Step
Noticing a drop in your website's rankings can be frustrating, but it's something that can be fixed.
A website ranking drop assessment will help you understand why your rankings dropped and guide you toward recovery.
Here's how to approach it.
What is a Website Rankings Loss Audit?
A website rankings loss audit is a structured process that identifies why your search engine rankings have dropped.
It involves analyzing technical SEO issues, content changes, competitor activity, and any impacts from algorithm updates.
The audit determines the exact reasons for the drop and provides a clear, actionable plan to help recover lost positions and prevent future drops.
Common Causes of Website Rankings Drops
There are several key reasons why websites experience rankings drops:
1. Algorithmic Updates
Google frequently changes its algorithm, which can alter the factors it considers when ranking sites. If your website no longer matches these factors, you may see a drop in rankings.
2. Failed Migrations or Redesigns
SEO migrations or redesigns often lead to issues like broken redirects or changed URLs, which confuse search engines and result in a rankings drop.
3. Content Changes
Altering or removing important content like FAQs, product descriptions, or internal links can signal to Google that your page is less relevant, causing a drop in rankings.
4. Technical SEO Problems
Technical issues such as crawl errors, broken links, or misplaced noindex tags can prevent search engines from properly indexing your site, which can lead to rankings losses.
5. Competitor SEO Improvements
Your rankings may drop if competitors improve their SEO strategies, such as updating their content or gaining more backlinks, pushing your site lower in search results.
6. Penalties and Manual Actions
Rare but serious, penalties from Google can result in a significant drop in rankings, often caused by violations such as spammy content or unnatural links.
Steps for Conducting a Website Rankings Loss Audit
A website rankings loss audit involves several steps:
Step 1: Rule Out Technical Issues or Glitches
Use Google Search Console to check for technical issues such as crawl errors, noindex tags, or broken links.
If the drop is specific to Google and not other search engines, it could be related to an algorithm update.
Step 2: Identify Which Keywords and Pages Dropped
Tools like Ahrefs, Semrush, SEOcrawland Google Search Console will help you track which keywords and pages experienced a drop in rankings. Focus on those that were driving the most traffic.
Step 3: Check for Algorithm Updates
Overlay your traffic data with the dates of major Google updates to see if the timing coincides with a rankings drop.
However, remember that other factors, like a failed migration or content changes, or a technical issue might also contribute to the drop.
Step 4: Analyze SERPs
Investigate the Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs) for keywords where you've lost rankings.
Compare your site to the new top-ranking competitors and see what they're doing differently—whether it's better content or more comprehensive SEO strategies.
Step 5: Identify Competitors That Have Improved
Look at competitors who are now outranking your site.
What changes did they make? Do they have better content, more backlinks, or a more optimized structure? Understanding this helps you see where you need to improve.
Step 6: Create a Recovery Plan
Once you identify the cause, develop a detailed recovery plan. Focus on fixing technical issues, updating your content, and aligning with the current SEO landscape.
If a Google update caused the drop, wait until it fully rolls out before making significant changes.
Essential Tools for a Rankings Loss Audit
Google Search Console: Track keyword performance and diagnose technical issues.
Ahrefs/Semrush: Analyze historical rankings, backlinks, and competitors' performance.
SEOcrawl: Visualize keyword trends and track traffic drops over time. Make sense of GSC and GA data.
Cora SEO Tool: To power up your on-page SEO so that no one can outrank you.
Avoid Common Mistakes
When conducting a Website Rankings Loss Audit, avoid these common mistakes:
Technical problems should be ruled out first. Not addressing them early can lead to unnecessary delays in fixing the drop.
Wait for Google updates to settle before making changes. Acting too soon can make it harder to determine the real cause of the rankings drop.
Don't just focus on your site—analyze how SERPs have changed over time, especially for your target keywords.
Use Wayback Machine to see how the site looked before and after the rankings drop, which can reveal unnoticed changes.
Have your rankings dropped? I can help!
If your website's rankings have dropped and you're feeling stuck, I'm here to help.
I've worked with a lot of businesses to figure out exactly why rankings drop and how to fix them.
If you're looking for a clear and personalized website rankings loss audit, reach out to me—I'd love to take a look.
And don't worry, the first step is free! I'll do an initial analysis of your site at no charge to understand what's going on and put together a plan for you.
No pressure—just an honest look at what's happening and how we can get your rankings back on track.
Just reply to this message, and let's get started!
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