Suppose you wake up one morning, look at the ranking report, and discover that your website’s hard-earned rankings have completely changed. It vanished from Google’s top 10 and top 100, leaving no trace. I’m sure that’s not the greatest feeling in the world.
The list of SEO find-and-fix tips will keep you safe. There’s no need to panic or mess things up; simply be prepared for recovery after whatever caused your website’s ranking to drop.
Why might your Google rankings drop?
The causes of unexpected ranking drops vary from Google’s updating its algorithms, rich features transforming in the SERP or implementing site changes with errors. Another reason could be that a critical site authority factor has weakened. For example, your site could’ve lost backlinks, its page speed may have deteriorated, or a new design may be interfering with user experience.
Here are some possible causes for a decline in your Google web page ranking:
1. Recent updates to your website
You recently made significant changes to your website’s content, which may have resulted in a drop in rankings. These changes may also include website restructuring or redesign, migration or addition of a few additional pages, and so on.
2. Problems with technology
SEO ranking drops can happen for no fault of your own. A technical issue on the search engine’s end could be to blame. Alternatively, your website may be difficult to crawl and index.
3. SEO algorithm modifications
Search engines’ algorithms for ranking websites are constantly being updated. As a result, if a search engine’s algorithm changes, your website’s ranking may suffer.
4. Hacking Possibilities
Someone may have hacked your website and purposefully changed the content to cause a drop in your Google ranking.
5. Search intent has shifted.
Google’s perception of search intent for a query may change from time to time, causing website rankings to shift based on relevance.
6. Competition’s improvements
Your website’s SEO ranking may also suffer if your competitors improve their websites to rank higher than you.
7. Backlinks that had been lost
In SEO, backlinks are the most important ranking factor. Backlink loss can have a significant impact on your website’s Google ranking.
Recovering from a drop in ranking
1. Determine whether your rankings have dropped
The first step is to determine whether your website’s Google ranking has actually dropped or if your rankings tracker is acting strangely. Check your rank tracker’s report to confirm that your Google rankings have indeed dropped. These trackers may occasionally produce incorrect results. As a result, you should also double-check the search engine results page (SERP).
Another option for resolving this issue is to install multiple Google rank-tracking applications. Then, if your primary tracker shows a drop in rankings, you can cross-check with the others before taking action.
You can also check your Google Search Console and Web analytics suite to see if your Google rankings have dropped. With Google Search Console, you can access vital information such as total monthly clicks, total impressions, average click-through-rate (CTR), and average position.
2. Examine the drop’s scope
Next, you must determine the precise cause of the Google ranking drop.
You can use your SEO rank tracking application, Web analytics data, and Google Search Console data to audit the scope of your website’s ranking drop. Search queries on Google and Web pages that have experienced a ranking drop can also point you in the right direction.
3. Recent website changes
Bulk changes to the website are one of the most common causes of Google ranking drops. So, if you’ve made any recent changes to your website and its Google rankings have dropped dramatically as a result, those changes are most likely to blame. These could include any changes to the content, design, or structure of your website.
If you are not aware of any major changes to your website but have noticed a drop in rankings, you can check with your SEO or IT team to see if they have made any changes. You can also check your project management software for any activity that may have contributed to the drop in ranking.
Technical changes to your website could include changes to the HTTP code, canonical URL, metadata, Hreflang definitions, and so on. Internal link structure and content changes on your website can have an impact on its search engine rankings.
4. Check the indexing status
When a user enters a search query into Google’s search bar, the search engine crawls and indexes various websites before displaying the ones with the most relevant content. If Google encounters any technical difficulties while crawling and indexing your website, it may lower its ranking.
So, if you notice a drop in your website’s Google rankings but haven’t made any changes to it, you can check the indexing status. Check for crawl anomalies that prevent Google from crawling and indexing your website.
Keep in mind that Google bots are used to crawl and index websites. If you’ve recently changed your website’s settings to prevent bot traffic, Google may be unable to crawl it, resulting in a significant drop in ranking. Check your website’s load time as well to ensure that there is no drop in ranking.
5. Determine whether your page has any technical issues
When you hire SEO services for your website, you are paying the SEO firm for three services: on-page SEO, off-page SEO, and technical SEO. A change in any of these three factors can have a significant impact on your website’s SEO ranking. So, if you notice a drop in rankings, you should double-check all three aspects of SEO.
Technical issues with your Web pages and SEO implementations can occasionally cause a drop in Google rankings. It is critical to identify and resolve these issues as soon as possible in order to regain your rankings.
6. Your competitor beat out you
Your website’s Google ranking may drop for reasons beyond your or your SEO agency’s control. Your competitors’ websites may have improved and have surpassed you in the rankings. So, if you’ve checked everything but still can’t figure out why your website’s ranking has dropped, this could be the case. Running a search for a related keyword and looking at the SERP rankings is the simplest way to see if you’re being outranked by a competitor. If you notice that your competitors have risen above you, they have likely improved their websites.
In this case, you should compare your competitors’ websites to yours and collaborate with your SEO team to improve your rankings. This can be accomplished by adding new content to your website, optimizing existing content, and constructing high-quality backlinks to your website’s pages.
7. Important algorithm update
Google’s algorithm for ranking websites is frequently updated. According to reports, Google made up to 3200 changes to its algorithm by 2018. We assume that this figure has increased since then.
Google algorithm updates are another common cause of ranking fluctuations. Although minor changes are insignificant, any major algorithm update can make or break a business.
If your website’s Google ranking has suddenly dropped, check to see if there has been a recent algorithm update. While Google is usually open about minor algorithm updates, you can consult an SEO expert to find out if Google has recently released a major algorithm update.
Keep in mind that changes in website rankings do not occur immediately following an algorithm update. Before a website drops out of the top ten pages, there is a gradual drop. As a result, when checking for Google algorithm updates, you must consider an appropriate time period.
8. Look for possible on-page issues
We’ve already discussed how your website’s SEO is divided into three parts: off-page SEO, on-page SEO, and technical SEO. While we’ve covered a lot of technical SEO and off-page SEO topics so far, let’s look at how on-page SEO issues can affect your website’s Google rankings.
Any changes to the content or formatting of your website can have a significant impact on its Google rankings. Assume you’ve increased the number of images and videos on your website. These images and videos can add value to the page content, but they can also slow it down (which is important for Google ranking).
9. Mobile-friendly assessment
Mobile friendliness has emerged as a critical component of SEO. More than 70% of organic traffic comes from mobile devices, which are used by the majority of Internet users. Search engines such as Google prioritize mobile-friendly websites, particularly for users who conduct information searches on their smartphones.
Any compromise in your website’s mobile-friendliness may result in a drop in its Google rankings. You can use Google Mobile-Friendly to see how your website performs on mobile devices like smartphones and tablets. If necessary, you can make the necessary changes to reclaim your lost rankings.
How long does it take to move up the Google rankings?
Google rankings do not drop overnight, and you cannot recover lost rankings overnight. Depending on the reason, it could take anywhere from a few hours to a few months to regain your Google rankings.
If your ranking has dropped due to a technical issue, you can regain your original position in just a few hours. All you have to do is fix the problem and you’ll be back where you started. However, if the drop in ranking is the result of a manual penalty, you may have to wait until Google reviews your website and reinstates it at the original ranking. In extreme circumstances, recovering from a ranking drop may take more than a year.
It is critical to enlist the assistance of your SEO agency in determining the cause of the ranking drop and reclaiming it as soon as possible. It all depends on how quickly you can identify the cause and take appropriate action.
Conclusion
You should not be alarmed if you notice a drop in your website’s Google rankings. A drop in rankings is common in the SEO world. You simply need to remain calm and assist your SEO partner in investigating the cause of the ranking drop. It can occur for a variety of reasons, such as technical issues, website changes, link loss, competitor moves, and so on.