Ever find yourself scratching your head, wondering why your website’s traffic stats are more rollercoaster than steady climb? Well, you’re not alone.
I’ve been there, and let me tell you, it’s not fun at all. But fear not! I’ve put together this nifty guide to help you diagnose and fix those pesky website traffic issues. There is a lot to cover, so without further ado, let’s get into it.
Why Does Website Traffic Matter so Much?
Website traffic, or the number of users swinging by your site, is pretty much the lifeblood of your whole business and the online presence. More traffic equals more eyes on your content, which, ultimately, results in success.
Knowing all of this should paint you the ultimate picture of how this works – steady traffic flow and an upward trend is the name of the game, and it is what TRULY matters in this business.
If you cannot resolve traffic issues, even after trying the methods I will outline in this article, you might turn to agencies such as SEO Leeds that can effectively assist you in tackling traffic issues, or prevent them altogether.
Why You Must Keep an Eye on Traffic Drops?
If you’ve been in this business for as long as I have, you likely experienced (at least once) logging in to check your website stats and felt your heart sink. But it is not something that should discourage your efforts.
Traffic drops are simply what happens in this industry. They are common but are far from being the end of the world. The key to overcoming these unfortunate circumstances is to quickly do research, figure out what’s going on, and how to turn things around. Easier said than done, right? Well, there are steps to this, and I will now walk you through them.
Where’s Your Traffic Coming From?
Before we get into the nitty-gritty, let’s figure out the types of traffic your site can potentially get:
- Organic search
- Direct visitors
- Referrals
- Paid search
- Email campaigns
- Social media
When figuring this stuff out, the tools such as HubSpot and Google Analytics will be your best friends. They can show you which of these streams are thriving and which ones are not performing well.
How Do We Diagnose the Problem?
When you notice your traffic took a serious (or less serious) dip, it’s time to do some detective work. The first step is to ask yourself:
- Have my search rankings taken a hit?
- Is my SEO strategy outdated?
- Did I recently change my URL structure or page content?
- How’s my backlink quality?
- Are my ads and emails hitting their marks?
- Is my content still relevant and up to standards?
These questions will give you an insight into what is going on or at least point you in the right direction toward the right fix and steps you need to take to repair the situation.
How Should I Craft My Recovery Plan?
Analyze, analyze, and then some. Before you can act on anything, you need to figure out the issue, and it’s pretty logical. Essentially, you need to start by running traffic reports on a regular basis. This is important because spotting early trends can save you a lot of stress.
Next up, you need to boost your website quality. This means everything from improving load times to ensuring your site is user-friendly and easy to navigate as much as possible.
Lastly, ace your SEO game. Outdoing competitors in SEO and content quality should always be your primary goal, and in situations when a crisis such as website traffic dips, it is something of utmost importance and something that will make the most significant difference.
What Strategies Should I Go for Aside from Quick Fixes?
Sudden traffic drops might be alarming, but they are the clearest possible warning that you should take action and turn things around. Often enough, a decrease in leads should give you a hint that the traffic troubles are at your doorstep.
This is when you should turn to tools such as Google Search Console and Cora, which are perfect for keeping tabs on your website’s performance.
What is essential to keep your eyes on are technical glitches, security issues, manual penalties, algorithm changes, and shifts in search demand. These are the common culprits behind traffic issues and dips.
Technical Tune-Up Might Be Necessary
Regular audits are your protection against technical pests that eat into your traffic. Slow pages, broken links, and mobile unfriendliness are just the tip of the iceberg. Server difficulties, such as downtime and sluggish load times, can also be the reason why visitors might decide to turn the other way.
With all of this said you should understand that speed is a major factor in user experience when it comes to SEO. Essentially, it can make or break your traffic.
Content Is What Matters the Most
At the heart of healthy and sustained traffic lies the killer content that keeps visitors coming back for more. Make sure that everything you write is unique, relevant, and engaging to keep everyone motivated to revisit your site.
You should also be thorough regarding SEO essentials such as meta tags, headline tags, and optimized images that are all part of your content. Make sure that your website looks good on mobile devices as well. Let’s face it: pretty much everyone nowadays has a cell phone or tablet, and the whole website experience should be adapted for these devices.
Social Presence Can Lend You a Helping Hand
Never underestimate the power of social media. A solid presence on various platforms can go a long way, and it is something you shouldn’t ignore. Being active and engaging on socials can drive significant traffic, especially if you touch on the subjects that are popular and viral.
Be where your audience hangs out, and as you do it with SEO, outperform your competition.
Closing Thoughts
Website traffic issues and dips can be very stressful, but there is no need to panic when you notice such issues. You are never alone in this, and many people experience similar problems but eventually manage to solve them.
Follow the steps I wrote about, diagnose the issue, and look for answers from other people in business if you hit a wall. Remember that there’s nothing from what you can’t recover.
