How to analyze and fix traffic drops: A 7-step framework

Is your website traffic dropping, leaving you unsure of what went wrong?

Every day without action means more lost rankings, leads, and revenue.

This article outlines a seven-step framework to help you analyze the causes of your traffic drop and create an SEO plan to fix it.

What’s causing your traffic to decline?

Some website owners hope for a quick fix to restore traffic, but our analysis shows most drops are caused by one or more of the following: 

• Changing search intent.
• User experience issues.
• New ads or Google SERP elements.
• Algorithm updates.
• Technical issues.
• Content changes
• Backlink decay.

To fix the ranking drop and regain momentum, follow these steps.

Step 1: Analyze your traffic quality

The first step is to determine whether the drop affects quality traffic or if Google is simply better at identifying the right audience. 

Many sites attract random traffic that doesn’t engage.

Check if conversions have dropped along with the traffic. 

If conversions remain stable, the traffic drop likely affects low-quality visitors. 

However, if exposure to your brand or offer has decreased, a deeper analysis may be needed.

Dig deeper: Why traffic declines despite solid rankings and what to do

Step 2: Evaluate your content through the user’s eyes

Many site owners fail to see their content from the perspective of their ideal client.

Search for one of your target keywords on Google. 

Review the top 3 results that are similar to your page, browsing them as a typical user would – skimming and reading key sections. 

Then, do the same for your own page. 

Where are the differences? 

Be honest: where are competitors better at explaining, presenting, or guiding the user? 

Use these insights to improve your page.

Step 3: Audit and strengthen your backlink profile

Backlink issues can be a key factor in why your site ranks above competitors, assuming your content already meets search intent. 

However, changes in your backlink profile (i.e., link composition, anchor text, or whether links come from link networks) can lead to traffic decline.

As search engines become better at identifying legitimate and relevant links, they may devalue existing backlinks, lowering your site’s authority and rankings.

Focus on consistently creating linkable assets and distributing them through outreach. 

Use SEO tools to analyze the backlinks your competitors are acquiring, and look for similar opportunities. 

Additionally, pitch your linkable assets to journalists through digital PR platforms. This approach can be surprisingly effective.

Dig deeper: 13 questions to diagnose and resolve declining organic traffic

Step 4: Optimize your content layout for clarity

How you present your content matters. 

For example, expecting users to scroll through a 3,000-word article to find the answer at the end – especially on mobile – can hurt engagement.

Make it easy for visitors to find what they’re looking for early on. 

Include a visible table of contents or key takeaways at the top of the page to guide users.

Step 5: Compare your performance against competitors

Core updates often impact entire industries. 

For instance, in recent updates, law firms’ informational content was significantly affected by Reddit threads. 

While Reddit’s visibility may be declining, UGC platforms like it can still capture traffic from your informational articles.

Q&A content, which had performed well for years, is now losing visibility as Google gives more weight to Q&A sites, pushing down rankings for similar content on other sites.

Here’s an example of a site that lost some traffic (in blue), while a subreddit gained traffic at the same time (in green):

Assess your reliance on Q&A content and monitor how sites like Reddit are impacting your traffic. 

If you notice this trend, consider:

• Actively engaging with your brand on these platforms to increase visibility.
• Diversifying your content to include more commercial and transactional pages, rather than relying solely on informational content.

Step 6: Identify what’s still driving results

A useful exercise is to analyze which pages are still performing well on your site. 

While a Google update might lower your site’s overall rankings, individual pages may still rank high on Page 1. 

Even if some backlinks have been devalued, others may still be driving authority to certain pages, allowing them to maintain strong rankings.

Ask yourself:

• What is different about the pages that are still performing well?
• Did you follow a different process when writing these pages?
• Does the user intent differ from the pages that dropped?
• How do the backlinks to these pages compare to those of pages that lost traffic?

Reverse-engineering these successful pages can provide valuable insights into what you can do better.

Dig deeper: Get your B2B site unstuck: Top SEO tips for stagnant sites

Step 7: Use AI to uncover insights and patterns

AI tools can assist in analyzing drops, helping you identify which keywords, types of pages, and URLs are more likely to retain traffic.

Export keyword data from tools like Semrush, Ahrefs, or Google Search Console, comparing it to a date before the drop. 

Upload this data to a language model like ChatGPT for analysis. 

This can reveal patterns, topics that have dropped, and stable keywords, offering deeper insights. 

This method is especially helpful for sites ranking for thousands of keywords.

Assessing recovery: What to do next

If you’ve been affected, follow the steps and track changes over the next 4-6 weeks. 

If rankings don’t recover, it may be time for a deeper forensic SEO audit and a more tailored strategy.

Dig deeper: How to fix a huge traffic drop after rebranding