11 Reasons for Drop in Organic Traffic

1. Tracking Error

Oftentimes, the answer to “Why is my website traffic suddenly dropping?” is that there is no actual fall in traffic but just a tracking error. This is when a problem with your website’s tracking code leads to inaccurate measurement of data. For example, if someone removes its Google Analytics tracking code by mistake, a tracking error is bound to occur. This can be a particular problem if multiple people access your website’s backend frequently.

Other Reasons for Tracking Errors

While incorrect or missing tracking codes lead to tracking errors, there are other possible reasons as well.

• JavaScript errors. A JavaScript error can disrupt tracking code functionality. You may use your browser’s developer console to identify and fix these errors.
• Configuration errors. Incorrect configuration of settings in your analytics platform can lead to tracking errors, so you need to double-check if they are in order. This might include verifying your website URL or property ID.

Compare Multiple Sources

An easy way to determine if a direct traffic drop has taken place is to cross-reference your Google Analytics data with the data you get from Google Search Console. This is helpful because the latter does not collect data from your website but from the search engine’s results. By looking at data from both sources, you get a better picture of your website’s organic traffic and can tell if there’s an actual drop.

Online tools provided by popular names like Semrush and Ahrefs also give you the means to confirm if your website has experienced a direct traffic drop. No matter which tracking platform you use, you may check its real-time reports to determine if the tracking is working properly. If more than one source indicates a drop in organic to your website, you need to investigate further and look at what causes direct traffic to decrease.

2. Core/Algorithm Updates

Data from Statista indicates that Google’s search engine accounted for 91.47% of the global market share as of January 2024, making it the biggest source of organic traffic. As a result, while algorithm changes of other search engines like Bing, Yahoo, and Yandex can affect organic traffic, none have as big an impact as that of algorithm changes that Google implements.

One common answer to “Why would organic traffic decrease?” is that your website might be at the receiving end of an algorithm update. Google typically announces core updates in advance but developers are usually left wanting for details, and they tend to get a clear picture only after the platform’s initial sanctions start affecting websites.

Unfortunately, there is no way of telling exactly what changes might occur after any given algorithm update, and you get to see the consequences when your website’s ranking changes, either for the better or worse. There have been instances when algorithm updates have led to the de-indexing of websites. However, it’s not necessary that every update will have an effect on your website.

3. Changes in Website

If you’re wondering what causes direct traffic to decrease, know that one of the most common reasons is the changes you make to your website. These include:

• URL restructuring. Changing your website’s URL structure throws search engines like Google off track. They need to re-crawl and re-index your website, which can take time. If you must change URLs, make sure you set up proper 301 redirects to send visitors and search engines to the new locations.
• Content revamp. Revamping your content strategy is great, but be mindful of existing high-performing pages. Removing content, especially well-ranked content, can hurt your search engine rankings. If you delete content, ensure it’s truly irrelevant and consider creating redirects to the most relevant new content.
• SEO oversights. Sometimes, web designers focus solely on aesthetics and functionality, leaving search engine optimization (SEO) best practices by the wayside. This could include neglecting keyword optimization, forgetting to update your sitemap, or having broken internal links.
• New design. A flashy new design might be good to look at, but it also needs to be user-friendly. For example, complex navigation makes it harder for search engines to crawl your website and for users to find the information they seek.

Fortunately, using analytics tools gives you the means to pinpoint which changes coincide with the traffic drop, and factors you need to consider include changes in URL structure, content, and user behavior.

4. Website Redesign or Migration

When it comes to what influences organic traffic, bear in mind that a website redesign or migration can have a detrimental effect if not handled correctly. Instances of a domain’s visibility and traffic dropping significantly after a revamped website goes live are not uncommon. This is because a range of mistakes can take place when redesigning a website and migrating its staging version to a live one.

While the factors that can cause organic traffic to drop after you make changes to your website also play a role in redesigning your website, there are other aspects too. For example, forgetting removing the meta robots noindex tag or updating the robots.txt file during the migration process can result in the new website remaining invisible to crawlers.

5. Technical SEO Problems

Another common reason why traffic goes down is ignoring technical SEO problems that your website faces. Some of the aspects that might need your attention include:

• Indexing issues
• Sitemap issues
• Mobile usability problems
• Slow page loading speed
• Poor server response time
• Broken links/404 errors
• Unintended noindex tags
• Canonical tags

Any of these problems can result in a poor user experience, and consequently, have a negative effect on conversion and bounce rates. Besides, Google does not look at websites that deliver sub-par user experiences with favor, causing their ranking as well as organic traffic to drop.

6. Content Losing Its Effectiveness

If you approach digital marketing professionals with your website woes and ask “Why has organic traffic dropped?” you may expect them to take a close look at your overall content strategy. Aspects they will consider include quality, relevance, and any major changes.

Relevance

Remember that search engines constantly refine what they consider valuable content, and even well-performing content from the past might not meet existing standards. This means that if you don’t refresh your content for it to stay relevant and informative, you may see a gradual decline in traffic.

Quality

Long gone are the days when just using the right keywords in your content was enough to attract organic traffic. Now, if your website has content with factual errors, thin content, or content that doesn’t address user search intent, a drop in organic traffic is almost inevitable. On its part, Google emphasizes that website owners should strive to create people-first content.

Major Changes

If your website has pages that rank well for the desired keywords, it’s best that you don’t change them significantly. This is because doing so may lead to confusion in search engine crawlers and cause traffic to drop.

7. Competitors Gaining Ground

Any list of the reasons for drop in organic traffic will be incomplete if it does not mention competitor activity. After all, if competition in your field is rife, there is a good possibility that your competitors have moved past you on SERPs, which has resulted in your website receiving less traffic than before.

No matter which industry you belong to, you should ideally keep an eye on the digital performance of new and existing players. While this can help you take cues from what’s working well for them, it also gives you the means to avoid the mistakes they make and identify under-served opportunities that you can address.

Role of a Competitor Analysis

A typical competitor analysis aimed at identifying areas of improvement can give you access to different types of information that you may use to good effect. For example, analyzing a competitor’s webpages that receive a lot of organic traffic can help you pick suitable topics and keywords for new pages or blog posts.

If a competitor’s website that is doing well offers access in multiple languages and attracts non-English speaking traffic, you might want to do the same. Competitor analysis can also help you identify websites that send referral traffic to your competitors, and you may approach them as well.

8. Data Collection Update

There are instances when making changes to data collection, like adding a new cookie policy, can lead to a direct traffic drop. For example, if your website’s visitors don’t provide their consent to a cookie policy or don’t agree to its terms, their data might not make its way to your analytics platform.

Implementing a new cookie policy might be unavoidable for websites that need to adhere to the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation surrounding the use of cookies and consent. In any such scenario, while you may experience a fall in measured traffic, it does not mean that your website has fewer visitors, it means that not all visitors are in favor of cookies.

Why Would Direct Traffic Drop – External Reasons

Understanding what causes direct traffic to decrease requires looking at whether the drop is gradual or sudden. In instances when traffic reduces slowly but steadily, there might be more than a single reason at play, and carrying out an in-depth website audit is the ideal way forward. However, in case the drop is sudden, it might be because of an external factor.

9. Seasonal Demand Changes

Businesses from various industries experience seasonal demand changes, which has a direct impact on the traffic to their websites. This is why you need to consider year-on-year metrics for matching periods as it tells you how your website is performing compared to the same time in the preceding year. It also gives you the means to identify when traffic is at its highest, which could be during peak shopping or holiday seasons.

Some of the sectors that are prone to fluctuating web traffic because of seasonal demand changes include:

• Retail
• Travel
• Landscaping
• Construction
• Beverages

10. Change in Search Intent

What’s hot today might be passé tomorrow and out of memory the day after. When this happens, there is a shift in search intent, and consequently, a drop in web traffic. For example, if you run a clothing website that still relies on outdated fashion trends, it is only natural that the number of people looking for your products is on the decline and you will experience a Google traffic drop.

11. Paid Ads

If your competitors run paid ad campaigns, their ads finding a place above organic search results can take traffic away from your website even if it ranks well. In this case, you may consider investing in paid ads yourself.

Conclusion

Now that you’ve looked at the reasons for drop in organic traffic, take time to determine what has led to the problem in your case. Once you do, you may fix the problem by implementing suitable measures.

If you are not able to identify the reason, seeking assistance from a full-service digital agency might be in your best interest. This is also the case if you wish to come up with and execute a strategy to move past the Google traffic drop and get your website on the right track again.