Like it or not, Google has a lot of power over your business, which is why it’s so devastating when our rankings drop. In fact, 61% of marketers say that SEO is their number one marketing priority.
Luckily for you, your website doesn’t have to stay down. Let’s talk about why your Google rankings may have dropped and how the right company marketing strategy can help.
Common Reasons Why Google Rankings Dropped
There are many reasons why your website’s rankings could have dropped on Google. It’s one of the only things that is guaranteed to happen in an SEO strategy, and it will happen to every site at some point. Here are some of the most common reasons for it.
Updates
When Google’s algorithm updates, it usually isn’t the end of the world like some blogs will make it seem. The updates are usually gradual and likely won’t cause devastation to many websites.
However, there are circumstances where the algorithm gets more sophisticated at determining paid backlinks and other taboo trends in the SEO world. If your website is guilty of violating Google’s wishes, then an update will be more likely to affect your site.
There are other circumstances where an update could drop your ranking, but it is unlikely to be too substantial unless it was something Google deems as serious.
Recent Website Changes
Google gets a little confused when there are major changes to a website at once, so if your changes were designed to improve your SEO, then the drop should only be temporary. Especially when going from HTTP to HTTPS or vise versa.
This could include changes to internal links, page structure, format, or anything else that might have been changed recently. Discuss this with your web development team to see if there were any recent changes.
There may have also been mistakes made during the process. There could have been hefty images or junk code left behind to slow down your pages, there could be a new web of 404 redirects, valuable pages could have been deleted, or a whole host of other potential issues.
Google may have also penalized you for recent changes like the manual action penalty, the “panda penalty”, or others. It’s best to check your site’s SEO score and look for valuable information that may help you, including website speed and how important it is.
Competitors
If your competitors are making moves, it could hurt you. If you’re unsure about why your rankings dropped, especially if you had no dramatic website change and there was no recent update to the algorithm, then it’s likely that your competition surpassed you.
If you are unsure, look at the sites that are ahead of you and conduct a little competitor research to see what they may be doing differently.
Penalized Backlinks
Sometimes your most valuable backlinks are suddenly disavowed, which is a real bummer, especially when you had nothing to do with it. Sometimes, it could even be lost backlinks, when other sites delete their old posts or switch to “no follow” tags on their links. This is most likely to occur after a recent update.
Keyword Cannibalization
Is Google confused as to which page to rank for certain keywords? Having multiple pages rank for the same terms can drop your rankings, fast. When Google is unsure as to which pages to rank, often times, both pages rank poorly. If you think this is happening make sure to identify the keyword cannibalization before falling too much.
Hacked Website
This is one of the trickiest to fix, but it does happen to a surprising number of websites. A hacked site could easily harm your website’s rankings. If it turns out your WordPress site was hacked, make sure to follow the proper steps to clean it so that you recover with minimal downtime.
How To Fix Your Google Ranking With Company Marketing
With the right marketing analysis, determination, and strategy, you should have no problem getting your website back up after a drop. Whether it was a momentary glitch or a serious penalty, giving up is not a solution. Here’s what to do.
Don’t Panic
Seriously. Search engine rankings can fluctuate more frequently than you may think and it happens to just about every indexed site you can name. Your rank tracking app could be making a mistake, you could have typed in the wrong keywords, or a number of other issues could have arisen. Check again in a day or two and see if it was just a blip that went away on its own.
Verify the Problem
If you are convinced that your ranking dropped, verify it in Google Search Console to see that your traffic actually dropped. If it did and the numbers are consistently lower for a few days or a week, then you can be reasonably certain of the problem.
Use SEO Tools
If you’ve done your competitor research, do everything you can to get your website’s score on par or above theirs. Read through the analysis to see what needs improvement and try to make the necessary changes.
Recent changes to HTML code, internal links, meta descriptions, or website content are some of the most likely culprits in these situations. Determining what changed and how to fix it is what you should be hoping for in this situation.
Get Professional Help
Lastly, there’s nothing quite as effective as hiring professional solutions for your SEO needs. When Google knocks you down, you can choose to stay down or fight your way up to the top. The best way to do that is with the right team of experts on your side.
Keep Climbing!
Now that you know the right tips to climb back up in the Google rankings, there’s no time like the present to get started. Search engines drop our websites down all the time, so there’s no need to worry. Be mindful, strategize, and make the most out of your SEO strategy.
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