Google’s Search Liaison, Danny Sullivan, recently provided guidance on diagnosing ranking declines, offering valuable insights for SEO professionals.
Wesley Copeland, owner of a gaming news website, sought help from Sullivan after experiencing a significant drop in traffic from Google searches. Copeland expressed confusion about his website, RetroResolve.com, losing its status as the go-to source for Steam Deck guides.
Sullivan recommended a five-step plan to diagnose and address potential issues:
- Utilize Google Search Console to compare the site’s metrics over the past six months versus the prior period.
- Sort the Queries report by click change to identify notable decreases.
- Check if the site still ranks highly for those terms.
- If the site maintains high rankings, content quality and SEO may not be the problem.
- Recognize that Google’s ranking algorithms continually evolve, leading to some volatility in rankings.
Sullivan assured Copeland that if the site still ranks in the top results, there might not be any fundamental issues that need correction. He explained that changes in traffic could be attributed to Google’s systems finding other content more useful at the time.
This interaction highlights the importance for SEO professionals to regularly analyze performance using tools like Google Search Console. Sullivan’s recommended approach can provide insights into traffic changes and areas to optimize.
It also underscores the volatile nature of SEO, demonstrating that even well-established websites can be impacted by changes to Google’s ranking priorities. Copeland’s experience serves as a reminder for SEO marketers to remain vigilant and responsive to the ever-evolving demands of Google’s algorithms.
In conclusion, SEO professionals should employ strategies such as monitoring website performance data, staying informed about algorithm updates, aligning content with Google’s relevancy standards, and remaining prepared to make optimizations as ranking criteria evolve.