You are currently viewing Factors to Check When SERP Rankings Suddenly Drop

There could be many reasons why your website suddenly dropped in Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs). Here are some common reasons:

1.

Algorithm Updates

Search engines like Google frequently update their algorithms to improve the quality of their search results. These updates can have a significant impact on the rankings of many websites, and if your website is affected, it may drop in the SERPs.

2.

Manual Penalties

If your website violates any of Google’s Webmaster Guidelines, such as using black hat SEO techniques or keyword stuffing, it may receive a manual penalty, which could cause a drop in the SERPs.

3.

Negative SEO attacks

If your website is the target of negative SEO attacks, such as spammy backlinks or fake reviews, it could negatively impact your rankings.

4.

Backlink profile changes

If your website’s backlink profile changes, such as losing high-quality backlinks or gaining low-quality backlinks, it could affect your rankings.

Run Backlink Audit

5.

Technical Errors

Check for technical errors like broken links, 404 pages, duplicate content, and crawl errors that could be affecting your website’s ranking.

6.

Content quality

If your website’s content quality has decreased or become outdated, it could negatively impact your rankings.

Check for duplicate content of your site in Google’s Index

7.

Duplicate content

If your website has duplicate content or scraped content from other websites, it could negatively affect your rankings.

Resolve duplicate content issues

8.

Backlinks

Check for any toxic backlinks that may have been removed, or if any of your valuable backlinks have been lost.

9.

Mobile Optimization

Make sure your website is mobile-friendly and optimized for different screen sizes and devices.

Mobile-Friendly and Responsive Design

10.

Loading Speed

The speed at which your website loads can impact your rankings. Ensure that your website loads quickly for a better user experience.

Page load speed

11.

Competitor Activity

If your competitors have improved their SEO efforts, they may have taken some of your website’s rankings, causing it to drop in the SERPs.

Benchmark your rankings and check your competitors

12.

User Experience

Focus on providing an excellent user experience by making your website easy to navigate, visually appealing, and accessible to all users.

ServiceMaster Remediation Services

13.

Keyword competition

 If your website’s keywords face increased competition, it could affect your rankings.

DMC keyword research

14.

Google My Business Listing

Make sure your Google My Business listing is up-to-date and accurately represents your business. This can have a big impact on your local search rankings.

15.

Crawling and indexing issues

If Google has trouble crawling or indexing your website, it could cause a drop in the SERPs.

Check your site’s indexed URLs

16.

Changes to Your Website

If you have made significant changes to your website recently, such as updating the content or changing the site structure, it could affect your website’s ranking.

17.

Server issues

If your website experiences server downtime or other technical issues, it could cause a drop in the SERPs.

18.

Google penalties for paid links

 If Google finds that you’ve paid for backlinks or participated in a link exchange program, your website could receive a penalty.

19.

Mobile usability issues

If your website isn’t optimized for mobile devices, it could negatively affect your rankings, as Google considers mobile usability a critical ranking factor.

20.

Change in search behavior

If there’s a significant shift in how users search for your website’s keywords, it could affect your rankings.

How can experts resolve this issues?

Resolving a sudden drop in Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs) requires a systematic approach. Here are some steps that an SEO expert may take to resolve the issue:leo.

1.

Identify the problem

The first step is to identify the cause of the drop in rankings. An SEO expert will analyze your website and look for any issues that could be affecting your rankings, such as technical problems, content issues, backlink profile changes, or penalties. 

Analyze and resolve website indexation issues

If there are any technical issues with your website, such as slow loading speed or broken links, an SEO expert will fix them to ensure your website is in good technical health.

3.

Improve content quality

If your website’s content quality has decreased or become outdated, an SEO expert will improve it to make it more relevant and engaging.

4.

Remove low-quality backlinks

If there are any low-quality or spammy backlinks pointing to your website, an SEO expert will remove them to improve your backlink profile.

5.

Disavow bad links

If some bad links are difficult to remove, an SEO expert will disavow them to prevent them from affecting your rankings.

If your website’s user experience is poor, an SEO expert will work on improving it to make it more user-friendly and engaging.

7.

Optimize for mobile

If your website isn’t optimized for mobile devices, an SEO expert will optimize it to ensure it’s mobile-friendly and responsive.

8.

Create fresh content

An SEO expert may create fresh content on a regular basis to keep your website relevant and engaging.

9.

Analyze competitor activity

An SEO expert will analyze your competitor’s websites and SEO strategies to identify any areas where you can improve your SEO efforts.

10.

Monitor and report

An SEO expert will monitor your website’s performance and rankings and provide regular reports to keep you informed of any changes or improvements.

It’s essential to work with an experienced SEO expert to resolve a sudden drop in rankings, as they will have the expertise and tools to diagnose the problem and provide effective solutions.

By resolving issues as promptly as possible, you may prevent your site from reaching its full potential. Other areas can be audited, but these first processes can provide valuable information into the general health of your site.

Message Digital Marketing Concepts for a free website audit and analysis.