Background:
Wesley Copeland, owner of RetroResolve.com, reached out to Danny Sullivan seeking guidance on a significant drop in traffic, especially for Steam Deck guides. Sullivan responded with a five-step plan to diagnose and potentially address the issues.He elaborated that changes in traffic could be due to Google’s systems finding other content that could be deemed more useful at the time.
Key Insights and Recommendations:
Utilize Google Search Console
Sullivan recommends comparing your site’s metrics over the past six months with the previous period using Google Search Console. This provides a comprehensive overview of changes over time.
Analyze Query Reports
Sort the Queries report by clicking change to identify notable decreases. This step helps pinpoint specific areas where traffic has declined.
Check Current Rankings
Verify if your site still ranks highly for relevant terms. If it does, Sullivan suggests that content quality and SEO may not be the primary issues.
Understand Algorithmic Volatility
Recognize that Google’s ranking algorithms are continually evolving, leading to some expected volatility. If you’re still ranking well, fundamental corrections may not be necessary.
Adapt to Evolving Criteria
Sullivan assures that if you’re still ranking in top results, there might not be a fundamental issue. Changes in traffic could be attributed to Google’s evolving systems prioritizing what it deems more useful at the time.
Implications for Our SEO Strategy
Sullivan’s advice underscores the need for regular analysis of website performance, especially through tools like Google Search Console. It also emphasizes the importance of adapting SEO strategies to align with Google’s evolving criteria for relevance and usefulness.
Final Thoughts:
While Copeland’s experience highlights the dynamic nature of SEO, Sullivan assures that there might not be fundamental issues and that adjustments in how content is presented could positively impact performance over time.
Then, click on the blue Link button and choose the Search Console property that matches your website. If you don’t see your property, make sure you have verified it in Google Search Console first.
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Recommended Actions
We suggest that we follow Sullivan’s recommended steps to diagnose and understand the recent changes. This will allow us to optimize our strategy in response to Google’s evolving algorithms.
If you have any questions or would like to discuss this further, please feel free to reach out. Your insights into your audience and business goals will be invaluable as we navigate these changes.
