A presentation titled 'Help! My Organic Search Traffic is Tanking' I delivered at smprofs.com in Melbourne. A step-by-step guide on how to diagnose SEO traffic drops in a methodical way.
2. @jasonmun
Overdose Digital // Digital Commerce Agency
Jason Mun
Director of Search & Insights
@jasonmun / jasonmun.com
https://overdose.digital
http://au.linkedin.com/in/jason-mun-8698a13
15. @jasonmun
1. Communicate & Ask Questions
ā Do you know what happened on this date?
ā Was there any major change to the website around this date period?
ā Can you please check change logs for this date period?
16. @jasonmun
2. Check Google Analytics Tagging
https://get.google.com/tagassistant/
Install Google Tag
Assistant, click around
the website
17. @jasonmun
Use Screaming Frog to Verify GA Code
Configuration > Custom > Search
Searches the source
code for UA-XXXXX GA
code
19. @jasonmun
Google Analytics Change History
Admin > Account > Change History
Lookout for major
configuration changes ā
particularly filters &
exclusions
20. @jasonmun
3. Check Robots.txt File
yourwebsite.com.au/robots.txt
User-agent: *
Disallow: /
⢠Check that the robots.txt file is still there
⢠Search engines CANNOT rank what they
cannot crawl or index
⢠Lookout for any other changes that may have
restricted or opened up the crawl of pages of
the website
21. @jasonmun
4. Check Meta Robots Tags
Click on
Directives tab
Check
NOINDEX
report
⢠Check that meta robots tags have been
implemented correctly
⢠Make sure that key pages on the website
are still INDEX, FOLLOW
⢠Check NOINDEX report for any
discrepancies
22. @jasonmun
5. Compare Technical SEO Checkpoints
⢠Run a fresh crawl of the website, compare it with the last crawl
⢠Lookout for any major changes to on-site, content, canonical tags, etc
23. @jasonmun
Setup Monitoring to Detect Changes
Use change detection tools and notification to catch any future issues
before they become a major issue
24. @jasonmun
6. Has the Website been Penalised?
Google Search Console > Manual Actions
⢠Check for any manual actions that may be
imposed on the website
⢠Unnatural links to your site, spammy
structured data, hacked website are some
common manual actions
25. @jasonmun
7. Check for Crappy Links
Ahrefs.com
⢠Lookout for irregular spikes in referring domains
and number of links
⢠Check anchor text usage and ratio
⢠Analyse the quality (Domain Rating) of the new
referring domains to the website
⢠If the referring domain looks spammy, not in the
same niche or feels out of place ā flag them
⢠Upload and update the disavow file
(https://www.google.com/webmasters/tools/disavow-links-main)
26. @jasonmun
Pay Close Attention to Networks
Ahrefs.com
⢠The āReferring IPsā report in Ahrefs is great for
detecting networks
⢠Excessive number of referring domains and links
from the same IP ranges can be problematic
⢠Investigate if they are valid, relevant or spammy
⢠Flag them and add to the disavow file
27. @jasonmun
8. Was there an Algorithm Update?
⢠Check the news, blogs, tweets and forums for any algo related updates
⢠Use SERP trackers such as SEMrush sensor, Algoroo, Mozcast, etc to check volatility
28. @jasonmun
Overlay Google Analytics Data with Algo Updates
https://barracuda.digital/panguin-seo-tool/
⢠If you are doing historical analysis, use Panguin
Tool to overlay GA data with algorithm updates
⢠Check for correlation of updates to traffic declines
⢠Use the filters and options to slice and dice data
and views
⢠Find a hint and investigate further
29. @jasonmun
9. Check Your Rankings
Use your rankings tool of choice, look for macro (month-on-month) and
micro (day-by-by) trends in movements
30. @jasonmun
Check for SERP Feature Changes
SERP changes can often impact clicks, impressions and CTR
31. @jasonmun
10. Compare Against Competitors
If we are losing in rankings and traffic, someone else is winning. Find out
who and investigate why Google loves them more than you.
33. @jasonmun
11. Google Search Console Deep Dive
Google Search Console
⢠Analyse the performance data in GSC
⢠Compare data before the decline ā choose daily,
weekly, monthly or yearly comparisons
⢠Check the query report as well as pages report
⢠Utilise filters to slice-n-dice the data available
⢠Lookout for any trends (negative or positive)
34. @jasonmun
Export ALL Data in to Google Sheets
https://searchanalyticsforsheets.com/
Bypass the 1,000 export limit of GSC interface
37. @jasonmun
12. Google Analytics Deep Dive
Google Analytics > Acquisition > Campaigns > Organic Keywords > Landing Page
⢠Compare data before the decline ā choose daily,
weekly, monthly or yearly comparisons
⢠Compare organic channel vs paid search
channel ā is there cannibilisation?
⢠Compare data for desktop vs. mobile
⢠Look out for trends based on page types
(category, sub-category, product, blog)
⢠Find a common trend and do a deeper dive
38. @jasonmun
Analysing Data via Google Interface Sucks
Export ALL your data and manipulate in Excel or Google Sheets
40. @jasonmun
13. Ask Your Peers & Consult Other Experts
⢠If all else fails, seek help from others
⢠Post a question in forums, tweet and
message others
⢠Participate in Google Webmaster Hangouts
⢠Get a second opinion from other experts
and consultants
41. @jasonmun
š§ Donāt Panic
Be methodical & run your checksš
š Analyse data & let it guide your investigation
š Work through issues, process of elimination
š Transparency + Communication = Happy Client!
43. @jasonmun
Overdose Digital // Digital Commerce Agency
Jason Mun
Director of Search & Insights
@jasonmun / jasonmun.com
https://overdose.digital
http://au.linkedin.com/in/jason-mun-8698a13