How to Diagnose Organic Search Traffic Drops

@jasonmun
Help! My Organic Search Traffic is Tanking
13th May 2019

@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

@jasonmun
OrganicTraffic
Timeline
Started
here
Grew traffic
by xx%

@jasonmun
OrganicTraffic
Timeline

@jasonmun
How to Diagnose SEO Traffic Drops

@jasonmun
1. Communicate & Ask Questions
❑ Do you know what happened on this date?
❑ Was there any major change to the website around this date period?
❑ Can you please check change logs for this date period?

@jasonmun
2. Check Google Analytics Tagging
https://get.google.com/tagassistant/
Install Google Tag
Assistant, click around
the website

@jasonmun
Use Screaming Frog to Verify GA Code
Configuration > Custom > Search
Searches the source
code for UA-XXXXX GA
code

@jasonmun
Use Screaming Frog to Verify GA Code
Click on
Custom tabThere shouldn’t
be pages with
missing code

@jasonmun
Google Analytics Change History
Admin > Account > Change History
Lookout for major
configuration changes –
particularly filters &
exclusions

@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

@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

@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

@jasonmun
Setup Monitoring to Detect Changes
Use change detection tools and notification to catch any future issues
before they become a major issue

@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

@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 – flag them
• Upload and update the disavow file
(https://www.google.com/webmasters/tools/disavow-links-main)

@jasonmun
Pay Close Attention to Networks
Ahrefs.com
• The “Referring IPs” 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

@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

@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

@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

@jasonmun
Check for SERP Feature Changes
SERP changes can often impact clicks, impressions and CTR

@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.

@jasonmun
Check the Movement of “Other” Competing Websites
Serpwoo.com

@jasonmun
11. Google Search Console Deep Dive
Google Search Console
• Analyse the performance data in GSC
• Compare data before the decline – 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)

@jasonmun
Export ALL Data in to Google Sheets
https://searchanalyticsforsheets.com/
Bypass the 1,000 export limit of GSC interface

@jasonmun
Check Crawl Behaviour
Investigate irregular
crawl behaviour with
log file analysis. Make
sure crawl budget is
not wasted

@jasonmun
Check Indexation Levels
Check for irregular spikes
and declines
Don’t ignore these, they
provide a new level of
insight in to indexation
issues

@jasonmun
12. Google Analytics Deep Dive
Google Analytics > Acquisition > Campaigns > Organic Keywords > Landing Page
• Compare data before the decline – choose daily,
weekly, monthly or yearly comparisons
• Compare organic channel vs paid search
channel – 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

@jasonmun
Analysing Data via Google Interface Sucks
Export ALL your data and manipulate in Excel or Google Sheets

@jasonmun
Example of a Weekly Analysis

@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

@jasonmun
😧 Don’t Panic
Be methodical & run your checks📝
📉 Analyse data & let it guide your investigation
🛠 Work through issues, process of elimination
😃 Transparency + Communication = Happy Client!

How to Diagnose Organic Search Traffic Drops

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