Have you recently dropped in the Google search rankings? It can be frustrating and baffling when you work really hard to get your site to land on the first page of Google for your chosen keywords, only to have it drop off suddenly without any warning.
Why did this happen? HOW did this happen? With Google’s secret and ever-changing algorithm, we’ll never definitively know the answer.
But if you have dropped in keyword ranking, here’s what you should do to deal with it and hopefully rebound from it:
Don’t Panic
First of all, don’t freak out! If you experienced a sudden drop in the rankings, it’s very possible that you’ll also enjoy a sudden jump. Search rankings can be quite volatile and there are so many variables at play, most of which are out of your control.
Check For Errors and Major Issues
Sometimes when you fall in the search rankings, it’s due to a problem with your website that you may not even be aware of.
First, have a look at your website and ensure everything looks and functions as it normally does.
Next, log into your Google Search Console account and check to see if there are any Crawl Errors showing up. If Google is unable to crawl your site’s pages, this could very well be why you suddenly have dropped in the rankings.
You can also run a site audit using a tool like SEMrush to identify any errors with your site.
Of course, if any major issues show up, be sure to correct them so that Google can resume crawling and ranking your site.
Check Your Competitors
Often a drop in the rankings can happen when a competitor of yours pushes ahead of you and starts ranking better for the same keywords you’re trying to rank for.
Sometimes this can be an effective kick in the butt for you to optimise your site even more, to keep up with the competition.
Other times, this is just temporary and both you and your competitor return to your previous rankings within a few days or so (for example, where the spike is in the below graph).
Ramp Up Your SEO Efforts
You can never go wrong putting more effort into optimising for your desired keywords. You can’t control how Google ranks you or what your competitors do, but you CAN take control of your own SEO and do the best you can to rank highly for your keywords.
Need some inspiration? Check out our articles on Things You Should Be Doing To Optimise Your WordPress Site and SEO Tips To Set Your Site Up For Success On Day 1.
Give It Time
As is always the case with SEO, you need to be patient while waiting for your desired results. If you’ve done everything mentioned above, then all you can really do at this point is wait for Google to pick up on the changes you’ve made and rank your site accordingly.
Hire an SEO Company in Melbourne
If you’ve done all of the above and feel like you could use some help making a comeback in the search rankings, consider hiring an SEO company in Melbourne to work on your site’s SEO… such as Rock Solid Marketing.