Have you ever seen your traffic decrease over time despite your keywords ranking at position 1? I have, and it’s the worst feeling.
It may seem like Google is punishing you for being successful, but it’s not.
Google doesn’t know you, but users do. And if your work is in the top positions, but traffic continues to decline, it may not be your fault.
Here’s what you can do to revitalize your website traffic.
How to investigate traffic drops when rankings are strong
Your stakeholders are breathing down your neck and pressing you for answers. Don’t panic, breathe.
While you may not be able to magically bring users to your site in an hour, you can at least do some quick research to find out why.
An easy first step is to check search trends. This should be your first step.
Check keyword trends from SEO tools
Most SEO research tools now have an interest in search volume over time. Here are some examples from Semrush.
Keyword: “best cars of 2022”
Naturally, expect a steep decline for most “2022” keywords once January 2023 rolls around.
Let’s try something less stuck in the past and more perennial.
Keyword: “cinemas near me”
Now, this is an interesting topic. Here, we can see a peak around August and September, followed by a decline.
Barbie and Oppenheimer came out at the end of July, maintaining popularity during these months.
Let’s say you’re the SEO for a major movie theater brand and you say, “Hey John, this is normal seasonal behavior for movie theaters. My problem is that my boss has been complaining that traffic has been down for years. and we can’t figure out why.”
To zoom out even further, we need to use Google Trends.
Check out Google Trends
This tool can sometimes lead us to useful clues about the cultural impact of search terms.
Now it’s important to quickly notice the difference between search terms and topics in Google Trends. Here is a very simplified explanation:
Search Terms they are simply keywords or search queries.
Themes are entities that can include several search terms.
Now we write “cinemas” and select Theme so that we have a better view of the landscape.
Before we continue, please note that “Film Cleaning” as a topic closely follows our main topic. This is important for later. Don’t forget!
OK, let’s also change the date range to the longest option, 2004 – Present.
Do you see that big drop around the second quarter of 2020? what happened then
It was then that the world was shut down by one of the most important pandemics in history. This explains why the traffic was closed then.
This also explains why movie theater cleaning was another hot topic on Google Trends.
But the pandemic is over. The COVID is still there, but things are open again. Why hasn’t the search interest returned?
Streaming services like HBO Max and Disney innovated and began working directly with movie producers to allow streaming releases during this time. This trend has since slowed, but demand has not returned to peak levels.
But what about that big peak before 2020? Marvel movies. It was a unique time for movie theaters where Marvel created a demand.
So what do we do with it? We can’t all be Marvel and bring people to our sites with Robert Downey Jr., but I’ll get into some tactics later in this article.
Check out the new SERP features
Some keyword tracking tools have a great metric that tracks how many pixels from the top your result is. Looking at the delta of this metric can be a clear indicator that some new SERP features may be hurting your organic CTR.
This can be frustrating, especially since Google is constantly testing new ones, so you never know how long they’ll stick around.
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What to do when search volume changes
SEO is only as good as your product and people’s interest in it.
So if interest is waning, we need to get creative and try something else.
Get social
While working in the behavioral health space before and during COVID, I found something interesting: the increased interest in virtual therapy and psychiatry.
My clients were lucky enough to invest in it before the pandemic, but how did I know our audience should seek it out?
I did some research and found that in the early days of the pandemic, behavioral health professionals were taking to Instagram and TikTok to share helpful information on how to manage depression during lockdown. They were also connecting their telehealth services.
This started a chain reaction of more and more professionals plugging telehealth as an option, spreading like wildfire.
Social media has a huge impact on search demand. Sometimes, it is short-lived; other times, it may recover the demand.
So if you’re a struggling movie theater chain, you can use social media to bring people back to theaters. But you have to do it creatively. Give them a reason why they shouldn’t have to wait for playback.
Go old school with top of the line ads
If you have the budget, you can work with your marketing department to invest in traditional advertising, specifically above-the-line advertising. Think TV ads, streaming ads, radio ads, and magazine ads.
Digital has changed the advertising landscape, but traditional advertising can still help influence certain demographics. The key is to determine where your audience spends their time and see if there are advertising opportunities.
In B2B? Try below-the-line strategies
Above-the-line strategies may not work if you’re B2B. In this case, you will need to follow below-the-line strategies. Think trade shows, drop shipping, conferences, etc.
Sometimes your audience may not know what to look for or know they need your services. You have to stand in front and show them.
What to do when new SERP features appear
As mentioned above, this can be one of the more complex signs of traffic drops.
Often our stakeholders may not accept that something is out of your control and will ask you to do the magic. So what can we do?
Learn how SERP features work
If you’re determined to regain click share in the SERPs, you’ll want to rank for any of these new SERP features. So, find out how they work!
SERP features typically rely on content structure or schema markup to find the right pages to display. Find out who occupies these characteristics and find commonalities between them. See if it’s something you can implement quickly.
Be patient
I hate to say this, but sometimes, no action is the best action. SERP features come and go all the time.
You’ll have to go with your gut and decide if it’s worth the time and money to qualify for these new features, or if you think it’s just a test and will pass over time.
Is it permanent or cyclical?
It is up to us to determine if the decline in traffic is a permanent effect of our niche or if it may be a cyclical event.
In the case of movie theaters, it is entirely possible for a new franchise or experience in the theater business to emerge and bring audiences back to the big screen.
But if you’re in the business of selling CDs, sorry, you may need to find a new line of work. CDs are unlikely to have the same revival as vinyl.
Use the tools available to analyze audience behavior and see if there’s anything you can do outside of your SEO realm to regain that search demand.
The views expressed in this article are those of the guest author and not necessarily Search Engine Land. Staff authors are listed here.
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