Google traffic plummeted on Sunday - what can I do?
-
On Sunday, my google traffic plummeted. I was getting 320 hits a day from Google on my best days - my site is just about to turn 3 months old so I was thrilled with that. On Sunday it was 110 and I think it is getting worse. Edit: Yep, yesterday was 65.
Google Webmasters shows the drop today. One day, my impressions were 5,500 and the next just 1,000. Yikes. My traffic is so depressing now after so much hard work.
Is this Google Panda? What can I do? I have no idea why this happened. I am getting several quality backlinks a week, sometimes a day.
-
Yes I am doing my best to add value. Tips, reviews, info - and only the best deals on the best products that moms love. I know moms like my site based on the response. Plus - the big deal sites (DA: 68-73) are using my deals and giving me backlinks. I write from a first person point of view and I don't do paid posts or anything like that. My site is better than some ranking on the first page right now - sites that don't update frequently on some category pages, that have very little content, go off-topic just to make money, but high DA because they are older sites.
How can I nofollow my affiliate links? I have about 600 posts. I can't go back and do it one by one.
-
Affiliate sites are often prime targets for Panda. IMO the only way to succeed with an affiliate site is if you are adding plenty of value along with the affiliate products. Sites that use the stock product descriptions and add little else will not do well. For your products make sure that people are able to get much more value out of reading the information on your site than they can on other sites who sell the same products.
Also, make sure that your affiliate links are nofollowed. But, this is not likely the cause for your traffic drop.
-
A honeymoon boost does make sense. I am getting some awesome backlinks but my Domain Authority is 17 and I have been on the first page with sites that are 40+. However, I attributed that to the backlinks.
I am still on the first page for my main keyword. Not getting much traffic but at least I have that.
I have no copied content whatsoever. But I do have a lot of affiliate links that are not cloaked as my blog is deal/coupon related with an audience of moms.
-
This can be really common for a new domain. Often Google will give a new site a boost in the SERPS to see how it does and how users interact with it. Then, after a few weeks or months it can decrease to its rightful place. My guess is that this is what has happened. However, it can only be a guess without having a deeper look.
Panda is a potential issue as well although we don't really know how this "10 day rollout" works. It seems to me that most sites that were affected by Panda this time were affected on July 18 but I suppose the 20th is possible as well. If you have a lot of content that is copied from other sites then I would think Panda is a high possibility. Otherwise I'm guessing it is just that you had a honeymoon boost.
-
Well what's the domain? I'd be happy to take a look
-
Thanks. I have been trying to build proper, awesome content and links and google was loving me. I just don't get why all of a sudden everything plummeted.
-
Build proper, awesome content and links. That's what you can do and the best thing we can suggest without any further info.
Also don't rely on GWT for any sort of actual data. (Or GA for that matter COUGH 'not provided' COUGH)
-
Hi,
Could you share the URL? It does seem like your site might have been affected by Panda. Panda was rolled out on Thursday, but might not have affected you until Sunday since this Panda update is being rolled out over a 10 day period. What kind of content have you focused on?
-
You said your site was only 3 months old--it could be a reverse sandbox effect. Also, the last algo update was on July 12 (possibly) and it could of moved it around.
-
Can you share your site url so we can take a look.
Tracy
Got a burning SEO question?
Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.
Browse Questions
Explore more categories
-
Moz Tools
Chat with the community about the Moz tools.
-
SEO Tactics
Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers
-
Community
Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!
-
Digital Marketing
Chat about tactics outside of SEO
-
Research & Trends
Dive into research and trends in the search industry.
-
Support
Connect on product support and feature requests.
Related Questions
-
Google My Business app search report
What is the deal with the search reports in the Google My Business app? I downloaded this app so prospective customers could message my business, and when I look at the search reports on the app, the results seem nonsensical. According to google analytics my business receives pretty steady traffic every day. Why does the report say that I receive zero visitors one day and 400 the next? (See the screenshot below) 4yLRCHG
Reporting & Analytics | | RandyHT1 -
Sudden drop in traffic since website redesign – can't spot double firing sessions pre-update
Hi all, We launched an updated website around mid-April and have seen a long-term drop in unique page views and sessions since then. Between 25-35%. Page views returned to normal within a month, however. In terms of acquisition, we've not lost referrals or direct traffic, just organic sessions. I haven't seen any significant Google updates except for 'Fred' but that was in March (pre-website update). We did have to do some 301s and fix up an HTML and XML sitemap, etc, post launch – but that's been in place for a while now so shouldn't still have such an effect? We are also struggling with load speed at the moment, working on this at the moment. Didn't think this had a such a significant impact on ranking however. We've lost mostly non-UK traffic, especially USA. We're actually climbing rankings for a lot of new keywords I'm targeting, so I can't see how our SEO has been hampered. Frustratingly, I wasn't using Search Console or Moz Pro before this update, so can't compare much in the way of keyword traffic (I know I feel very silly now). I don't know if it's a reporting issue (I wish it was). I mean we had both GTM and GA tags on the website (I didn't know this until I looked into it) but these were present post website-launch. And I haven't found enough double firing sessions or page views to suggest we used to be getting double figures anyway. Before this, we were ranking brilliantly and getting more organic traffic than ever. All the best,
Reporting & Analytics | | landport0 -
Google Analytics global page empty
Hello, I don't know what happened with my Google Analytics initial page. For around a week I have there all my websites, but they show no results on global page. If I enter on any property I can see everything as normal, just not on the initial page. Screenshot: http://imgur.com/JKFVIh4 For sure I changed anything that I shouldn't. Perhaps you know what's wrong? Thank you in advance.
Reporting & Analytics | | prozis0 -
Organic Traffic Spike
I've been chipping away at the SEO for a client's site for about 6 weeks and a few days ago noticed a huge spike in organic traffic for about a dozen keywords. See attached. Previously traffic was around 20-30 unique new visitors a day. On the 17 it went up to 500+ for 1 day, now it's come back down again. This spike was not for 1 keyword but for about a dozen. I've never seen this before and wondered if anyone had experienced similar. The site is about 3 months old. ebix3rl
Reporting & Analytics | | deployseo0 -
Mobile Site on Google Analytics
Hi mozzers, We just launched a mobile site and I was wondering what are the main steps to follow for gettting your mobile site tracked via GA (m.example.com)? We have a profile for www.example.com GATC: javascript or PHP to install? Should the profile be on a subdomain? What else to consider when implementing a mobile site on GA? Thanks
Reporting & Analytics | | Ideas-Money-Art0 -
No (Not Provided) Traffic
Hi All, I have a site that gets around 500,000 visits every month from the UK and US, but funny enough the number number of visits under (not provided) traffic is only 179 per month. For most websites I usually get 10% or 15% of the traffic under not provided, what could the reasons be for such a low percentage of (not provided)? Thanks, Carlos
Reporting & Analytics | | Carlos-R0 -
Getting traffic for another site
Hi Everyone, Our website url/brand is very close to another website url/brand. We are non-competing entities. It appears as though this other company has begun a marketing program which has resulted in our traffic skyrocketing. However, it seems to have also resulted in our Pages/Visit and Visit Duration to decrease and our Bounce Rate to increase. Can anyone suggest how to deal with this type of scenario? Thanks,
Reporting & Analytics | | AC_Pro
Robert0 -
Google Analytics session update question
Hello, With reference to seomoz blog post - http://www.seomoz.org/blog/panda-24-and-analytics-session-update-rolled-out-simultaneously#jtc151292 , i would like clarification about the following - User searches Google for "Product Name" and clicks on your AdWords advertisement. User leaves site and searches a few more times, click on competition and comparing prices and features. User ultimately decides to with your product, Googles "Your Brand + Product Name", clicks your organic listing, and buys the product. This whole process takes less than 30 minutes. "Your Brand + Product Name" will appear in your organic keyword report with 1 visit. My question is whether "Product Name" will also appear in organic keyword report with 1 visit if the visitor is not signed in. ( as search won't be encrypted ) Thanks
Reporting & Analytics | | seoug_20100