Understanding Sudden Traffic Fluctuations: Investigating a Drop in Clicks and Impressions
In the ever-evolving landscape of digital marketing, website owners often encounter unexpected changes in search visibility metrics such as clicks and impressions. If you’ve recently experienced a notable decline in these metrics—particularly starting around early October—you are not alone. This article explores potential causes and best practices for diagnosing and addressing such issues.
Case Context: An Unexpected Drop in Search Performance
Recently, a website experienced a significant decline in both clicks and impressions starting approximately October 5th, followed by a persistent downward trend. Notably, there was no major technical overhaul or content changes during this period. The site’s recent activity involved publishing a handful of new blog posts, which were verified to be functioning correctly within Google Search Console (GSC).
Preliminary Investigations
The initial steps in troubleshooting included checking for common issues such as manual actions, security penalties, or indexing problems. Fortunately, these checks yielded no red flags. However, some unusual patterns emerged upon closer inspection:
- Increase in Non-Indexed Pages
There was a marked rise in the number of non-indexed pages within the Indexing > Pages report in GSC, increasing from approximately 2,500 to 4,500 on September 28th, and then to around 6,300 by October 1st. These pages are alternate versions with proper canonical tags, primarily stemming from an associated auction site where listings include calls to action linking back to the main website.
- Elevation in Crawl Requests
From September 28th to October 1st, the site experienced a doubling in crawl requests compared to usual peaks, indicating increased bot activity or focus on specific pages.
Potential Causes and Considerations
While these patterns do not conclusively pinpoint the cause of the traffic decline, they suggest several avenues for further investigation:
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Crawl Budget and Indexing Changes: An increase in non-indexed pages may reflect crawler focus shifting or indexing issues. Ensure that canonical tags are correctly implemented and that no inadvertent meta tags (e.g., noindex) have been added.
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External Influences: The surge in non-indexed pages originating from an external auction website hints at possible link or traffic sources shifting or being devalued.
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Crawl Rate and Site Performance: The spike in crawl requests could be related to server performance issues, especially if the server struggles under increased crawl traffic, potentially impacting user experience and search rankings.