In this virtual monogamous world created by Google (with respect to Microsoft, Bing, Yahoo Search, Twitter and of course Facebook), fluctuation or a drop in your website’s organic search ranking is a part and parcel that comes with the instructions of maintaining superiority over your competitors. A drop in keyword rankings has many virtual reasons behind it. So if you are currently experiencing a virtual dropout in rankings, listed below are some of the reasons that potentially might be the cause.

• Switching the landing page URL

Switching to a new URL doesn’t affect your homepage’s keyword rankings as such.  However, if you have changed a landing page URL that used to rank earlier, it will affect rankings. The solution to this is to implement a permanent (301) redirect from the old URL to the new one.

However, make a note that redirecting doesn’t help in retaining or shifting the social data from one page to another. You will need to get social votes for the new URL from scratch. So if social votes are important to you, then you might need to consider your previously attracting landing page URL.

• Switching keyword optimization for landing pages

Removing specific target keywords from your landing pages can hurt you big time especially if that data previously attracted you organic traffic. Moreover, changing the page’s SEO title, image or text containing these target keywords may hurt your page’s keyword optimization and which in turn can negatively impact your search rankings. If that’s the case then you seriously need to reconsider your SEO strategy to get ahead.

• You must have lost some good backlinks

There can be a lot of reasons you must have lost backlinks; website linking to you is down, gets penalized, removed its outgoing links, redirects its page are some of the prominent causes. But losing some of your popular links to your website can seriously hamper your search results. That’s the reason enough for you to build some quality links and keep them updated on a regular basis. Consider a tool such as ahrefs to monitor lost backlinks.

• Google’s algorithm update had an impact

Google claims to change its search algorithm around 500 – 600 times in a year. While most of them are minor changes, Google rolls out a major one (such as the Penguin or Panda) that significantly changes the search results. In case, if you haven’t updated your website accordingly, it can harm your search rankings big time.

After knowing about the algorithm change that affected your website, you need to resolve the issue at hand. For instance:

o   If the drop in your search ranking is due to the Panda update, you’ll have to pivot upon creating great web content.

o   In case the drop in your search ranking is due to the Penguin update, you’ll have to pivot on removing / disavowing existing un-natural backlinks and creating great contextual links.

o   If the drop in your search ranking is due to the Mobilegeddon effect, you need to make sure to comply with Google’s mobile friendly norms i.e. create a Google Mobile Friendly website.

The above-mentioned points cover the general area to look into after a major update. But there is more to these updates as some are industry specific and some due to breaking certain webmaster policy norms which is why Google penalized you. In such cases, you would need a professional to look into. Making innocent changes by in-house SEOs or amateurs to the website without knowing the cause can do more harm than good.

• Overhauled by your competitors

Your search ranking dip can also be due to the fact that your competitor simply overhauled you in terms of the SEO which means that you need to revamp your present SEO strategy to get ahead. If you notice this, do some analysis of your competitors as to how they are ranked ahead of you. First, check the content on your competitor’s website. You should be able to match with that. Secondly, look at improving your site’s on page optimization structure. Finally, you need to check your competitor’s recent backlinks. If there are any possible link building opportunities, capture them.

In conclusion

As you see, there are many potential reasons for the drop in your keyword rankings. Remember that prevention is always better than cure. So, if you still haven’t figured out reason behind the recent dropout in your search rankings OR want to make sure you’re not going to be a likely victim, we can help. Request a FREE SEO Analysis for your website now. Alternatively, you can call 888-545-0616 (Toll-Free) OR email sales@ebrandz.com for assistance.