Many different factors can cause a drop in keyword rankings. If you think about this, Google looks at over 250 different factors when it crawls your website. So, there could be a simple solution to this or something you need to improve continuously.

The first step you want to do is look at your current keyword optimization within your website. Have you added your keywords to the right pages and ensured they are mentioned within the metadata and the actual content on the web page?

If not, this is what you want to work on first. The platform will guide you onto those actions, so make sure to check the 'Actions' section for this.

If yes, please keep reading.

A very common mistake that people make is by adding the main keyword they want to rank for across the entire website. This does more harm than good. Google becomes very confused in terms of what page to rank that keyword for.

The easiest way to find pages that have keyword cannibalization is by doing a 'site' search. To do this, use head to the Google search bar and type 'site:' followed by the main URL and then the keyword. Google will now show us results that are relevant to that keyword.

Any pages that use this keyword will be de-optimized by removing the keyword from the title tag, meta description, H1 & the actual content if possible. This is how you would fix any keyword cannibalization issues.

If Google is getting confused between which pages to rank you for a particular keyword, or if it's ranking a keyword on a different page to what you originally optimized for, then the platform will generate actions around it. Following the steps in those actions should help reduce this confusion for Google!

Have you looked at your competitors recently? The drop in keyword rankings could also be due to your competitors upping their SEO game. You can use the platform's competitor tool (go to the navigation bar and click strategy - competitor analysis) to help you identify who your biggest SEO competitor is and how well they're performing on Google.

Use the 'Compare Competitors' feature to help you identify areas for improvement too!

Other ways to help you improve your keyword rankings are making sure that you have fresh new (relevant to the keywords) content on your website, as well as building high Domain Authority (DA) backlinks.

Another potential reason your rankings may drop is due to a new Google Algorithm update. It is best practice to keep on top of Google updates and make all of the necessary changes before they release the actual update.

If you have been affected by an Algorithm update, then you will need to familiarise yourself with what it is and how it affects your website. Then start working on the improvements in line with the update.