Experiencing a drop in keyword rankings can be concerning for any small business. However, understanding the root cause is crucial for swift recovery. Here's a step-by-step guide to investigate and address these ranking drops:
Utilize the Keyword Rankings Tool: Begin by accessing the keyword rankings tool on the platform. This tool will provide an immediate snapshot of where your keywords currently rank, allowing you to pinpoint which have experienced significant drops.
Overlay Google Algorithm Changes: By clicking on the 'average ranking' button within the keyword rankings tool, users can overlay the latest Google algorithm changes against their overall average ranking. If your ranking drop correlates with a recent algorithm update, it's possible that the update affected your site's visibility.
Analyze Potential Keyword Cannibalisation: Within the keyword rankings tool, click the 'analysis' button next to any keyword of interest. This will display a graph of ranking URLs. If multiple site pages rank for the same keyword, this could indicate keyword cannibalisation, where your pages compete against each other, potentially diluting the ranking strength.
Check Your Actions: Head over to the Actions feature in the platform to see if any new actions might highlight where some keywords have been de-optimized (this simply means that the keywords have been removed). In many cases, the reason for a drop in ranking for a given keyword is because the content of the page has changed the keyword is no longer optimized.
Check Lost Backlinks: Backlinks play a pivotal role in SEO rankings. Head over to the platform's 'your backlinks' feature to identify if you've recently lost any significant backlinks. A loss in high-quality backlinks can directly lead to ranking drops.