Google updates its ranking systems many times a year, with larger “core updates” several times. If your traffic fell suddenly, stay calm and investigate before changing everything.
Step 1: confirm the drop
- Compare the same period in Search Console and Analytics.
- Check whether the drop is site-wide or limited to certain pages.
- Calculate the change with our percentage change calculator.
Step 2: rule out technical problems
- Is the site loading? Any hosting outages?
- Was anything changed recently: redesign, plugin, robots.txt, noindex tags?
- Any manual actions or security issues in Search Console?
- Is tracking working properly?
Step 3: check the timing
Google publishes confirmed updates on its Search Status Dashboard. If your drop lines up with a core update, the cause is likely quality and relevance compared to other pages.
Step 4: review affected pages honestly
- Do they answer the searcher’s question better than the pages now ranking?
- Are they thin, outdated or written mainly for search engines?
- Is there real experience and expertise?
- Are keywords stuffed? Check with our keyword density checker.
Step 5: improve, do not panic
- Update and improve key pages.
- Merge or remove low-quality pages.
- Add original examples, photos and data.
Step 6: be patient
Recovery after core updates often takes months, sometimes until the next core update. Keep improving and building other channels meanwhile.
Need help? See our SEO audit service.
Want the full picture? This article is part of SEO: the complete guide, our in-depth guide with everything in one place.
