Causes of falling website traffic

Here at Pumpkin Web Design, we are Preston’s leading web design and content marketing professionals. We provide valuable web design, SEO, and marketing solutions to a range of clients, across the North West, including Southport and Wigan, as well as Manchester. As a result, we have produced this guide to everything you should know if you are experiencing a reduction in website traffic.

What are the main causes of falling website traffic?

There are many reasons why your website might not be getting as many hits as before. And sometimes this can literally happen overnight. But once you’ve worked out why the traffic has dropped, you can work on putting things right. So what are the top reasons for falling traffic?

1. Page rank
2. Mobile user behaviour

Page rank and falling traffic

One of the most common reasons for falling traffic is due to a change in page rank. The Search Engine Results Page (SERP), and your websites position on it, is a huge determining factor for the amount of traffic your website receives. The number one ranking website, generally receives more than a third of the organic traffic. So if you were ranking in the number one spot, and you’ve been usurped, a downward trend in website traffic will definitely follow. And the traffic generated decreases, the further down the page you land. So even if you were not in the top spot to begin with, a move down the page will certainly cause a loss of traffic.

To establish if this is true for your website, use a neutral browser to search for your keyword. You can use someone else’s computer, a public computer, or even Google Adwords Preview tool to help. Or to be more specific, you could use one of the many keyword ranking tools that are available for free online. This will give you a good indication of your page rank, and you will know if this has changed.

So what can you do about it? If this is relevant to your situation, what can you do to rectify the issue? Well, the first thing to do is to check out the new website that has taken your spot. And work out what they have added, or implemented, that you are missing out on. Make sure you go through the full SEO checklist, and give your website an SEO refresh.

Mobile user behaviour

In addition to page rank, another popular reason for website ranks to fall, is because of the increase in mobile users. These users require very different things to a desktop user, and so if your mobile website is not designed around their needs, you may well lose traffic.

Mobile users tend to be “in the moment”. They will have picked up their phone, and be looking for an answer immediately. They don’t want to search websites, or fill in forms. So why not make it really easy for your mobile users to get in touch via text or phone call? Anticipating their behavior, and meeting their needs will really help your company succeed.

For more information or advice about professional web design and web marketing, get in touch with the experts today, here at Pumpkin Web Design.