Organic Traffic Dropped Suddenly? Here’s Why (And How to Fix It)

It’s just like any other day, you send off some emails, have a couple of sales calls, and you decide to check out how your website metrics are looking. And then you see it. Your traffic has taken the world’s biggest nosedive. 

Panic begins to set in. You start to wonder, is it because of a technical issue? Maybe there’s a tracking issue on the site? How else could your traffic take such a hit, just like that?

Well, there are actually a bunch of reasons why, and a dip in organic traffic doesn’t necessarily mean your company’s rankings are going up in flames.

Now before we dive in, I just want to say: it’s not just you. A significant number of website owners are seeing their top-line traffic decreasing. This isn’t due to a ‘core update’ to Google’s algorithm, and it’s not due to your rankings tanking. 

TLDR: It’s because of all of those things in search results that aren’t blue links: “People also ask” boxes, video carousels, AI overviews and now, AI Mode.

In this blog, we’ll take a deeper look at why organic traffic is struggling, what it actually means for you, and how you can try to tame the traffic beast in the future.

What causes organic traffic to decrease? 

The usual culprit for organic traffic dropping off is a Google algorithm update, but in reality, the current downwards trend isn’t just a Google update. While there are a host of possible offenders, if you’ve been experiencing a sharp decline in organic traffic to your website, it’s likely because of new SERP features (AI overviews and AI Mode).

…if you’ve been experiencing a sharp decline in organic traffic to your website, it’s likely because of new SERP features (AI overviews and AI Mode).

Let’s not overlook recent changes in the way users search, including the rise of AI-used-as-a-Q-and-A-machine and voice searches. Both of these can heavily impact organic traffic as consumer behavior evolves and gets more used to using ‘new’ technology. Even though for us web folk Chat-GPT and the likes have been everyday tools for over a year, the general public have only really started exploring its use. 

Google’s role in decreased organic traffic

SERP features including the AI overview, featured snippets, ads, “people also ask” boxes etc. are designed to grab searchers’ attention, deliver them the answers they’re looking for, and reduce the need to visit other websites.

With searchers given so much information before ever having to click a link, it’s no wonder that so many websites are seeing a decrease in traffic.

But, something that’s good to revisit is the difference between the types of traffic and their value.

Understanding user intent

Knowing the value of different types of traffic to your website is key for really understanding your traffic and overall SEO efforts.

Information-intent visitors are looking for answers, fast. They want a straightforward answer – forget about selling them your brand experience! These visitors usually don’t result in conversions and would be considered low-value traffic. 

Meanwhile, commercial-intent visitors are visiting with the intention to buy, and could be at the research stage or the ready-to-buy stage, making it high-value traffic.

When it comes to the two types of visitors, informational visitors are just noise amongst your marketing data. The pages that rank for information-intent phrases tend not to convert. So, if you’re looking at your analytics and see a very sad-looking graph, don’t panic!

The problem is, we can often focus too much on top-line organic traffic. Instead, we should be filtering our reports and tracking high and low intent visitors separately. Seeing a drop in traffic naturally makes you feel a bit uneasy, but once you consider how meaningful it actually is, that worry subsides.

4 Tips to increase high-value, organic traffic

When you’re battling against low traffic and poor click-through rates, what can you do to fight back? 

Prioritize ‘visit website intent’ phrases

If you’re a decision maker with an intent to take action, you’ll likely want to do research and actually visit a webpage rather than gathering your information from SERPs alone. 

Take someone looking for a local web developer, for example. They wouldn’t make a commitment without first researching offers and seeing examples of work, right? Optimizing for visit website intent helps your site stand out, making it more likely that users will choose your page over others. For these kinds of phrases – even if there are SERPs and ads – visitors will still want to visit a webpage. Phew! 

To prioritize these phrases, you’ll want to tick off the following:

• Optimize your service pages and prioritize this over keyword-focused blogs.
• Search for your target keyword before you settle on it. Explore the SERP features associated with it. If it’s packed with ads and other features, maybe consider another keyword.
• Build your website’s authority by earning high-quality backlinks, increasing the likelihood that users will choose your site from the SERPs.

These simple changes can help you prioritize low-organic traffic and find value, not just traffic.

Making the most of cross-posting

As digital agency owners, we already know the value of platforms like LinkedIn, YouTube, TikTok etc. (depending on your target audience of course!). Creators on these platforms are rewarded with more discoverability and traffic to their website, (if you remembered to link it obviously and call it out, that is). If you can build up a following for yourself on any of these platforms, you can expect to see more engagement and subscriber growth. 

Don’t forget that your own site comes first. Before you post valuable content on LinkedIn, make sure you always cross-post with your website and post it there first. Then, you can repurpose the content on your other channels and adjust for each platform if needed. Your own website holds priority, always.

Push sales content

Creating sales-focused content is crucial to target those high-value customers who are already in your sales funnel. While keyword research and optimized blogs are great, sales-focused content drives action. 

To improve your rankings and conversions, ensure your sales content satisfies Google’s quality and integrity guidelines. The last thing you want is a slap on the wrist from Google! 

If you’re looking for results, you’ve got to speak to your audience – know their struggles, their concerns, and their barriers to purchasing. 

And remember, visitors who are already in your sales funnel/client book are some of your most valuable visitors (and easiest conversions), so don’t neglect them!

Build a strong content foundation 

Your content goal should always be to create long-lasting, visible content that will continue to gain traction over time and bring in traffic. The old rules still apply: producing quality content that meets user needs and aligns with search engine standards is essential for building authority and trust. The key is to always focus on quality over quantity.

Make sure to cover your basics too: use proper robots.txt directives and make your site accessible. Identifying the type of content and confirming it’s accessible for crawling and indexing is critical to avoid SEO penalties and maximize your site’s visibility to the type of traffic you want.

The future of organic traffic

The future of organic traffic isn’t something to lose sleep over. *Collective sigh of relief*. Things are constantly changing and evolving, but one thing is for sure – a dip in low-intent traffic doesn’t mean you’re screwed. Knowing the difference between search intent, providing high-value content, and using other channels are just some of the ways you can win the war against SERPs and continue getting high-value traffic to your site. 

How have you found your traffic changing in the last 12 months? Let us know over in The Admin Bar Facebook group!