My ranking has dropped. Why?

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SEO is a cutthroat world, and you may have fought tooth and nail just to claim your current spot in the search engine rankings. The most frustrating thing that can happen after you have invested so much of your resources in your SEO is a sudden drop in search engine rankings and relevance. The thought that your rankings have suddenly plunged into the abyss is pretty alarming. But instead of pushing the panic button, try to take a deep breath and gather yourself for a minute. We’ll get to the bottom of things and determine what might have caused it, which may include:

Getting Penalized

You might have incurred a penalty that caused Google to drop the hammer on your website leaving it reeling down towards irrelevancy. Google carries out penalties either manually or algorithmically. You might have violated the almighty search engine’s guidelines by utilizing black hat SEO techniques, or you are an innocent victim of website hacking. Either way, you will only know the truth if you have been penalized or not by looking at your Google Webmasters account.

A Change in Algorithm

Now and then, Google implements a new or updated algorithm that creates chaos in the entire search engine landscape. Those who enjoyed being at the top suddenly find themselves on the opposite side of the rankings. Try and make a quick check on this blog or other top SEO blogs, so you will know whether or not an update happened. If there is indeed an update, you can use a rankings tracker to determine whether it was the cause of your drop.

Competition Stepping Up

Or maybe the competition was just better this time. This could be a possibility since search rankings is virtually a zero sum game – your gain in rankings is another one’s loss. This is the reason why SEO experts constantly keep a close eye on their websites. They have to monitor every change in their sites and are always on the lookout for new trends and developments in the SEO world. With that being said, your rankings could have dropped simply because your competition stepped up their SEO game this time. The more likely scenario is that you and your competition are not investing in SEO. When your competition decided to, it or they suddenly blitz past through your website in the rankings.

Lost Links

Relying on a set number of backlinks could be one thing dragging your rankings downward. If those backlinks are taken away or are temporarily out of reach, your website’s authority will be jeopardized. If this happens, search engines will consider your site as untrustworthy. As a result, Google and Bing could pull you down in their rankings. You will need to review lost links and confirm their presence online to determine if they are the culprits of your demise.

Changes in User Behavior

From time to time, certain developments and episodes catch people’s interest. This generates an unprecedented tide of online searches that lead to what is known as “Query Deserved Freshness”. Instead of getting the customary results, results are filtered according to the users’ behavior. Searches are refreshed reflecting demand for fresher, news-based results. To be accurate, those results about current trends and events. As a result, this flips the static content onto the second page of the search engine results.

If your rankings have dropped without notice, your SEO could be the main reason why. Let’s diagnose your website and see if there are certain tweaks and moves that we can do to get it back in the right direction. Get in touch today for a free consultation.