Stalled Site Help

mcfarlanek

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Feb 25, 2022
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Hello everyone this is my first post excited to see the support I can get.

I currently have a site it’s about nine years old it has a good amount of traffic about 200 posts.

over the past year I’ve noticed a slow decline in my traffic while still continuing to publish articles.

however the traffic to my site has remain stagnant and slowly declined.

looking for some support on what I could do to get the site moving again.
Thanks for everyone’s support and help
 
I’d like to know, in order to give you a better response:

How much traffic are we talking per month? An analytics graph from day one to the present could help.

What was the time frame from when the majority of posts went live? 8 years ago? Google has “freshness” in the algorithm and old posts “decay” over time.

If you have Ahrefs or anything like it, what are your backlink metrics? How many referring domains point to the site?

Are you well versed in keyword research and on-page optimization? Are your new posts targeting keywords your site is qualified to rank for in terms of your backlink profile?

Is your site in a YMYL (your money your life) niche like health, fitness, finance, supplements, etc.?

We need a lot more info to be able to help you.
 
Thanks for the reply Ryuzaki appreciate the help.

I've provided what I can.
  1. Avg Traffic per month per Google Analytics is about 80K
  2. Most posts have been updated over time, but a few likely could use an update.
  3. Backlink metrics are 17K Referring Domains 2.62 DR 30
  4. All my pages target a keyword and I do on-page for every page I target. I've used tools such as POP, Marketmuse, etc...
  5. Pets niche.
Here is a screen shot of my last 16 months GSC.

B2Kenp0.png
 
Last edited:
It really could be as simple as more competition.

Have you checked who has been taking your spots?

I believe Ahref can show historical ranking data for keywords.
 
Thanks Bernard

I’m sure there is some competition overtaking some pages.

What would you recommend to reclaim the rankings?

I know that each page is unique but in general what are some good tips.
 
I was thinking about my question after reading through many of the other forum posts.

So much helpful information on BuSo!

If my issue is simply more competition, I was thinking of identifying about 5-10 pages on my site where the bulk of the decline seems to be.

Then do the following;
  1. Review the SERPs to ensure my intent is still relevant. Adjust as required.
  2. Update the content with any missing info shown on other higher-ranking sites.
  3. Use a tool like POP to ensure my on-page is solid.
  4. Review internal links to the page then add more internal links from relevant pages on my site
  5. Add a few supporting pages that link upward to the post
  6. Lastly, add more backlinks.
The reason I put backlinks and more content last is because of cost, the first 4 items I could do are relatively low-cost/free.

I would love to hear thoughts on this from some experienced SEO and if there are other things I could do to reclaim my rankings.

Thanks again for any help.
 
@mcfarlanek, that sounds like a good plan. It will serve the users better, which Google in getting pretety good at measuring and understanding. You'll also build better topical authority with new content, improved content, and relevant interlinking.

You could also spend some time on sitewide aspects of user experience like page speed, core web vitals, etc. This could provide a lift across the board, especially in places where it can act as a tie breaker.

I think you're probably on the right path. After nine years it's probably time for a general audit and a punching up of things. If you want more ideas you can check out the Kitchen Sink post I put together a while back.
 
Thanks @Ryuzaki I'll check out the post. Might be a fun case study to do and report back.
Appreciate the help.
 
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