A lot of folk have been complaining about loss of traffic on especially long tail searches. My initial thought was to do with internal linking because that’s how I’ve traditionally ‘optimised’ for the long tail & increased serps competition etc – but a lot of different things could be at play.
There’s an interesting discussion at WMW.
I’ve been digging about analytics to see if I could identify a particular reason for this (as I see it on a few sites I monitor) and there doesn’t seem to be anything stand out and consistent in my analytics so I checked the source – Google SERPS.
In one example I thought was interesting enough to share – I’m looking at a 4 keyword term I am number one for (which gets a bit of traffic) drop 87.50% in traffic in the last few weeks…. AND IT”S STILL NUMBER ONE.
LOL
What do I have to thank for this PARTICULAR SEARCH?
- New 3 column SERPS layout making SPONSORED LINKS creep that further bit down the page and push organic listings further down
- NEW SERPS layout encouraging clicks away from the organic “centre’ listings – I mean, come on WTF is using that ‘wonder wheel’?? Totally distracts the user clicking into Google UK only results
- Oh, hello *&^%ing Google Shopping Results and local Business Results & &^%$ing video results and images results, PROBABLY grabbing folks attention from that coveted(?) no1 slot
- Hey lets not forget REAL TIME UPDATES & NEWS & Search Customisation Updates – the list is extensive
Oh yeah, about that number 1 slot – barely above the fold tonight as I check…. still number one though for all it matters but when you’re committed to building good solid sites for customers and aim to increase month on month traffic it’s not nice to report back:
Oh 87.50% DROP on a main keyterm traffic – Google has f*&^%$£ you. We need videos, pictures and shopping feed to feed the Google monster these days
Now – of course this is on one keyword and it’s a bit of a SENSATIONALIST TITLE I’m using, and everybody will have different reasons for drops in traffic – and plenty are moaning about THAT over the last months. I just thought this was a single, granular example of how I lost a lot of traffic on a keyterm just because of UI changes.
It’s not just what YOU do – it’s what Google is doing with those SERPS too.
In some cases, loss of traffic IS probably to do with how Google is presenting all it’s products to searchers too.
It’s reasonable to assume as Google refines it’s products, they are going to seep more and more into longer tail searches, stealing clicks when previously, you would have got them.
Whats the point of being number 1 for a term if just below or above that Google is presenting eye-catching distractions via Google Video and Google images and Google News and Google Local Business Listings?
It’s probably never been more important to make sure you are taking advantage of ALL Google channels these days because Google is – and it’s playing about with where they appear on the page.
On a seperate note I do subscribe to a lot of the long tail traffic drop theory out there at the moment too – and would probably think Google is getting better at crawling deeper and faster too, and identifying better links, which is could well be the reason if you are experiencing traffic drops.
Almost had a heart attack the end of last week while doing client reports with organic traffic dropping, not by small percentages as expected at times with shuffles in the results, but LARGE percentages. However, not much change in longtail from what i can see either from analytics data across clients. Tend to take Google Insights data with a pinch of salt, but either Google is having problems compiling that data, or their seems to be a decline in search volumes across the various client verticals we work in as well over the month. The new SERPS layout in Google is definitely playing some role in this. Will be interesting to see some studies on the change in the SERP click distribution with this awful new layout (gives me a very cramped feeling when browsing :) )
Brett -
I honestly wondered that too…
Poor Dave was slapping on his tin foil hat to defend himself from my weird wacky theories in dojo chat about how SERPs work. Take a look at total search volumes for a similar period from a few weeks before and also previous year. I have been trying to explain some of what might be going on here http://www.experts-exchange.com/Web_Development/Internet_Marketing/Search_Engine_Optimization_SEO/Q_26140505.html
Ans you forgot to include the personalized search thing, which makes sure that you are not at No 1 for all your readers , even after doing lots of link building. Well Google is becoming more greedier. It is now looking for new ways to insert paid results in organic search engine rankings.
All I can say is: “Thanks goodness for social media.” If what you say about Google stealing clicks for long-tail keywords is true, then ultimately, they will dilute their own value. In my opinion that is spamming.
“It’s probably never been more important to make sure you are taking advantage of ALL Google channels” couldn’t agree more with that, coming at this from a different angle, I have been plugging away trying to get a client on page 1 for a high volume term, and the difference in traffic from being at no.10 and no.11 was noticeable but the CTR was better on page 2! http://www.returnondigital.com/blog/sometimes-page-two-rankings-are-better-than-page-one add to this now the fact you point out that there is more on page one and you really do have to have all bases covered to maximise your CTR, especially now a number 1 rank can appear below the fold!
Yes, I was thinking along these lines too… I think that they are going down the line of forcing more people to click on their adwords – trying to squeeze more and more out of the lucrative adword clicks. Where else does google make any juicy money? Problem with this is that they are beginning to piss off the honest to goodness searcher’s…. if they just want paid advert links forced into the results then they would be using AOL or Ask’s search pages. I really don’t get the personalised results either, surely if you are looking for new information or a better supplier, then you won’t want to see all the sites you’ve used in the past… would you? The local thing is good if you are looking for a local supplier, like a plumber – but it is totally floored in two respects:- 1. Their geo targeting is a total load of crap. My computer at home thinks I’m in Wakefield and the computer in work (5 miles away) thinks I’m in Manchester, I’m actually in Shropshire for god’s sake. 2. It doesn’t know if I’m looking for a mail order supplier that will supply the entire UK I don’t know how things are going to pan out with google, they are the search behemoth, synonymous with search. But they need to respect what people mainly use them for…. to find unbiased natural and relevant results. While I’m on it, tell me why people want to see other nerds inane tweets within the results, crazy crazy. That’s my rant for the week over with :-)
@Andy, Pity we can’t see that thread. A summary perhaps for the non members of what you’ve come across so far?
I can understand the big drop, but im sorry to say that as they roll out more products and solutions you may experience more loss as users are able to navigate within Google to get the information and don’t actually have to click to your website anymore.
I’ve seen MAJOR drops in traffic starting Mar 6th. Google Images is sending me less than 10% of what had been the average. Total traffic drop is at least down 25% and paid Google Adwords clicks are down 50%. I think there is so much on the page that it’s spreading clicks around every which way.
Yeah Google changed where it’s images referrals came from – now it’s google.com/images or something….
[...] yet to see the data on how Googlers use the search options but SEOs already report drastic traffic drops apparently caused by the new layout. Depending on what search channels you use to drive traffic to [...]
Shaun… number 1 is number 1 whether it is a google listing for local, a video, news pak or whatever. The days of ten blue links is not only gone from Google but also Bing. I have been slicing and dicing the Universal and it is evident the days of passive content development based on keywords alone are long gone. The nimble, the creative and those who get the role social plays in these verticals will be the SEOs err…. Digital Asset Managers that will succeed. The rest will still be expecting the comeback of the 10 blue links which everyone should know is not what Johnny Q wants these days. Stats show they want news, video and buzz… so provide that or get left behind. IMO, it is that simple. Look for SERP click stats it’s pretty evident that what Johnny Q wants has either changed or SE’s just figured out how to give it to ‘em.
NIcley put Terry :)
[...] [green ipad case shop] and other complex search queries cry foul. The long tail traffic is down by 2/3 or more according to these [...]
I think, if we use common sense, Google will come up with a way to get the people who are going after long tail searches, and as you speculate, are well on their way. In the past, you could create a well-optimized page called “How To Succeed with Long Tail Searches” and you could win for this term immediately. I don’t believe this is so anymore if your blog has no juice to begin with.
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