Why Is My Website Losing Traffic? 12 Reasons (And How to Fix Them)

That Sinking Feeling When Traffic Drops

You check your analytics and your stomach drops. Traffic is down. Maybe it's been declining slowly for weeks, or maybe it fell off a cliff overnight. Either way, something is wrong.

I've helped dozens of site owners diagnose traffic drops, and I can tell you: the cause is almost always fixable. But you need to figure out what's actually happening before you can fix it.

Let's walk through the most common reasons websites lose traffic, how to identify which one is affecting you, and what to do about it.

1. Your Site Got Slower (And Google Noticed)

This is the most common culprit I see, and it's often invisible to site owners because the slowdown happens gradually.

Here's what typically happens: you add a new plugin, upload some larger images, integrate a chat widget, install an analytics script. Each change adds a few hundred milliseconds. Before you know it, your pages take 6 seconds to load instead of 2.

Google has been using page speed as a ranking factor since 2010, but Core Web Vitals made it much more important. If your Largest Contentful Paint (LCP) is over 2.5 seconds, you're getting penalized in rankings.

How to check: Run your key pages through BulkAudit or PageSpeed Insights. If your Performance score is below 50, you've found a likely culprit.

How to fix it:

Compress and convert images to WebP format

Remove or defer non-essential JavaScript

Enable browser caching

Use a CDN like Cloudflare (free tier works great)

Audit your plugins and remove what you don't need

2. A Google Algorithm Update Hit Your Site

Google rolls out thousands of algorithm updates yearly, but the major ones can shake up rankings dramatically. If your traffic dropped suddenly and you can correlate it with a known update date, this is likely your issue.

Recent major updates have focused on:

Helpful Content: Does your content actually help users, or is it just SEO fluff?

Page Experience: Core Web Vitals, mobile-friendliness, HTTPS

E-E-A-T: Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness

How to check: Compare your traffic drop date with Google's confirmed updates. Search for "Google algorithm update [month year]" to find announcements.

How to fix it: Depends on the update, but generally:

Improve content quality and depth

Fix technical issues (speed, mobile, accessibility)

Build genuine expertise signals

Remove or improve thin content

3. Your Mobile Experience Is Broken

Google uses mobile-first indexing, meaning they primarily see your site the way mobile users see it. If your mobile experience is poor, your desktop rankings suffer too.

I audited a site last month where the mobile homepage took 12 seconds to load. The owner had no idea because they always checked their site on desktop. Their traffic had been bleeding away for months.

How to check: Run a BulkAudit with the "Mobile" setting selected. Compare your mobile and desktop scores. If mobile is significantly worse, you've found a problem.

How to fix it:

Test on actual mobile devices, not just browser dev tools

Optimize images for mobile screen sizes

Reduce JavaScript that's heavy on mobile CPUs

Ensure tap targets are properly sized (48x48 pixels minimum)

Fix any horizontal scrolling issues

4. Technical SEO Issues Are Blocking Google

Sometimes the problem isn't your content or speed—Google literally can't access or understand your pages properly.

Common technical issues:

Robots.txt blocking important pages: One misplaced line can block Google from crawling your site

Noindex tags on pages that should be indexed: Often added during development and never removed

Canonical tags pointing to wrong URLs: Tells Google to rank a different page instead

Broken internal links: Google can't find pages that aren't linked

XML sitemap errors: Outdated or missing sitemaps

How to check: Run your site through BulkAudit and check the SEO scores. Also verify in Google Search Console under "Pages" to see what's being indexed.

How to fix it:

Audit your robots.txt file

Check for noindex tags in your HTML

Verify canonical URLs are correct

Fix broken internal links

Update and submit your sitemap

5. You Lost Backlinks

Backlinks are still one of the strongest ranking factors. If you lost links from high-authority sites, your rankings can drop.

Links disappear for many reasons:

Sites that linked to you went offline

They redesigned and removed your link

They changed their linking policy

Your linked content was removed or changed

How to check: Use a backlink monitoring tool like Ahrefs or Moz to see if you've lost significant links recently.

How to fix it:

Reach out to sites that removed links (politely ask if it was intentional)

Create new link-worthy content

Build relationships with sites in your niche

Consider replacing lost links with new outreach

6. Competitors Improved (You Stayed The Same)

Sometimes your traffic drops not because you got worse, but because competitors got better. SEO is a competitive game, and standing still means falling behind.

If three competitors all improve their page speed, add better content, and gain more backlinks while you do nothing, you'll slip in rankings.

How to check: Search for your main keywords and see who's ranking above you now. Audit their pages alongside yours using BulkAudit. Compare scores.

How to fix it:

Audit competitor pages to understand their advantages

Improve your content to be more comprehensive

Match or beat their technical performance

Look for content gaps they're not covering

7. Your Content Is Outdated

Content that was accurate two years ago might be completely wrong today. Google prioritizes fresh, accurate information, especially for topics that change over time (called "Query Deserves Freshness").

This particularly affects:

Technology and software tutorials

Best-of lists and product reviews

News and current events coverage

Statistics and data-driven content

How-to guides for platforms that update frequently

How to check: Look at your top pages. When were they last updated? Is the information still accurate?

How to fix it:

Update outdated statistics and information

Add new sections covering recent developments

Update screenshots and examples

Change the "last updated" date (only if you made real changes)

Consider consolidating multiple weak articles into one comprehensive guide

8. You're Cannibalizing Your Own Keywords

Keyword cannibalization happens when multiple pages on your site compete for the same search terms. Instead of one strong page ranking, you have two mediocre ones splitting the signals.

This is common on sites that have been blogging for years without a content strategy.

How to check: Search site:yourdomain.com "target keyword" to see how many pages target each key term.

How to fix it:

Merge similar content into one comprehensive page

Add clear canonical tags

Use 301 redirects from weaker pages to stronger ones

Differentiate content to target different variations

9. Accessibility Issues Are Hurting Your Rankings

Google wants to rank pages that work for everyone. If your site has accessibility problems, you're likely also failing some of Google's quality checks.

Common accessibility issues that correlate with SEO problems:

Missing alt text on images (Google can't understand your images)

Poor heading structure (Google can't understand your content hierarchy)

Low color contrast (often correlates with other quality issues)

Non-descriptive link text (Google uses link text to understand pages)

How to check: Run a BulkAudit and look at your Accessibility scores. Anything below 80 needs attention.

How to fix it:

Add descriptive alt text to all meaningful images

Use proper heading hierarchy (H1 → H2 → H3)

Ensure sufficient color contrast (4.5:1 ratio minimum)

Make link text descriptive ("Download our pricing guide" not "click here")

10. You Lost a Featured Snippet

If you previously held a featured snippet (position zero) and lost it, your traffic can drop dramatically even though you're still on page one.

Featured snippets can drive 2-3x more clicks than regular position one. Losing one feels like losing half your traffic.

How to check: Search for queries where you used to get snippet traffic. Is someone else now in the featured snippet?

How to fix it:

Study what the new snippet winner is doing differently

Reformat your content to better match the snippet format (lists, tables, definitions)

Add a clear, concise answer near the top of your page

Use proper schema markup

11. Seasonal Traffic Fluctuations

Not all traffic drops are problems to fix. Some are natural seasonal patterns.

If you sell swimsuits, traffic will drop in winter. If you write about taxes, traffic will spike in March and April. If you cover back-to-school topics, expect summer slowdowns.

How to check: Look at year-over-year data, not month-over-month. Compare January 2026 to January 2025, not January to December.

How to fix it: You can't (and shouldn't try to) fix genuine seasonality. Instead:

Create content for your off-season topics

Build evergreen content that performs year-round

Use slow periods for site improvements

12. Your Site Got Hacked (And You Don't Know It)

Subtle hacks can damage your SEO without obvious signs. Hackers might:

Inject hidden links to spam sites

Create cloaked pages that only search engines see

Add redirects that only affect search traffic

Insert keywords and content invisible to human visitors

How to check:

Search site:yourdomain.com and look for weird pages

Check Google Search Console for security issues

Review your site's source code for suspicious content

Look for unexpected pages in your sitemap

How to fix it:

Clean the hack (consider professional help)

Update all passwords

Update all software and plugins

Request a Google reconsideration review after cleanup

How to Diagnose Your Specific Problem

Here's my systematic approach when diagnosing traffic drops:

Step 1: Determine the timeline

When exactly did traffic start dropping? Was it sudden or gradual? This narrows down potential causes.

Step 2: Check Google Search Console

Look for manual actions, security issues, indexing problems, or crawl errors. GSC often tells you exactly what's wrong.

Step 3: Audit your key pages

Run your top 20-30 pages through BulkAudit. Look at Performance, SEO, Accessibility, and Best Practices scores. Identify patterns.

Step 4: Compare mobile vs desktop

Run audits for both device types. Big differences point to mobile-specific issues.

Step 5: Check competitor changes

Did competitors improve while you stayed static? Audit their key pages for comparison.

Step 6: Review recent changes

What changed on your site around when traffic dropped? New plugins, theme updates, content changes, hosting changes?

The Bottom Line

Traffic drops are stressful, but they're almost always diagnosable and fixable. The key is systematic investigation, not panic.

Start by auditing your site's technical health with BulkAudit. Check Performance, SEO, and Accessibility scores across your key pages. Often, the data will point directly to the problem.

Remember: your competitors are constantly improving. Standing still is falling behind. Regular audits help you catch problems before they become traffic emergencies.

Run a free audit today and see where your site stands.