My Google Traffic Dropped 40%. Now What?

You check Google Analytics.

Organic traffic down 40% month-over-month.

Your stomach drops.

Here’s what to do in the next 60 minutes, how to diagnose the cause, and how to fix it.

Reading time: 16 minutes

The 60-Minute Triage

Don’t panic. Follow this checklist.

Minute 1-5: Verify the Data

Is the drop real or a tracking issue?

Check:

  1. Google Analytics: Do you see traffic drop in Acquisition > All Traffic > Source/Medium?
  2. Google Search Console: Do you see drop in Performance > Total Clicks?
  3. Server logs: Did actual requests to your site drop?

If:

  • GA shows drop BUT Search Console shows normal: Tracking issue
  • Both show drop: Real traffic loss
  • Server logs show normal BUT GA/GSC show drop: Tracking issue

Tracking issue fixes:

  • Check if GA code is still on site
  • Check if GA4 property is set up correctly
  • Verify Search Console ownership hasn’t expired

If tracking is fine, continue.

Minute 6-10: Check Google Search Console for Errors

Look for manual penalties:

  1. Go to Security & Manual Actions > Manual Actions
  2. If you see a penalty, read the details
  3. Most common: “Unnatural links” or “Thin content”

If manual penalty:

  • This is serious but fixable
  • Google tells you what’s wrong
  • Fix the issues
  • Submit reconsideration request
  • Recovery timeline: 2-8 weeks

If no manual penalty, continue.

Check for coverage errors:

  1. Go to Indexing > Pages
  2. Look for spike in “Not indexed” errors
  3. Common errors:
    • “Crawled - currently not indexed”
    • “Discovered - currently not indexed”
    • “Redirect error”
    • “Server error (5xx)”

If errors spiked, note which type. We’ll diagnose next.

Minute 11-15: Check for Algorithm Updates

Did Google just release an algorithm update?

  1. Go to Google Search Status Dashboard
  2. Check dates of recent updates
  3. Cross-reference with your traffic drop date

Major update types:

Core Updates (quarterly)

  • Broad impact across all sites
  • Affect content quality, E-E-A-T, user experience
  • Recovery: Improve content quality, not quick fixes

Spam Updates

  • Target manipulative tactics
  • Affect sites with thin content, link schemes
  • Recovery: Remove spammy tactics, rebuild trust

Helpful Content Updates

  • Target content created for search engines, not people
  • Affect sites with generic, unhelpful content
  • Recovery: Rewrite for humans, add unique insights

If major update hit within 1-2 weeks of your drop:

  • Likely the cause
  • Read official Google guidance for that update
  • Recovery takes weeks to months

If no update, continue.

Minute 16-20: Check for Technical Issues

Did something break on your site?

Quick checks:

  1. Is your site up?

    • Visit your homepage
    • Visit 3-5 key pages
    • Check on mobile

  2. robots.txt blocking Google?

    • Visit yoursite.com/robots.txt
    • Check for Disallow: / (blocks everything)
    • Recent CMS updates sometimes reset robots.txt

  3. Noindex tag accidentally added?

    • View source on homepage
    • Search for <meta name="robots" content="noindex"
    • If found, pages won’t be indexed

  4. HTTPS → HTTP redirect issue?

    • Ensure HTTPS works
    • Check for redirect loops

  5. Site speed crash?

If technical issue found:

  • Fix immediately (Priority #1)
  • Submit pages for re-indexing in Search Console
  • Recovery timeline: 3-7 days

If no technical issues, continue.

Minute 21-30: Identify Which Pages Lost Traffic

Drill down to specifics.

In Google Search Console:

  1. Go to Performance > Search Results
  2. Click “Pages” tab
  3. Compare last 3 months to previous 3 months
  4. Sort by “Difference” column

What you’re looking for:

Pattern 1: One or two pages lost all traffic

  • Specific content issue
  • Those pages may have been penalized
  • Those keywords may have dropped

Pattern 2: All pages lost ~40% equally

  • Site-wide issue
  • Algorithm update impact
  • Domain-level problem

Pattern 3: Category of pages lost traffic

  • “All blog posts lost traffic but product pages fine”
  • Content type issue
  • Template problem

Pattern 4: Homepage and main pages fine, secondary pages dropped

  • Indexing issue
  • Internal linking problem
  • Crawl budget problem

Note the pattern. We’ll use this to diagnose cause.

Minute 31-40: Check for Competitor Changes

Did competitors improve or did you get worse?

Quick competitor check:

  1. Google your top 5 keywords
  2. Note who ranks #1-5 now
  3. Compare to who ranked before (use SEMrush or Ahrefs if you have it)

Scenarios:

New competitor appeared:

  • Someone published better content
  • You got outranked, not penalized
  • Fix: Improve your content to be better

Same competitors, different order:

  • Algorithm reshuffled rankings
  • Check what the #1 result has that you don’t

Your pages disappeared entirely:

  • Deindexed or severely penalized
  • Check Search Console for indexing issues

Minute 41-50: Run Quick Diagnostics

Use free tools for fast checks:

1. Site:yoursite.com search

  • Google “site:yoursite.com”
  • How many results?
  • Compare to last month (use archive.org if needed)
  • If results dropped significantly: indexing issue

2. Backlink check

3. Google Trends

  • Check if your primary keywords are declining in search volume
  • Seasonal drop?
  • Interest in topic declining?

Minute 51-60: Document Everything

Create a diagnostics document:

Traffic Drop Analysis - [Date]

## The Drop
- Traffic before: [X visits/month]
- Traffic now: [Y visits/month]
- Drop: [Z%]
- Drop started: [Date]

## What I Checked
- [ ] Tracking verified (real drop, not tracking issue)
- [ ] No manual penalties in Search Console
- [ ] Algorithm update: [Yes/No, which one]
- [ ] Technical issues: [List any found]
- [ ] Pattern: [Which pages lost traffic]
- [ ] Competitors: [What changed]

## Leading Theory
[Your best guess at the cause based on evidence]

## Next Steps
[What to investigate deeper or fix first]

Now you have data to work with.

Diagnosis: What Caused Your Traffic Drop

Based on your 60-minute triage, here’s how to diagnose the cause.

Cause 1: Algorithm Update

Symptoms:

  • Drop coincides with known Google update (within 1-2 weeks)
  • Gradual decline over 2-4 weeks
  • All or most pages affected equally
  • No technical issues found
  • No manual penalty

Confirmation:

  • Check Google Search Status
  • Read SEO news sites (Search Engine Journal, Search Engine Land)
  • Compare drop date to update date

Fix: Depends on update type.

Core Update:

  • Improve content quality (add depth, unique insights)
  • Add author bios and expertise signals
  • Update old content
  • Remove thin or duplicate content
  • Timeline: 3-6 months to recover

Helpful Content Update:

  • Rewrite AI-generated or generic content
  • Add personal experience and examples
  • Remove content created solely for SEO
  • Make content genuinely helpful
  • Timeline: Next helpful content update (3-6 months)

Spam Update:

  • Remove link schemes
  • Remove thin content
  • Remove doorway pages
  • Clean up spammy backlinks
  • Timeline: 1-3 months after cleanup

Cause 2: Technical Issue

Symptoms:

  • Sudden drop (overnight or within 2-3 days)
  • Coverage errors spiked in Search Console
  • Pages showing “Crawled - currently not indexed”
  • Site speed crashed
  • Redirect issues

Common technical causes:

robots.txt blocking Google:

  • Check yoursite.com/robots.txt
  • Remove Disallow: / if found
  • Submit for re-indexing

Noindex tag added accidentally:

  • Check page source for <meta name="robots" content="noindex"
  • Remove from template
  • Submit for re-indexing

HTTPS issues:

  • Mixed content warnings
  • Certificate expired
  • Redirect loops
  • Fix HTTPS, submit for re-indexing

Site speed crash:

  • Server issues
  • Broken CDN
  • Large images added
  • Fix speed issues (run Scan for details)

Recovery timeline: 3-7 days after fix

Cause 3: Content Issue

Symptoms:

  • Specific pages or categories lost traffic
  • Other pages unaffected
  • Competitors published better content
  • Your content is outdated

Examples:

Content became outdated:

  • You have “2023 Guide” in title, it’s now 2024
  • Information is no longer accurate
  • Screenshots are old

Competitor published better content:

  • Their article is more comprehensive
  • Better structured
  • More recent
  • More helpful

Content is thin:

  • 300-word article trying to rank for competitive keyword
  • No unique insights
  • Generic information available everywhere

Fix:

  • Update content (make it current)
  • Expand content (add depth and examples)
  • Add unique insights (personal experience, data, screenshots)
  • Improve structure (headings, bullets, tables)

Recovery timeline: 2-4 weeks after update

Cause 4: Indexing Issue

Symptoms:

  • Coverage errors in Search Console
  • site:yoursite.com shows fewer results
  • Pages not appearing in Google
  • “Discovered - currently not indexed” errors

Common causes:

Crawl budget exhausted:

  • Too many low-value pages
  • Duplicate content
  • Infinite scroll or pagination issues

Internal linking broke:

  • Navigation changed
  • Links removed
  • Orphaned pages (no internal links pointing to them)

Sitemap issues:

  • Sitemap references pages that don’t exist
  • Sitemap not updated
  • Sitemap blocked in robots.txt

Fix:

  • Submit important pages for re-indexing manually
  • Fix sitemap errors
  • Improve internal linking
  • Remove or noindex low-value pages

Recovery timeline: 1-4 weeks

Cause 5: Penalty or Manual Action

Symptoms:

  • Manual action listed in Search Console
  • Specific message from Google
  • Usually related to links or content quality

Types:

Unnatural links to your site:

  • Someone built spammy backlinks
  • You participated in link scheme
  • Fix: Disavow bad links, remove if possible

Unnatural links from your site:

  • You’re linking to spammy sites
  • Likely hacked
  • Fix: Remove bad outbound links, secure site

Thin content:

  • Pages have little value
  • Duplicate or scraped content
  • Fix: Improve or remove thin pages

Hacked site:

  • Spammy pages injected
  • Malware detected
  • Fix: Clean hack, secure site, request review

Recovery timeline: 2-8 weeks after fix and reconsideration request

Cause 6: Seasonal or Market Change

Symptoms:

  • Gradual decline over months
  • Google Trends shows interest declining
  • No technical or quality issues
  • Competitors also declining

Examples:

  • Seasonal business (“Halloween costumes” traffic drops in November)
  • Market shift (people asking AI instead of Googling)
  • Product no longer in demand

Fix:

  • If seasonal: Expected, will recover next season
  • If market shift: Expand to adjacent topics or new channels
  • If demand decline: Consider different products/services

Recovery: May not recover if market permanently shifted

Quick Action Guide by Cause

If Algorithm Update:

Today:

  1. Read official Google guidance for that update
  2. Audit top 10-20 pages that lost traffic
  3. Compare to competitors who rank now

This week: 4. Improve 3-5 top priority pages 5. Add depth, examples, unique insights 6. Update outdated information

This month: 7. Continue improving top 50 pages 8. Monitor recovery in Search Console

Recovery: 3-6 months

If Technical Issue:

Today:

  1. Fix the technical problem
  2. Verify fix is live
  3. Submit top 10-20 pages for re-indexing

This week: 4. Monitor Search Console for indexing 5. Check that pages are being crawled 6. Verify coverage errors decreasing

Recovery: 3-7 days

If Content Issue:

This week:

  1. Update top 5 pages that lost traffic
  2. Make content current (dates, screenshots, info)
  3. Add 500-1000 words of unique insights
  4. Improve structure and readability

This month: 5. Update top 20 pages 6. Add new content on related topics 7. Build internal links to updated pages

Recovery: 2-4 weeks

If Indexing Issue:

Today:

  1. Fix sitemap errors
  2. Submit top pages for re-indexing
  3. Check robots.txt not blocking

This week: 4. Improve internal linking to orphaned pages 5. Remove low-value pages (or noindex them) 6. Monitor coverage improvements

Recovery: 1-4 weeks

If Manual Penalty:

This week:

  1. Fix the specific issues Google mentioned
  2. Document all fixes
  3. Submit reconsideration request

This month: 4. Continue improving site quality 5. Monitor for response from Google

Recovery: 2-8 weeks after reconsideration

When to Run Surmado Scan

Scan is most useful for:

  • Finding hidden technical issues
  • Getting prioritized fix list
  • Checking schema markup
  • Identifying accessibility issues
  • Comparing before/after fixes

When to run it:

Immediately if:

  • You suspect technical issues
  • Need comprehensive audit fast
  • Want prioritized action plan

After initial triage if:

  • No obvious cause found
  • Need deeper technical analysis
  • Want to verify fixes

Cost: $25-50

Run Surmado Scan now

Recovery Timeline Expectations

Quick Recovery (3-7 days)

  • Technical fixes (robots.txt, noindex, speed)
  • Clear indexing issues
  • Obvious errors

Medium Recovery (2-8 weeks)

  • Content improvements
  • Manual penalty recovery
  • Moderate indexing issues

Slow Recovery (3-6 months)

  • Algorithm update recovery
  • Major content overhaul
  • Rebuilding from spam penalty

No Recovery

  • Seasonal decline (will recover next season)
  • Market permanently shifted
  • Permanent algorithm change affecting your site type

Prevention: How to Avoid Future Drops

1. Monitor Weekly

Set up alerts:

  • Google Analytics: Email alert if organic traffic drops 20%+ week-over-week
  • Google Search Console: Check coverage weekly
  • Uptime monitoring: Pingdom or UptimeRobot

Weekly check:

  • Quick GA review (5 minutes)
  • Search Console errors check (5 minutes)
  • Top 10 rankings spot check (5 minutes)

2. Run Monthly Audits

First Monday of each month:

  • Run Scan ($25)
  • Note any new issues
  • Fix top 3 issues
  • Track improvement

Cost: $25/month

Benefit: Catch issues before they cause traffic drops

3. Improve Content Continuously

Don’t let content get stale:

  • Update top 10 pages quarterly
  • Add fresh examples and data
  • Update screenshots
  • Verify information is current

Especially important:

  • Articles with dates in title
  • Technical how-to guides
  • Statistics-heavy content
  • Tool comparison pages

4. Diversify Traffic Sources

Don’t rely 100% on Google:

  • Build email list
  • Grow social following
  • Test AI visibility (ChatGPT, Perplexity)
  • Consider paid channels

If Google traffic drops, you have other channels to sustain you while you recover.

Frequently Asked Questions

How long until I know if my fix worked?

Technical fixes: 3-7 days

Content improvements: 2-4 weeks

Algorithm recovery: 3-6 months

Check Search Console Performance report weekly. Look for upward trend.

Should I hire an SEO agency?

Hire agency if:

  • Traffic drop is severe (60%+)
  • Revenue is at risk
  • You can’t diagnose cause yourself
  • Budget allows ($3,000-5,000/month minimum)

DIY if:

  • Drop is moderate (20-40%)
  • You have time to implement fixes
  • Budget is limited
  • Cause is clear (technical or content issue)

Read: When to Hire SEO Agency vs DIY

Can traffic drop for no reason?

No. There’s always a cause:

  • Algorithm update (most common)
  • Technical issue
  • Competitor improvement
  • Content decline
  • Indexing problem
  • Seasonal shift

It may be hard to diagnose, but there’s a reason.

Will my traffic ever fully recover?

Depends on cause:

Yes, full recovery possible:

  • Technical issues (once fixed)
  • Temporary algorithm fluctuations
  • Seasonal drops

Partial recovery likely:

  • Algorithm updates (may recover 50-80%)
  • Competitor improvements (depends on your response)

May not recover:

  • Permanent market shift
  • Google favoring different content types
  • Fundamental algorithm change

Next Steps Right Now

Next 10 minutes:

  1. Verify the drop is real (check GA + Search Console + server logs)
  2. Check for manual penalties in Search Console
  3. Check for recent algorithm updates

Next 60 minutes: 4. Run through full 60-minute triage checklist above 5. Document findings 6. Determine most likely cause

Today: 7. Fix any obvious technical issues 8. Run Scan for deeper analysis ($25) 9. Start fixing highest priority items

This week: 10. Implement fixes based on cause 11. Submit pages for re-indexing if needed 12. Monitor Search Console daily

This month: 13. Continue improvements 14. Track recovery in Analytics 15. Run Scan again to verify fixes ($25)

The Bottom Line

Traffic drops are scary but usually fixable.

Most common causes:

  1. Algorithm update (50% of cases)
  2. Technical issue (20%)
  3. Content became outdated (15%)
  4. Indexing issue (10%)
  5. Manual penalty (5%)

Action priority:

  1. Fix technical issues immediately
  2. Improve content quality
  3. Monitor and adjust
  4. Prevent future drops with monthly audits

Don’t panic. Follow the diagnostic process. Fix the root cause. Monitor recovery.

Traffic drops happen to every site eventually. How you respond determines how fast you recover.

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