9 Reasons You’re Losing Website Traffic and Tips to Fix It
What do you think matters the most for your website? An aesthetic design or people filling their carts with your services? Yes, we prefer the second option too. Well, yes, creating a stunning website is an achievement in itself. But, if you are the only one visitor who’s looking at it for hours, then all that effort can feel wasted.
The internet and social media are booming. There are around 1.08 billion websites in the world, and almost 82% of them are inactive. Are you one of them? Many websites, despite their aesthetic appeal, suffer from low traffic. So, in case your site isn’t gaining traction, we understand the annoyance you feel. Several factors could be hindering your success. We comprehend these issues, so this is an article focused on resolving them. Read on as we highlight common reasons for low website traffic and provide actionable solutions to get your site back on track.
Why Your Website Needs to Look Good?
As you walk past a dimly lit store, you might not even want to know what they sell. Websites are like online stores, and just like a nice shopfront, an attractive website makes a big difference. Here is why:
- First Impressions Matter: In seconds, 5.59 seconds to be exact, visitors decide if they want to stay on your website. A beautiful site creates a good first impression, like a friendly smile at the door.
- Looking Good Makes You Trustworthy: A professional website design shows you care and pay attention to detail. People are more likely to believe you have high-quality products or services if your website looks sharp.
- Beauty Makes Browsing Fun: People enjoy visually appealing things. A well-designed website with clear pictures and easy navigation is like a fun and inviting store you want to explore.
- Beauty Can Help You Sell More: An attractive website makes people want to stay longer and click around. This makes them more likely to find what they need and buy something.
What are the reasons your site is losing traffic (and how to fix it)?
1- Your Website is Slower than a Snail
The most common cause of users leaving a website is having to wait for its pages to load. So, beautiful designs and colour schemes mean nothing when it takes an eternity to load. Google says if it takes 3 seconds, over 53% of internet users will abandon your website. This will really harm your SERPs.
Take, for instance, the case of Walmart. They experienced a significant increase in conversion rates after improving their website speed. So, technicians optimized their web port to reduce server response times, and Walmart saw a dramatic improvement in user engagement and sales.
Fix to enhance your site speed
Consider using accurate tools to identify and fix performance issues. Regular audits and updates to your website’s technical infrastructure can prevent slowdowns and ensure a smooth user experience.
2- Your Content Is Outdated
Regularly updated and high-quality content is very crucial. They are needed to attract and retain visitors. Stale content can signal to both users and search engines that your site is outdated. The point is, fresh content keeps your audience engaged and also helps improve your SEO rankings. Generally, search engines prioritize websites that consistently offer new and relevant information.
For example, HubSpot increased its traffic by consistently publishing blog posts. They focused on updating old articles and removing outdated information. This strategy helped them maintain high engagement and visibility in search results.
Fix to enable fresh content frequently
You don’t have to write a novel every day! There are tons of ways to keep your content fresh:
- Blog posts: Share your knowledge on a topic related to your website.
- New product updates: Got something exciting to sell? Let everyone know!
- Fads and trends: Keep your finger on the pulse of your field and write about what’s hot.
3- You Miss all the Relevant Keywords
Proper keyword targeting helps your content reach the right audience. So, it’s obvious that if you miss them, your site might not appear in internet search results. You will lose potential visitors who are looking for information related to your niche.
Here’s why keywords are a magic ingredient for boosting your website traffic:
- Be Seen by the Right People: Fitting keywords focus on target audiences. Now, you get visitors who are more likely to stick around and maybe even buy your services.
- Target Beyond the Obvious: Sure, high-traffic keywords are great, but they can be super competitive. Focusing on relevant long-tail keywords (more specific phrases) can be a goldmine. These keywords might have less traffic, but the visitors you get are likely more interested in exactly what you offer, leading to better conversions.
- Content that Connects: Right keywords help you create content that people are searching for. Now, users are more likely to stay on your website and may even share it with others.
Remember, not all keywords are created equal.
Fix to improve performance of keywords
- Think like your visitors: What words would they type to find something like your website?
- Focus on quality over quantity: Better to target a few relevant keywords than many that aren’t a good fit.
- Mix it up: Include both broad keywords (like “bikes”) and more specific ones (like “kids’ mountain bikes”).
4- You Focus on High-Competition Keywords
Trying to get your website seen online? You might be thinking the more people searching for a term, the better. So, high-competition keywords, the super popular ones everyone uses, must be the answer, right? Well, not exactly. While they might seem ideal, there’s a better way to attract visitors who actually care about what you offer.
Fix to get more from your keywords
Imagine someone searching for digital marketing, but most of the results won’t be helpful. If you focus on “digital marketing for small businesses”, that user will definitely click on your website. That’s the magic of specific, lower-competition keywords.
- Easier to win: High-competition keywords are like crowded playgrounds. You can try lower-competition terms to get on an even playing field. This might make it easier to rank higher in search results.
- Targeted visitors: People using specific keywords are more likely to be genuinely interested in what you have. They’re not just browsing; they’re looking for something specific you might offer!
- Faster results: It takes time and effort to climb the ranks for super competitive keywords. With lower ones, you can see results quicker, bringing in website visitors faster.
Now, how do you find these lower-competition keywords?
There are free and paid tools to aid with your research. But a simple trick is to think about what someone who wants your product or service would type into a search engine. Get specific!
Remember, it’s better to have ten visitors who are highly interested than a hundred who are just casually browsing. So, shift focus on lower-competition keywords, and you’ll attract the right kind of traffic and watch your website thrive.
5- You Ignore Backlinks
Backlinks are also called inbound links. These links from other websites are a critical factor in search engine ranking algorithms. This is like having other websites give your website a shoutout. When a relevant, well-respected website links to yours, it’s like a good food review. It tells search engines and visitors: “This website is worth checking out!”
It’s vital to focus on getting backlinks from relevant websites. A link from a random website about cat videos won’t help much if your website sells shoes. Focus on getting backlinks from websites in your industry or related fields.
Fix to get good backlinks
There are many ways to get good backlinks, like:
- Make high-quality content: Other sources are more likely to link to your informative and interesting content.
- Guest blogging: You can create posts for relevant websites and include a link back to your own site.
- Networking online: Try to unite with other website owners in your niche and build relationships.
6- You don’t Link Your Own Content
Internal linking is often ignored but has the potential to change your website’s performance. This way, when you link to other related pages on your web portal, search engine crawlers can better gauge the structure and organization of your site. Internal links are particularly useful for your website in many ways. They often assist the visitor to stay on your site to find more information on a related topic and enhance their experience.
Wikipedia extensively uses internal linking to connect its related articles. In general, it boosts the user experience and also helps search engines index their vast content library more effectively.
Fix your internal linking strategy
Regularly audit your content for opportunities to link related articles and ensure that your links use descriptive anchor text. This is not only good for SEO but also improves the probability of the users to search other related content on your website.
7- Your Website is Full of Glitches
Technical errors on your website can severely impact its performance and user experience. Common issues include broken links, missing images, and poorly implemented redirects. These errors not only frustrate visitors but also negatively affect your SEO rankings.
So, when you experience a drop in traffic, conduct a thorough technical audit. This may let you discover numerous issues that need fixing. So, after addressing these technical glitches, you will surely improve your site’s performance and regain your search engine rankings. Also, regularly update your CMS and plugins. This ensures that your site’s code is clean and can prevent many technical issues.
Fix for technical issues
To identify and resolve technical errors, use tools like:
- Google Search Console
- Screaming Frog
- SEMrush’s Site Audit feature
8- You are Missing on Social Media Trends
It is crucial to establish social platform accounts to increase traffic on your website. Instagram has over 2 billion, yes, billion users that are active daily. You don’t want to miss that chunk of audience. Thus, in a nutshell, SNS plays a big role in traffic generation. If you’re not into it, you are lagging behind.
Take the topic of BuzzFeed. They have engaged millions of people on these social networks as a way of directing traffic to its website. They created content pieces that can be shared and they also interact with their audiences on various social networks. BuzzFeed has created a devoted fan base and boosted the amount of people visiting its website.
Fix for improving your standing on social media platforms
First, start sharing your content more often. After that, you should interact with your followers and use analytical tools that help you monitor your activity. As much as possible, you should attempt to test various content types and the best time to share the post on the timeline of your fans.
9- Your Website Got Hit by Google Penalty
Google wants to show people the best websites when they search for something. So, they have rules that websites should follow, or Google might penalize your web portal. It will affect your SERPs, and fewer people will visit.
First, why should you care about avoiding penalties?
- Less traffic, lesser business: If people can’t find your site easily, they will not become customers!
- Starting from scratch: Fixing a penalty can take time and effort. It is much easier to dodge them in the first place.
Fix to avoid Google’s rage
- Be honest: Don’t try to trick people with hidden content or fake reviews. Google can find that out!
- Create awesome content: People come to websites for useful and interesting information. Make sure yours is the best!
- Build good connections: Get other websites to link to yours naturally, like recommending a great book to a friend. Don’t pay for getting better links or lose supporters.
dvisory Note
Understanding and addressing the different variables that lower site traffic is pivotal for increasing your online presence. You can do this by optimizing your site’s speed and content to grow your audience. After that, try to implement effective SEO strategies and maintain a strong social media presence to retain them.
So, we hope we have highlighted these multiple ways to boost your traffic. This gets easier as you learn from real-world examples and apply these insights. Keep on regularly auditing your site and strive to provide value to your audience. This proactive approach will surely aid to build a successful website.
