Our SEO partners at Clapping Dog Media recently shared some scary truths about your web traffic. If you've noticed inconsistencies in traffic, this article is for you.
Here is the good news up front. The disruptions you may have been experiencing have everything to do with Google and the updates they made earlier this month. Phew. Let's dive in.
This is a pretty turbulent time for Google, so if you are noticing inconsistencies in your web traffic, hopefully, this will help explain it.
Side note: Pinterest is changing their algorithm and from what we have seen not too many people are winning more traffic from Pinterest. With all of this happening, it can be unsettling to watch your numbers go up and then down and then up again, but what Meg and her team recommend that you just keep on keeping on.
Producing high quality, valuable content is the key to all good SEO strategies.
Our recommendation is to stay the course. Execute on your content strategy. Continue to give your customers (and Google) what they want which is...relevant, helpful, interesting and shareable content.
And, as a reminder, this is THE WHY around that strategy.
From Google’s perspective, if a user is engaged with a site they will spend time on the site (time per session) and navigate around to view multiple pages (pages per session). If Google sees high engagement with a site, then they will assume that the site is valuable and a good answer to the search query, they will send more search traffic to that site. Google believes that a great page experience will enable users to engage more deeply with the site. In contrast, if a site is slow to load and the layout is shifty then users will leave– no matter how good the content is. Not sure of your site's page speed? You can test your site here.
Here is a quick video that Meg Clarke made explaining what is happening if you want to dive even deeper. Still befuddled? Let's jump on a call so we can get your SEO questions answered.