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Navigating Google updates, algorithm changes, and diagnosing specific causes of traffic loss can be challenging. Throughout the past year, Google has been more aggressive, rolling out changes to their search algorithm, launching three Core Updates along with a variety of more narrowly focused improvements during the year. Complicating things further, many of these updates overlapped or occurred within the same date range, making it more difficult to understand which update(s) may have caused traffic & ranking loss for webmasters.

If your SEO traffic is on the decline, lets take a look at three potential reasons why and discuss how to reverse the trend heading in 2022.

The first phase of Googles Page Experience Update had a three-month rollout this past summer, concluding in early September. This update rewards secure & fast-loading pages on mobile devices which pass Core Web Vitals requirements as described by Google. While the search impact thus far has been largely flat, weve seen numerous websites in competitive verticals lose mobile traffic throughout the update. Further, Google has announced they are bringing this update to desktop search results in the first quarter of 2022, presenting an opportunity to improve existing site performance while staying ahead of future updates. If you lost mobile SEO traffic in late summer and failed the new requirements, it may be worthwhile spending time improving your sites Page Experience and Core Web Vitals metrics.

Not sure where to begin? Google has recently updated their PageSpeed Insights and Lighthouse tools which can help you better understand specific causes of slow site speed and pinpoint Core Web Vitals failures. Search Console offers additional insight regarding your websites performance, and WebPageTest.org can help developers get a deeper look at the situation.

Its important to note this is largely a page-level update, so webmasters will need run diagnostics at the URL level. For larger websites, this can present a significant time investment and may be why Google gave such advance notice of this update. To help diagnose more quickly, begin by analyzing your websites pages on a template or page-type level to uncover solutions that can likely be applied to all pages of that page type and template.

Taking things a step further, it may be worth utilizing cloud hosting services like AWS or Cloudflare for your website. These solutions have built-in speed and security optimizations that can help your site load more quickly on desktop and mobile devices. You may also choose to hire a professional who can make a complex technical project more approachable for you & your developers.

The latest version of Googles Search Quality Guidelines refines their guidance for content quality, especially pertaining to YMYL industries (finance, healthcare, e-commerce, and so on). Weve seen content quality consistently be a key indicator of how your website will perform throughout a Core Update, so its always a good idea to stay on top of Googles recommended best practices and produce content that meets your users needs especially as compared to your competitors. If you lost SEO visibility during June, July, or November, a Core Algorithm update could be the reason, and its likely a lack of content quality or a poor user experience may be reasons why.

When analyzing your sites content, its important to ask yourself:

Quality, relevant backlinks are still a strong indicator of how well a site will rank, and obtaining natural links remains one of the most challenging areas of SEO to get right. Google has a long history of taking action against unnatural links, and weve seen the search engine continue to filter out links they believe violate their webmaster guidelines in 2021.

Google rolled out their latest Link Spam Update in July, which specifically targets links from guest blog posts, affiliate links, and links within sponsored content. Why are they focusing on filtering links from these areas? These link tactics scale incredibly well but are often low-value and low-effort. They form easily detectable unnatural link patterns and pose a long-term risk. This update reminds us of something weve seen over and over throughout the years: when a link-building approach becomes too popular, Google will eventually take action. No surprise here, Google is algorithmically filtering out links fitting these criteria.

If you experienced a drop in rankings during late July and know you may have these types of links in your backlink profile, its very likely some of those links which once helped you rank are no longer providing any value. If you havent already, a backlink audit and disavow may be in order, but proceed with caution even Google acknowledges you can do more damage disavowing links if you dont know what to look for. This includes relying on software to quickly identify toxic links; automated solutions are never a substitution for human review for such an important ranking factor.

So what can you do to replace lost link equity? Its important to keep in mind that natural link acquisition can be THE most effective part of your SEO strategy. Earning natural links from trusted websites, industry publications, and media outlets will provide safe, effective, and long-lasting results. Acquiring these types of links on a regular basis relies on the quality of your content and its audience, so the best approach marries your outreach strategy with your content plan and editorial calendar.

2021 has been a challenging year for many of us. Losing traffic during this time has many potential causes but also presents opportunities to better focus your SEO efforts heading into 2022. Taking a holistic approach to your SEO efforts across technical, content, links, speed, and UX factors will help put you in the best possible position to recover your rankings and reduce the risk of being negatively affected by a Google update moving forward.

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Lost SEO traffic in 2021? Here are 3 potential reasons why (and how to recover your rankings heading into 2022) - Search Engine Land