It’s a frustrating situation – you’ve worked hard to improve your website’s position in Google search results, and you *are* seeing those improvements. But if your website traffic is declining, it understandably raises questions. Explaining this to your boss requires a clear understanding of how search engine results and website visits actually work. It’s not a simple one-to-one relationship.
Here’s how we explain it to senior stakeholders, focusing on the key drivers of traffic and why rankings don’t always translate directly into more visitors.
- Increased Competition: Even if you’re holding or improving your ranking, other websites are also optimising. They might be creating better content, building more links, or improving their website experience. This means the overall ‘click share’ for your target keywords could be diluted, even with a stable position.
- Search Feature Changes: Google is constantly updating its search results pages. They’re introducing more featured snippets, ‘People Also Ask’ boxes, image carousels, and even AI-powered overviews. These features take up space and can reduce the number of organic clicks to traditional website listings – even those ranking highly.
- Seasonal Trends: Depending on your business, traffic fluctuations are normal. Demand for certain products or services naturally rises and falls throughout the year. What looks like a traffic decline might simply be a return to a typical seasonal pattern.
- Keyword Difficulty & Search Intent: Are you ranking for keywords that are increasingly used for informational searches rather than transactional ones? People searching for ‘how to’ guides aren’t necessarily looking to buy *right now*. We need to analyse search intent and ensure we’re targeting keywords that align with conversion goals.
It’s important to demonstrate you’re looking beyond just rankings. We recommend focusing on metrics like click-through rate (CTR) from search results. A lower CTR, even with a good ranking, indicates your search listing isn’t compelling enough. We also need to analyse your website’s organic landing pages – are they providing a good user experience and converting visitors?
The next step is a deeper dive into your Google Search Console data. This will reveal exactly which keywords are driving impressions (your listing appearing in search) but not clicks. Armed with this information, we can refine your content and meta descriptions to improve CTR and ultimately, drive more qualified traffic to your website. Focusing on these actionable insights will reassure your boss that you’re proactively addressing the situation and working towards sustainable growth.
