Why would the traffic of a blog suddenly drop to 0?

[James Jameson]

Recently, when checking the traffic data of my newly updated blog posts on Ahrefs, I noticed that one particular article, which had previously performed quite well, is experiencing a significant decline in both traffic and keyword rankings. This article was published in December 2023 and had an organic traffic of 120, but now it has dropped to 0. The organic page, which was previously 1, has also dropped to 0. Currently, the article is marked as 'lost,' indicating that it is still indexed by Google but not ranking（I guess..). I'm wondering why this phenomenon has occurred. Can you please explain?"

[Juniya]

Hey James, most likely this is because of the recent Google Core updates that are ongoing as we type, you can read more about it here: [blog.google...]

The article might pop back up in a few hours, days, weeks or months, unfortunately, Google's search engine/ranking/index system is completely unhinged so no one really knows what is going on until maybe after the update is finished, it is expected to calm down by mid April or so but really it might last all the way into May...Yeah, it's a disaster.

[aristotle]

Ahrefs

Have you registered the site on Google Search Console? It would be more likely to provide clues to the cause of the problem than Ahrefs.

[Edge]

The same reason traffic could explode..

Google juggles the serps seasonally and my best estimation - to just try something different for searchers and profit. I've never has a penalty, follow best SEO practices, publish original stuff and sometimes my stuff drops. Then, magically pops back to life sometimes months later.

I stopped chasing trends and worrying about what Google was up to years ago and I'm happier for it.

[RedBar]

Then, magically pops back to life sometimes months later.

Absolutely, I see this regularly even years and years later and wonder why it never ranked to start off with ! It simply proves that G's algo is extremely fallible.

[SEO Learner 04]

I think that the keyword might have gained competition and newly indexed articles with good-quality of backlinks have taken your position.

[yassine chafik]

I also have a blog and I understand you very well. My traffic dropped dramatically overnight. A few things that caused it were a Google algorithm update, which happens quite frequently and can really shake things up. Another reason was technical issues on my site, like broken links or slow loading speeds, which Google doesn't like. Also, content that becomes outdated or is considered low quality can get pushed down in rankings.

[Sandy_Desh]

A sudden drop in blog traffic could be due to technical issues, search engine penalties, poor content quality, algorithm changes, or increased competition.

[yassine chafik]

Keep an eye on it and consider updating the content if needed.

[Bewenched]

We've noticed significant swings in traffic. One day on our 25yr old eCommerce site it's fire! Tons of sales, tons of traffic and the next day crickets. We'd made no changes in marketing or site or text changes.

I spend so much time attempting to track down errors or issues that just don't exist. Boss yells at me (not literally) that something has to be broken, yet there's no errors.

I swear Google is bipolar.

[Sissi]

Backlinks in my view do not matter at least for one of my page that is ranking number one for popular key words ( non english) with 3 lines….
It s like predicting the next numbers of the lottery or the roulette.

[adman]

Backlinks in my view do not matter at least for one of my page that is ranking number one for popular key words ( non english) with 3 lines….

My site had significant number of pages on top 3 spots for couple of years without any backlinks whatsoever, and now due to Google search updates, it's on the edge of total obliteration.
My traffic dropped 90%, yesterday was the worst day since I started running AdSense.
Easter was to blame probably, because today is better, but I am not optimistic at all, and to be honest, I am expecting it to drop to 0.
Why this happened?
I don't know.

[AndyBeohar]

Hey James,

This decline in traffic and keyword rankings for your blog post could be due to various reasons such as changes in search engine algorithms, increased competition, technical issues with your website, or changes in user behavior. Conduct a thorough analysis of the post's content, backlink profile, and on-page optimization to identify potential issues and make necessary improvements to regain visibility in search results. Additionally, consider monitoring Google's algorithm updates and trends in your niche to adapt your SEO strategy accordingly.

[adman]

In other words, it could be anything, and nothing.

Only handful of Google employees can tell you what's wrong with your search rankings.