The loss or lack of traffic on a website is often very penalizing for your business. It results in a virtual absence on Google, a lower number of visitors, or even almost non-existent conversions. Unfortunately, it is rare that we know exactly where the problem comes from. So what to do in such a situation?
Do a complete audit of your site
To understand the origin of the problem and make the necessary corrections, the first thing to do is a complete audit of the site . Indeed, the cause of a lack of traffic can be multiple: technical problems, Google penalties, updates, negative SEO, unsuitable content, etc.
The aspects reviewed during the audit
A complete audit of your website then makes it possible to review the various performance factors . It is here:
- Technical: the proper functioning of your site on the technical level plays an essential role for its referencing. The technical audit then makes it possible to detect problems of performance, but also of ergonomics of the site, impacting not only the robots but also the users. It also allows you to realize the quality of your platform.
- Content: it allows you to check the relevance of your content vis-à-vis your targets, to evaluate it at all stages of the buying process, to evaluate its quality, those which bring nothing, those which are duplicates, etc.
- Referencing: this audit aims to know the visibility of the site vis-à-vis search engines , as well as the corrective measures to be taken so that it is correctly optimized. Many parameters are reviewed: SEO optimization of each page, loading time, presence of relevant topics.
- Design: the site must be visually pleasing, so that users enjoy browsing it.
- Lead generation: a well-designed site should allow you to achieve your marketing objectives. For this, it must allow visitors to get in touch with you, place orders, make reservations, etc.
- User experience (UX): it allows you to know if the use of the site is pleasant for the Internet user, with the necessary fluidity and simplicity .
There are still other aspects that can be analyzed, such as the site's e-reputation, by analyzing the opinions of Internet users, or the regulatory audit, to find out the site's compliance with the numerous regulations in square.
When to do the audit?
The audit of a website should not only be carried out during a site redesign or when there is a lack of traffic. Indeed, this 360 degree audit can also be carried out from the start , to put all the chances on your side against the competition.
During a website redesign, the audit will, on the other hand, allow you to keep all the elements that work and only take measures for what is not optimal.
In general, it is recommended to carry out an audit at least once a year, as well as specific audits every quarter. Indeed, the behavior of Internet users, new technologies, as well as the functioning of Google's algorithms are constantly changing and very quickly.
How to do a full audit?
It is possible to carry out a simple audit with free tools (WebSite Auditor, Seolyzer, Website Grader, Google Analytics, Thruuu, Textfocus, Outiref…), but the results will be far from exhaustive. You can also do it using paid tools (Semrush, Ranxplorer, Serpstat, etc.), or even combine the two.
In any case, nothing beats a human analysis . Indeed, you will still need time to train yourself in these devices, but also to be able to read the results that come out of them. An expert in the field will use the best tools available to support his knowledge and provide you with a complete and detailed diagnosis, followed by recommendations to restore optimal efficiency to your site. As part of a complete audit, he will review all the components of the site: each page, each content and each element (URL, HTML code, content, organization, etc.).
Such an audit can cost you several thousand euros. Depending on the impact of your activity, but also on your hourly rate, it is generally worth making this investment so as not to waste your time and optimize your sales.
Corrective measures related to a lack of traffic
At the end of this audit, you may be required to take various corrective measures.
For example, it will be necessary to improve the referencing of your site . This will involve producing optimized content, with an external netlinking strategy, title tags to facilitate reading, an editorial line adapted to your activity, catchy titles, or even a rich semantic field around your main theme. In other words, a new content strategy should emerge.
The measures to be taken could also relate to the user experience. Thus, it will be necessary to improve the very structure of the web page for always fluid navigation, both on computers and on mobile devices.
It is also possible that the problem is technical and that the corrective measures to be put in place are more complex. For example, you have mistakenly prevented search engines from indexing your site. Or the latter has simply been penalized by Google because of excessive use of keywords, duplicate content, excessive use of links leading to your site in a very short time, etc.
Also, the search engine may have updated its algorithm, changing the rules for ranking sites. Yours may then no longer meet its criteria, resulting in a sudden drop in traffic. In any case, it is difficult to know the origin of the problem and to find the solutions if one does not know enough about it.
Thus, any improvement must start from an audit, so as not to waste time and money in inappropriate actions, which could not improve the situation, or even make it worse.
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