How to Use Google Search Console to Investigate Ranking Drops

When a website experiences a drop in search rankings, the immediate reaction is often panic. Ranking drops can lead to decreased traffic, lost conversions, and revenue declines.

However, with the right approach and tools, it’s possible to investigate and reverse the ranking decline effectively. One of the most valuable tools at your disposal is Google Search Console (GSC).

In this comprehensive guide, we’ll explore how to use Google Search Console to understand and investigate ranking drops, provide troubleshooting steps, and share strategies to regain your lost rankings.

From interpreting the data to taking actionable steps, this article will help you navigate the intricacies of ranking fluctuations.

Introduction to Ranking Drops

Search rankings determine the visibility of your website on search engine results pages. Maintaining high rankings is crucial for driving traffic and conversions. But even well-optimized websites can experience unexpected drops in rankings.

Understanding Search Engine Ranking Factors

Google’s ranking algorithm considers over 200 factors when determining a page’s rank. Some of the most critical factors include:

• Content quality and relevance: Does the content satisfy the user’s search intent?
• Backlinks: How many reputable sites are linking to your content?
• User experience: How well does the site perform in terms of usability, speed, and mobile-friendliness?
• Technical SEO: Is the site crawlable and indexable? Are there any technical issues that could prevent search engines from properly reading the site?

Common Causes of Ranking Drops

Ranking drops can happen for various reasons, such as:

1. Algorithm updates: Google frequently updates its algorithm, and your site may be affected by these changes.
2. Technical issues: Problems with your website’s infrastructure, such as broken links or slow loading times, can negatively impact your ranking. Use the Core Web Vitals report to identify pages that need optimization.
3. Manual actions: If Google detects that you’ve violated its Webmaster Guidelines, it may impose a penalty.
4. Loss of backlinks: Losing backlinks from reputable sources can weaken your authority, causing your rankings to drop. Links from spammy or low-quality sites can harm your rankings. Use Google Search Console’s Disavow tool to tell Google not to consider certain backlinks.
5. Competitor actions: Sometimes, a competitor may significantly improve their SEO, surpassing your rankings.
6. User Experience (UX) Issues: If users leave your site quickly after arriving, it may signal to Google that your page isn’t providing a good user experience.

Understanding what triggered your ranking drop is essential for taking corrective action. That’s where Google Search Console comes in.

Why Google Search Console?

Google Search Console is a free tool offered by Google that provides insights into how your website performs in search results. GSC is essential for troubleshooting ranking drops because it:

• Offers a wealth of data, including your site’s impressions, clicks, and average position on Google search results.
• Provides reports on technical issues such as crawl errors, security issues, and mobile usability.
• It helps diagnose manual actions and other penalties that might affect your site’s rankings.

Through GSC, you can quickly identify whether a technical issue, a penalty, or a change in user behavior causes a ranking drop.

Setting Up and Accessing Google Search Console

Before investigating ranking drops, you must ensure your site is set up in Google Search Console.

Creating a Google Search Console Account

If you still need to, the first step is to create a Google Search Console account. Simply visit the Google Search Console website and sign in with your Google account. Once logged in, you’ll be prompted to add your website.

Verifying Ownership of Your Website

To access data for your site, you’ll need to verify that you own the domain. There are several methods for verifying ownership, including:

1. HTML file upload: Google provides a small HTML file that you can upload to your website’s root directory.
2. HTML tag: You can add a meta tag to your homepage’s section.
3. DNS verification: You can verify ownership through your domain name provider by adding a TXT record to your DNS configuration.

Once you’ve verified your ownership, Google will begin tracking data for your site.

Linking Google Search Console with Other Google Tools

For a comprehensive view of your website’s performance, you can link Google Search Console to other Google tools like:

• Google Analytics: For in-depth analysis of user behavior.
• Google Tag Manager: To manage tags for marketing and SEO tracking without having to modify the site’s code.

These integrations allow you to cross-reference data and gain deeper insights into your site’s performance.

Initial Steps to Identify the Drop in Search Positioning

Once you’re set up with Google Search Console, you’ll want to follow a structured approach to investigating your ranking drop.

Step 1: Know when the dip occurred

One of the first questions to answer is: When did the ranking drop happen?

Using GSC’s Performance report, you can examine your site’s performance over time. Look for any sudden changes in impressions, clicks, or average position. 

Correlating the timing of the drop with recent events (algorithm updates, site changes, etc.) can help you pinpoint what caused it.

Step 2: Identify the affected pages

The next step is to identify which pages have been affected. You can filter the Performance report by individual URLs to see which pages experienced the most significant traffic declines.

Compare these pages with pages that haven’t dropped to identify differences in content, structure, or backlinks.

Step 3: Determine if it is a manual or algorithmic drop

Determining whether the drop is due to a manual penalty or an algorithmic change is crucial. 

Check the Manual Actions report in GSC for any penalties Google might have imposed on your site. If no manual action is found, the drop could be due to an algorithmic update, such as a Google core update, local search updates, page experience updates, etc.

These updates can impact your site’s performance if it’s not aligned with Google’s ever-changing ranking factors, such as content quality, user experience, and technical SEO aspects. Regular monitoring and adjustments are key to recovering rankings.

Essential GSC Reports for Investigating Changes in SERP Rank

Google Search Console provides several reports and tools instrumental in investigating ranking drops. 

Here are the most important reports to look at when you experience a decline in rankings:

Performance Reports:

The Performance Report tab is where you’ll spend most of your time analyzing your website’s search performance and any sudden changes in ranking.

This section shows detailed information about the essential site metrics you must track, including:

• Total clicks: How many users clicked on your site after seeing it in the search results?
• Impressions: How many times has your site appeared in search results?`
• Click-through rate (CTR): The percentage of impressions that resulted in a click
• Average position: The average ranking of your site for a particular search query

By reviewing this data, you can:

1. Identify the queries that are driving traffic to your site
2. Compare query performance before and after the drop to see which terms have been affected
3. Look for patterns in the affected queries (e.g., are they all related to a specific product or topic?)

Indexing Report:

The Indexing tab provides insights into how Google crawls and indexes your pages. It highlights issues that could be preventing certain pages from being indexed, such as:

• Crawl errors: Pages that Google tried to crawl but couldn’t access.
• Excluded pages: Pages not indexed for reasons like duplicate content or canonicalization errors
• Soft 404s: Pages that return a 200 status code but display “not found” content.

Ensure that the important pages are indexed correctly to appear in the search results. If the page is not indexed correctly, you may face a drop in rankings, and it will disappear entirely from search results.

Experience Report

Google places a high emphasis on Page Experience, and the Core Web Vitals report in GSC helps you measure key user experience metrics, including:

Largest Contentful Paint (LCP)

This metric measures how long it takes for the large elements to load on a page. Here are some tips to improve it: 

• Optimize Images: Compress and use next-gen formats (e.g., WebP) to reduce load times, especially for mobile users.
• Improve Server Responses: Reduce Time to First Byte (TTFB) by optimizing server configurations and using Content Delivery Networks (CDNs) for faster global access.
• Upgrade Web Hosting: Choose a reliable hosting provider with faster servers to improve loading times, particularly for mobile devices.

First Input Delay (FID)

FID measures how long it takes for a page to respond to a user’s first interaction, either by clicking a button or link. Here are some ways to improve FID: 

• Reduce the Impact of Large Tasks: Break down long-running tasks to allow the browser to respond faster to user interactions, improving mobile responsiveness.
• Optimize Third-Party Code: Limit third-party scripts and ensure they are optimized to reduce delays in page response times.
• Minimize JavaScript Execution Time: Defer or minify JavaScript to reduce the amount of code executed during the initial load, enhancing mobile performance.

Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS)

CLS measures visual stability, focusing on unexpected layout shifts as a page loads. A good CLS score is below 0.1, ensuring elements don’t shift unexpectedly as users interact with the page. There are certain tips to improve Cumulative Layout Shift:

• Reserve Space for Dynamic Content: Allocate fixed space for ads, images, or embeds to prevent unexpected layout shifts as the page loads, ensuring mobile stability.
• Preload Fonts and Set Fallback Fonts: Preload critical fonts and define fallback fonts to prevent layout shifts due to font loading on slower mobile connections.
• No Content Above the Fold: Ensure content above the fold remains static to avoid shifts. This is especially important for mobile views where space is limited.

Poor performance in any of these areas can lead to lower rankings, especially after Google’s Page Experience Update.

Security Report

Security issues in Google Search Console refer to problems like malware, phishing attacks, or hacked content that can harm users and negatively impact your site’s performance. 

How to Combat Security Issues:

• Scan Your Website: Use tools like Google Safe Browsing or third-party services to identify and remove malicious code.
• Restore Clean Backup: If your site has been hacked, restore it from a clean backup to undo the unauthorized changes.
• Update Software: Ensure your CMS, plugins, and themes are up-to-date to prevent future security breaches.

Manual Actions Report

Manual actions occur when a Google reviewer determines your site violates the Google Webmaster Guidelines. 

Unnatural links, due to link schemes or buying-and-selling links without proper rel attribute, may trigger manual actions. Other causes of manual actions may be thin content and spammy behavior, like cloaking, hidden texts, and keyword stuffing. Here are ways to fix manual actions:

• Identify the Violation: Check the Manual Actions Report in Google Search Console to see the specific issue Google flagged.
• Correct the Problem: Remove or update the violating content, disavow harmful links, or improve thin content to comply with Google’s guidelines.
• Submit a Reconsideration Request: Once the problem is fixed, submit a Reconsideration Request to explain your steps to resolve the issue.

Troubleshooting Ranking Drops: What to Check First

Once you’ve gathered data from Google Search Console, the next step is troubleshooting. 

Here are key areas to investigate:

A. Reviewing Recent Changes to Your Website

Consider whether you’ve recently made any changes to your website, such as:

• Redesigning or restructuring your site.
• Implementing a new content management system (CMS).
• Changing your URL structure.

Any major changes to your site’s architecture, content, or technical setup can temporarily lower its rankings.

B. Monitoring Algorithm Updates (Core and Niche)

Google regularly rolls out both core algorithm updates and smaller updates targeting specific issues (e.g., spam, reviews). Use resources like Moz’s Google Algorithm Change History to check if any updates coincide with your ranking drop.

C. Analyzing Backlink Profile 

A sudden loss of high-quality backlinks can result in a drop in rankings. Use tools like Linkody to monitor your backlink profile and identify any significant losses. It analyzes the quality of each backlink and evaluates factors such as domain authority, spam score, and relevance of the linking site. 

Google Search Console’s Links report can also help you track links pointing to your site.

D. Competitor Analysis

Keep an eye on your competitors’ rankings and SEO efforts. Linkody can help you analyze your competitors’ backlink profiles and content strategies, giving you insights into why they may outperform you. By analyzing where your competitors get their backlinks, you can identify new opportunities for building quality links for your website. 

Advanced Techniques in Google Search Console for Deeper Insights

For more detailed analysis, Google Search Console offers several advanced features.

Custom Search Filters: 

In the Performance report, you can apply custom filters to segment your data:

• Device: Analyze how your site performs on desktop vs. mobile.
• Country: See if the ranking drop is isolated to a specific geographic region.
• Search type: Filter by web, image, or video search to pinpoint where the drop occurred.

Query and Page Comparisons

GSC allows you to compare query and page performance across different periods. Use this feature to analyze:

Which queries saw the most significant declines

A drop in clicks or impressions for specific queries may indicate that the page is no longer ranking as well as it used to. 

As a site owner, one can use Google Search Console to identify which queries saw declines and analyze the context. 

Refreshing the content to ensure it meets current user expectations and aligns with the search intent could also help.  

Whether certain pages saw a drop in performance while others remained stable

In this scenario, specific pages may experience declines in performance metrics while others continue to perform well.

This situation indicates that some pages might be affected by factors, such as technical issues, outdated content, or less effective SEO strategies, while others are optimized or more relevant.

In such cases, site owners can compare the content of the declining pages with that of those that are stable or performing well.

Focus on improving user experience by optimizing for mobile devices, ensuring fast loading times, and creating engaging layouts can also reduce bounce rates.

Date Range Comparisons

Use the Date range comparison feature to analyze performance over time. By comparing data from different periods, you can identify trends, such as seasonal fluctuations or gradual ranking declines.

Inspecting Individual URLs

The URL Inspection tool provides detailed insights into how Google views a specific URL. This tool allows you to:

• Check indexing status: See if the page is indexed and how it was crawled.
• Request a re-crawl: If you’ve made changes to the page, you can request Google to re-crawl and re-index it.

Recovering from a Ranking Drop

After identifying the cause of your ranking drop, the next concern that may revolve in your head must be how to recover SEO rankings. So, here is the answer:

Implement corrective actions using GSC data

Based on the insights you’ve gathered from GSC, implement the necessary fixes. For example:

• Fix indexing issues using the Index Coverage report.
• Optimize Core Web Vitals by improving page speed and user experience.

Prioritize which pages to optimize

Start by focusing on the pages that generate the most traffic. Use GSC’s Performance report to prioritize improvements based on the potential impact.

Conduct content audits and refresh strategies 

Conduct a content audit to identify outdated or thin content. Refreshing and updating content can help restore rankings. Implementing internal linking best practices can also be useful to ensure your site structure is well-connected and all essential pages are within clicks.

Perform proactive measures to prevent rank drops

Prevention is better than cure. Here’s how to stay ahead of ranking drops:

• Stay informed about algorithm updates: Follow SEO blogs and forums to stay updated on algorithm changes.
• Regularly monitor GSC reports: Look at key metrics like clicks, impressions, and average position to spot potential issues early.

Integrate Google Search Console with other SEO tools

Google Search Console can be integrated with other tools for more effective SEO management. Remember, analytics is only one facet of your SEO repertoire.

Some of the top SEO tools we use are: 

• Mongools: for keyword research
• Linkody: for backlink monitoring and link-building
• LinkStorm: for internal linking
• Screaming Frog: for SEO auditing and website management

Conclusion

Fluctuations in search rankings are a natural part of SEO. By leveraging Google Search Console, you can effectively investigate and address ranking drops.

GSC provides invaluable insights into your site’s performance, allowing you to identify when drops occur and pinpoint potential causes. By monitoring user experience metrics and analyzing query and page performance, you can uncover opportunities for improvement.

Remember, SEO is an ongoing process. Stay proactive, monitor your website’s performance, and adapt your strategies to the ever-evolving landscape of search engine algorithms.

FAQ

What is the Difference Between Manual and Algorithmic Drops?

Both manual and algorithmic drops result in a website’s decline in SERP positioning or performance. However, manual drops are deliberate actions taken by Google administrators after observing violations. Conversely, algorithmic drops happen when there are changes in search engine algorithms, user behavior, or industry competition.

What are the common causes of SERP ranking drops?

Common causes of ranking drops include algorithm updates, increased competition, poor user experience (like slow load times or high bounce rates), outdated content, and technical SEO issues such as broken links or improper indexing.

How to recover from a ranking drop? 

To recover from a ranking drop, analyze Google Search Console data for affected queries, update and optimize content for relevance, fix technical issues, improve user experience, and monitor competitor strategies to adapt your SEO approach.

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