Why did my Google ranking suddenly drop? | 24 SEO Issues That Should Be Checked

Google rankings often plummet due to content quality not meeting standards (not compliant with EEAT standards). Among 24 inspection items, outdated content (bounce rate exceeds 75%), low originality (indexing rate dropped by 28%), and insufficient depth (dwell time < 15 seconds) are the main causes. According to Ahrefs Q2 2024 data, 73% of websites experienced unannounced Google ranking drops in the past 6 months, with 41% of cases accompanied by organic traffic declines of 30% or more— for e-commerce and information sites relying on search traffic, this could mean daily losses exceeding 50,000 yuan in orders or advertising revenue.

The following 24 key inspection points cover 200+ evaluation dimensions focused on by Google’s latest algorithm (August 2025 update).

Website Speed Decline

Image Loading

Test with Google PageSpeed Insights; if the “Optimize Images” item is marked red, it means images are not compressed or formats are inefficient.

For example, a food blog’s original “cake-making steps image” was a 5000×3000 pixel JPEG (12MB), compressed to 1200×800 pixel WebP format (1.2MB), reducing load time from 3.1 seconds to 0.8 seconds.

Recommended action: Use TinyPNG to compress images (preserving EXIF data is optional); embed videos with YouTube/Vimeo (avoid uploading large files directly);

Set “responsive images” (load different resolutions based on phone/PC screen).

Server Response

Enter ping your domain in the command line; if average latency exceeds 200ms (e.g., 250ms), it means the server or CDN node is too far away.

An education website using US servers had 300ms latency for domestic users; after switching to Hong Kong CDN, latency dropped to 80ms, and mobile ranking improved by 27 positions.

Recommended action: Switch to Cloudflare/Alibaba Cloud CDN; contact hosting provider to upgrade server configuration (e.g., from shared hosting to dedicated IP);

Clear server cache (use plugins like WP Rocket for automatic cleanup).

Code Redundancy

Use Lighthouse tool to check “unused JavaScript” and “unused CSS”; if the value exceeds 20% of total resources, it indicates code redundancy.

A corporate website’s homepage loaded 15 CSS files (7 unused), reducing load time from 2.9 seconds to 1.7 seconds after deletion.

Recommended action: Merge duplicate CSS/JS files; use “code splitting” technique (only load code needed for current page); remove defunct plugins (e.g., analytics tools no longer in use).

Mobile Adaptation Failure

Element Overlap or Overflow

Use Google’s “Mobile-Friendly Test Tool,” enter URL; if prompted “content exceeds screen” or “elements overlap,” it means fixed-width layout was used (e.g., setting width: 1200px).

A beauty blog’s mobile page had images with fixed width of 1000px, requiring left-right scrolling to view; test score was only 45 out of 100, improving to 82 after fixing, with ranking recovering.

Recommended action: Use “responsive design” (media queries @media (max-width: 768px));

Set container maximum width (e.g., max-width: 100%); use width: 100%; height: auto for images to be adaptive.

Font/Button Issues

Mobile text should be at least 16px (18px for small-screen phones), button size at least 48x48px (click area).

A financial app’s “Consult Now” button was only 35x35px, with user click success rate at 42%; after enlarging to 48x48px, click rate increased to 67%.

Recommended action: Use Chrome DevTools to simulate phone dimensions (Ctrl+Shift+M);

Check text contrast (text-to-background contrast must be ≥4.5:1); add “click feedback” to buttons (e.g., color lightening).

Resource Loading

Slow mobile network speed (4G average download rate 20Mbps), loading PC-specific resources (e.g., large banner ads) will slow down speed.

A travel website mobile loaded PC carousel images (10 images of 5MB), causing load time to extend from 1.8 seconds to 4.2 seconds, and mobile ranking dropped by 23 positions.

Recommended action: Hide PC-exclusive modules on mobile (use display: none);

Load lightweight materials (e.g., use SVG icons instead of PNG on mobile); lazy load off-screen content (use loading="lazy" attribute).

Increased Crawl Errors

404 Errors

Log into Google Search Console, click “Index → Coverage → Errors,” and red-marked “404 errors” are broken links.

An education website deleted the “2023 Exam Materials” page (original link /kaoyan/2023) without redirecting, causing 12 external links (e.g., from Zhihu answers, forum posts) to point to the 404 page, with that section’s search traffic dropping 63%.

Recommended action: Use “Screaming Frog” to scan the entire site, export 404 link list; change 404 page to “friendly page” (add links to related content);

301 redirect old pages to the most relevant new pages (e.g., /kaoyan/2023 → /kaoyan/2024).

500 Errors

Server logs (e.g., Nginx’s error.log) record 500 error causes (e.g., code errors, database connection failures).

An e-commerce website had 8-10 monthly 500 errors due to outdated payment plugin version, causing corresponding product pages to fail crawling, with monthly sales reducing by 15%.

Recommended action: Contact hosting provider to check server logs; update plugins/themes to latest versions;

Set up “error monitoring” (e.g., UptimeRobot), with automatic alerts for 500 errors.

301 Errors

Use “Redirect Checker” tool to enter old link; if redirect exceeds 3 times (e.g., A→B→C→D) or target page doesn’t exist, it’s an erroneous redirect.

A home furnishing website redirected “/old-sofa” to “/new-sofa-1” (valid), but redirected “/old-chair” to “/old-table” (unrelated page), causing both pages’ search rankings to drop 40%.

Recommended action: Shorten redirect chain (A→D directly); ensure target page is related to original page content;

Use “rel=”canonical”” tag to unify multi-version links (e.g., PC and mobile versions).

HTTPS Certificate Issues

Google has explicitly included “HTTPS security” as a ranking factor since 2023. Websites with certificate anomalies (expired, mismatched, mixed content) have mobile click-through rate (CTR) dropping by an average of 28% and indexing coverage reduced by 19%.

Certificate Expired

Certificates have validity periods (commonly 1-2 years); after expiration, browsers display “not secure” warnings (e.g., Chrome’s “⚠️This site’s security certificate has expired”).

A mother & baby e-commerce website failed to timely update an expired certificate, causing 35% of mobile users to close the page directly, resulting in that day’s organic traffic plummeting 41%.

Self-check method: Open website with browser, click lock icon on left of address bar → View “Certificate” → Confirm whether “Valid Until” is after the current date (recommended to update 30 days in advance).

Certificate Mismatch

Certificates need to bind to specific domains (e.g., www.xxx.com or xxx.com); if the domain bound to the certificate doesn’t match the actual website domain (e.g., using certificate for www.xxx.com to access m.xxx.com), browsers will prompt “certificate subject invalid.”

An education institution’s subdomain k12.xxx.com had its main site’s certificate not covering subdomains, causing pages to fail loading normally, losing 200+ consultation users monthly.

Solution: Purchase “wildcard certificate” (supports *.xxx.com) or multi-domain certificate (supports multiple domains like xxx.com, m.xxx.com).

“HTTP Vulnerability” in HTTPS Pages

If HTTPS pages load HTTP resources (e.g., images, JS scripts), browsers will mark as “partially insecure.”

A news website had HTTP external ad scripts embedded on the homepage, causing 70% of mobile users to see “insecure” warnings, with search ranking dropping 22 positions.

Fix technique: Use Chrome DevTools (F12 → Console) to check for “Mixed Content” warnings; change all resource links from http:// to https://;

For resources that cannot be modified, force upgrade via Content-Security-Policy header.

JavaScript/CSS Render Blocking

Google’s 2024 Core Web Vitals data shows pages with first-screen load time exceeding 2.5 seconds due to JS/CSS render blocking have mobile rankings an average of 37 positions behind similar pages.

Simply put: browsers must first “read” and execute these codes before displaying page content—the more and messier the code, the longer users wait, and the worse the ranking.

Nature of Render Blocking

When browsers load pages, they process HTML, CSS, JS in default order:

• CSS blocks rendering: Browsers must download and parse all CSS first (unless marked media="print"), otherwise cannot determine page styles (e.g., button colors, text positions).
• JS blocks parsing: JS without async or defer marking prevents browsers from continuing to parse HTML (fearing JS modifies page structure), causing content to display late.

A home furnishing e-commerce homepage loaded 15 JS files (10 without async marking), causing first-screen load time to extend from 1.1 seconds to 3.9 seconds, and mobile bounce rate to increase from 51% to 79%.

Which Resources Most Likely “Cause Blockages”?

Use Lighthouse tool to detect, focusing on two indicators:

Let Browsers “Load and Display Simultaneously”

• CSS: Only load styles needed for current page: Use “critical CSS inline” (write above-the-fold CSS directly in HTML), mark other CSS as media="screen and (min-width: 768px)" (load only on specific devices).
• JS: Don’t block unless necessary: Add async to non-core JS like analytics, ads (asynchronous loading, doesn’t block parsing); add defer to JS that depends on DOM (delayed execution, runs after HTML parsing completes).
• Compression and merging: Use Terser to compress JS (remove spaces, comments), use CSSNano to compress CSS; merge multiple small files (e.g., merge 10 10KB JS files into 1 100KB file to reduce request count).

URL Structure Chaos

Google’s 2024 Search Central guidelines state pages with clear, concise URL structure have 29% higher indexing success rate than chaotic pages, and 22% higher user click intention (CTR).

URLs are Google’s “first clue” for judging page themes and a key factor in users’ click decisions—chaotic URLs make robots “lose their way” and users feel “untrustworthy.”

Common Chaos Types

A digital product review website had URLs containing lots of dynamic parameters (e.g., /review?device=iphone15&date=20240903&author=john), causing articles about the same product to be identified as “duplicate content,” with indexing coverage dropping 24% and core keyword “iPhone 15 review” ranking sliding from #2 to #11.

What URLs Does Google “Like”?

Concise: Ideal length should not exceed 60 characters (approximately 20 Chinese characters), e.g., /best-laptops-2024 is more readable than /articles/2024/09/best-laptops-for-students-in-2024.

Contains keywords: Use “product name + attribute” combinations (e.g., /wireless-earbuds-noise-cancelling), avoid meaningless numbers (e.g., /post-123).

Static: Use “/” to separate levels (e.g., /category/subcategory/product), minimize use of question marks (?) and equals signs (=).

From “Gibberish” to “Friendly”

Clean up redundant parameters: Delete parameters that don’t affect content (e.g., utm_source can be kept, timestamp can be removed); use rel="canonical" tag to specify main URL (avoid duplicate content).

Standardize naming rules: Use hyphens (-) to separate words (not underscores _), e.g., /best-budget-smartphones is more conventional than /best_budget_smartphones.

Unify case: Use all lowercase (avoid /Product and /product being recognized as two pages), replace special characters (e.g., spaces) with %20 or delete directly.

301 Redirect Errors

301 redirects are signals to tell Google “new address is here” when “moving pages”. Correct usage allows smooth authority transfer, while errors cause authority to “drain like sand”.

Google 2023 test data shows each additional jump in a redirect chain (e.g., A→B→C) reduces target page ranking authority by 15%-20%;

If redirecting to wrong page (e.g., old page redirects to unrelated new page), original page’s SEO value may be directly reset to zero.

Common Error Types

A mother & baby e-commerce website correctly redirected “/pregnant clothing 2022” to “/pregnant clothing 2023,” but redirected “/baby crib 2021” to “/baby stroller 2023” (unrelated page), causing search traffic for both old pages to drop 55%.

How to Check

Screaming Frog: Scan entire site, export “redirects” report, focus on “jump count” and “target status codes” (404/500 error codes etc.).

Redirect Checker (online tool): Enter old link, view final redirect path (e.g., A→B→C→D), mark chains exceeding 3 jumps.

How to Fix

Shorten chain: Redirect old page directly to most relevant new page (e.g., A→D, skip intermediate pages).

Verify target page: Ensure target page exists and content is related (e.g., old “2023 exam materials” redirects to new “2024 exam materials”).

Use 301 not 302: Permanently deleted pages must use 301 (temporary adjustments can use 302, but long-term redirects need 301).

Outdated or Invalid Content

Google’s 2024 Core Update explicitly emphasizes “content timeliness and accuracy” as one of the core ranking metrics.

Outdated content (e.g., “latest phone recommendations” from 2020) has 35% higher bounce rate than fresh content, with search ranking dropping an average of 27 positions—users need information that “solves their problems”, not “historical archives.”

Manifestations of Outdated Content

A tech blog published “top 10 flagship phones of 2023” but didn’t update chip, camera specs etc. in 2024, causing this article to drop from #3 to #18 in search for “2024 flagship phone recommendations,” and CTR from 12% to 4%.

How to Check

Check publication date: See if content ending has “last updated on XXXX year X month X day,” content over 1 year old needs key inspection.

Compare with industry updates: Follow latest reports from authoritative institutions (e.g., National Bureau of Statistics, industry associations), confirm whether data matches (e.g., whether 2024 CPI data is updated).

Check user comments: Product reviews on e-commerce platforms, blog comment sections—do users point out “information outdated” (e.g., “steps you wrote don’t work anymore”)?

How to Modify

Update key data: Replace outdated numbers (e.g., “2023” → “2024”), supplement latest policies (e.g., “2024 exam bonus policies”).

Expand subtopics: Add content based on new user needs (e.g., supplement “how beginners choose beans” and “effects of different water temperatures” to “coffee brewing method”).

Add update note: Add note at beginning or end of article like “This article was updated in September 2024, with key adjustments to XX section” to let users and Google know content is “fresh.”

Insufficient Content Originality

Google’s algorithm essence is “helping users find the most useful content.”

Content with insufficient originality (e.g., directly copying encyclopedias, piecing together multiple articles) has 28% lower indexing rate than original content and 40% shorter user dwell time—because users can instantly tell “this isn’t what I want.”

From “Copying” to “Modifying,” Both May Cause Penalties

An education website changed a competitor’s “IELTS preparation guide” by changing only the title (e.g., changed “IELTS VS TOEFL: How Beginners Choose” to “TOEFL VS IELTS: How Beginners Choose”), copying all other content, causing this article to be marked by Google as “low-quality duplicate,” with indexing dropping 62% and ranking falling out of top 50.

Use Tools to “Scan” Originality

Copyscape: Enter article URL to check if other websites have published identical content (similarity over 70% needs alert).

Google search: Copy a passage (with quotes), check if search results show multiple identical pages (e.g., “coffee brewing method” brings up 10 articles with identical content).

Reading experience: Read it yourself and ask: “Could I have written this passage?” (stiff piecing, unnatural term stacking are all signals).

Make Content “Have Human Touch”

Add personal experience: Share your own practical cases (e.g., “I used this method for IELTS and improved 1.5 points in 1 month”).

Supplement exclusive data: Conduct small-scale surveys (e.g., “interviewed 100 IELTS candidates, found 70% failed on listening”).

Change expression structure: Adjust sentence order (e.g., change “Step 1 → Step 2” to “Do X first, then pay attention to Y”), replace synonyms (e.g., “important” → “key”).

Keyword Stuffing or Deviation

Keywords are Google’s “clues” for judging page themes, but over-stuffing (repeating keywords) or deviating (keywords unrelated to content) causes Google to misjudge “page quality,” and users also leave due to poor experience.

Ahrefs 2024 research shows pages with keyword density exceeding 8% (normal is 2%-5%) have average ranking drop of 29%;

Pages where keywords don’t match core content have 44% lower click-through rate (CTR) than precise matches.

From “Optimization” to “Cheating”

Typical manifestations of keyword stuffing:

• Title: “Cat Distemper Treatment Hospital|Cat Distemper Symptoms Hospital|Cat Distemper Prevention Hospital” (repeated “cat distemper” 4 times).
• Body: “Methods of cat distemper treatment, cat distemper treatment precautions, cat distemper treatment cost, cat distemper treatment which hospital is best” (repeated “cat distemper treatment” 6 times in same paragraph).

A pet hospital had “cat distemper treatment” repeated frequently in title and body, being marked by Google as “low-quality keyword stuffing,” with that page’s ranking sliding from #3 to #16 and CTR from 15% to 6%.

Check Methods

• Use Ahrefs’ “Keyword Density” tool to analyze page keyword density (alert if exceeds 5%).
• Manually read body text and ask: “Without the repeated keywords, is the content still smooth?” (not smooth indicates stuffing).

Solution Suggestions

• Naturally integrate keywords: Put “cat distemper treatment” in specific scenarios (e.g., “On the third day of cat distemper treatment, the cat starts eating, which is a key signal of recovery”).
• Cover long-tail keywords: Supplement words users might search (e.g., “cat distemper treatment cost 2024,” “kitten cat distemper symptoms”) (disperse keyword density).

Insufficient Content Depth

Google’s 2024 Core Update explicitly emphasizes “content practicality and completeness” as the core ranking.

Pages with shallow content (few words, fragmented information) have average user dwell time 58% shorter than in-depth content, with search ranking dropping an average of 31 positions—users need “complete information that solves problems,” not “fragmented answers.”

Manifestations of Shallow Content

A pet blog published a “cat distemper symptoms” article (only 300 words, listing “vomiting, fever”) without supplementing “how to distinguish cat distemper from common cold” or “what to do first when symptoms appear,” causing this article to drop from #5 to #23 in search for “what to do about cat distemper symptoms,” and CTR from 11% to 3%.

Check Methods

• Count words: informational content should be at least 800 words (guides should be 1500+ words), use Word or Grammarly to count.
• Outline: Does core topic have “sub-questions” (e.g., “cat distemper treatment” needs to cover “symptom identification → timing to see vet → home care → cost reference”).

Solution Suggestions

• Add specific details: Write “IV” as “typically using Lactated Ringer’s Solution (50ml/kg) + antiviral drugs (e.g., feline interferon)”.
• Supplement solutions: Give clear answers to possible user questions (e.g., “Can cat distemper be cured?” “How long to recover after treatment?”).
• Add update note: Add at beginning of article “This article was updated in September 2024, with new ‘home care practical steps’ and ‘2024 latest treatment costs'”.

Internal Link Structure Errors

Internal links are the “transportation network” between pages—chaotic structure (no links, erroneous links) makes Google’s crawlers unable to reach certain pages, and users can’t find entrances to other articles after reading one.

Screaming Frog 2024 scan data shows that 23% of pages on websites with chaotic internal links are “isolated pages” (no links pointing to them), with indexing coverage 21% lower than normal websites.

The More “Chaotic,” The More Dangerous

A pet hospital website placed “cat distemper treatment” article in “disease encyclopedia” section, but didn’t add links from homepage and navigation bar, causing Google’s crawler to reach that page only twice in 3 months (should be 10+ times), with that page’s ranking sliding from #4 to #19.

Check Methods

• Use Screaming Frog to scan, export “internal links” report, focus on “link count” (0 indicates isolated page) and “target page relevance” (whether related to current content).
• Manual browsing: Click on 3 random articles and see if there are related internal links in body text (e.g., does “cat distemper treatment” article have link to “cat distemper vaccine”).

Solution Suggestions

• Add “entry points” to core pages: Add links pointing to core pages from homepage, navigation bar, and bottom of popular articles (e.g., “Click here to view ‘Complete 2024 Cat Distemper Treatment Guide'”).
• Link related content: In “cat distemper treatment” article, when mentioning “vaccination,” link to “how to get cat distemper vaccine”; when mentioning “home care,” link to “dietary precautions after cat distemper”.
• Clean up invalid links: Delete links pointing to 404 pages (e.g., old version “cat distemper treatment 2023” has been deleted, link needs updating to 2024 version).

Content Duplication

Content duplication means identical content published on multiple URLs (e.g., separate PC and mobile versions), or highly similar content on different pages (e.g., republished with changed title).

Google marks duplicate content as “low-quality,” prioritizing display of one version; other versions may be penalized—this means your “efforts” may be counted only once as effective content, and other pages waste indexing opportunities.

The More “Duplicated,” The More Dangerous

A local education website published “2024 exam policy” content simultaneously on /zhongkao/2024 and /jy/2024 two paths, causing Google to index only the former, with the latter’s traffic dropping 62% and core keyword “Beijing exam policy” ranking sliding from #2 to #12.

Use Tools to Check “Duplication”

• Google search: Enter site:your domain keyword (e.g., site:xxx.com exam policy), check if multiple pages show identical content.
• Screaming Frog: Scan entire site, export “content duplication” report (pages with similarity over 80% will be flagged).

Make Content “Unique” and “Useful”

• Use rel=”canonical” tag: Add <link rel="canonical" href="main version URL"> to HTML head of duplicate page, telling Google “which is the main version” (e.g., add link to PC version from mobile version).
• Merge content: Delete redundant pages, integrate core information into one page (e.g., merge “exam policy” and “exam registration process” into “Complete 2024 Exam Guide”).
• Differentiated rewriting: If multiple versions need to be kept, supplement different details (e.g., PC version focuses on policy interpretation, mobile version focuses on “quick time check”).

Meta Tag Failure

Meta tags (title, description) are Google’s “first clue” for judging page themes and the key factor in users’ click decisions.

Failed meta tags cause Google to misjudge content, and users skip directly after seeing “irrelevant” titles/descriptions—even if page content is high-quality, it may go unread due to “badly written tags.”

The More “Careless,” The More Dangerous

A local education website had “exam policy” page’s meta title written as “Exam policy 2024|Exam policy 2024|Exam policy 2024” (repeated 3 times), causing Google search results to display incomplete title (only first 30 characters shown), with CTR dropping from 15% to 6%.

Use Tools to “See” Users’ Real Search Results

• Google Search Console: Log in to dashboard → “Search Results” → “Title”/”Description,” compare “indexed” title and description with yours (if displaying incomplete or wrong, tags are failed).
• SEMrush: Enter page URL, view “meta tag analysis” report (flags titles too long/repetitive, descriptions without keywords).

Make Tags “Accurate + Appealing”

• Title optimization: Keep within 60 characters (approximately 20 Chinese characters), include core keywords (e.g., “2024 Beijing exam policy: registration time, bonus items fully explained”).
• Description optimization: Write within 200 characters of “user benefit points” (e.g., “2024 Beijing exam registration starts November 1, these 3 types of students can get bonuses! Click for detailed process”).
• Avoid stuffing: Naturally integrate keywords (e.g., “exam policy” appears 1-2 times is enough, focus on “registration time,” “bonus conditions” that users care about).

Bounce Rate Surge

Bounce rate is the proportion of users who “immediately close” after entering a page.

Google interprets high bounce rate as a signal that “page has no value,” causing ranking drops—users vote with clicks: “This page didn’t solve my problem.”

The More “Mismatched,” The Higher

Cause Type	Typical Manifestation	Impact on Bounce Rate
Content mismatch	User searches “2024 exam policy,” clicks in to see “2023 exam real questions”	Bounce rate as high as 85%
Slow loading speed	First-screen load time exceeds 3 seconds (mobile)	Bounce rate increases 40%
Poor content quality	Content only 300 words, all general talk (e.g., “exams are very important”)	Bounce rate 78%

A local education website had “2024 exam policy” page loading slowly (first screen 3.2 seconds) and content only listed policy provisions (no “how to prepare,” “common questions”), causing bounce rate to surge from 52% to 81% and core keyword ranking to drop 19 positions.

Use Data to Find “High Bounce Rate Pages”

• Google Analytics: Log in to dashboard → “Behavior Flow” → “Site Content” → “Landing Pages,” filter by “bounce rate” column (pages exceeding 70% need key inspection).
• Heatmap tools (e.g., Hotjar): View user click distribution on page (if users only clicked close button, content is not appealing).

Make Pages “Solve User Problems”

• Optimize content relevance: Check page target keywords (e.g., “exam policy”), ensure content covers “sub-questions” users might search (e.g., “registration time,” “bonus conditions,” “material preparation”).
• Improve loading speed: Compress images, clean up redundant code (refer to previous “website speed decline” solutions), target first-screen load time < 2 seconds.
• Add interactive elements: Add “FAQ” list, step-by-step illustrations (e.g., “exam registration process diagram”), comment section (encourage user questions), to extend user dwell time.

Shortened Page Dwell Time

Page dwell time is the result of users “voting with their feet”—the shorter the dwell time, the more Google thinks “page has no value”.

Google’s 2024 Core Web Vitals data shows pages with dwell time below 15 seconds rank an average of 37 positions lower than pages with dwell time exceeding 30 seconds; pages with bounce rate (leaving after viewing only one page) exceeding 70% have indexing priority reduced by 29%.

Content “Didn’t Solve User Problems”

Cause Type	Typical Manifestation	Impact on Dwell Time
Fragmented content	Only listed knowledge points (e.g., “UI design tools” listed PS/AI/Figma, but no usage scenarios)	Dwell time < 15 seconds
Chaotic structure	Long paragraphs without breaks, unclear subheadings (e.g., under “course introduction” no “instructors/schedule/fees” subheadings)	Dwell time < 20 seconds
Missing information	Lacks details users care about (e.g., “UI design training” didn’t mention “employment salary range,” “student work cases”)	Dwell time < 25 seconds

A vocational training school website had “UI design course” page only write “we teach PS, AI, Figma,” without supplementing “what projects can be done after learning,” “average salary of graduates,” causing average user dwell time to shorten from 42 seconds to 11 seconds, bounce rate to surge from 58% to 83%, and that page’s ranking to slide from #3 to #18.

Find Pages That “Can’t Retain Users”

• Google Analytics: Log in to dashboard → “Behavior Flow” → “Site Content” → “Landing Pages,” filter by “average session duration” column (pages below 15 seconds need key inspection).
• Heatmap tools (e.g., Hotjar): View user scroll depth on page (if users leave after browsing only first 1/3 of content, beginning is not appealing).

Make Content “Valuable, Easy to Read”

Supplement details users care about: For target keywords (e.g., “UI design training”), list “sub-questions” users might search (e.g., “Can I take on freelance after completing?” “How long for beginners?”), answer with specific data (e.g., “80% of students find jobs within 3 months after completion, average salary 12k+”).

Optimize content structure: Use subheadings to split content (e.g., “1. Course content: full process from PS to Figma” “2. Instructor strength: industry mentors with 5+ years experience”), add cases to each section (e.g., “Student A took on e-commerce APP design project after completion, earning 20,000 yuan”).

Lower reading barrier: Use bullet points instead of long paragraphs (e.g., “Course advantages: ① Many practical projects ② One-on-one mentors ③ Job placement” ), bold key content (e.g., “guaranteed employment”).

Ad/Popup Interference

Google’s 2024 Search Central explicitly warns that pages with “excessive ad interference affecting user experience” will be penalized.

On mobile, popups covering main content (e.g., “register to get bonus” popup covering article body), excessive ad quantity (1 ad appears per 100 pixels scrolled) causes CTR to drop 25% and ranking to drop an average of 22 positions.

The More “Excessive,” The More “Hard-sell,” The More Dangerous

A vocational training school website had homepage with 3 full-screen popups (users needed to click “close” 3 times before viewing content), causing mobile CTR to drop from 14% to 5% and core keyword “Beijing UI design training” ranking to drop 19 positions.

Use Tools to “Simulate User View” of Ads

• Google Mobile-Friendly Test: Enter URL, test “mobile friendliness” (if prompted “popup covers content,” ad placement is improper).
• Manual experience: Open page with phone, record “how many popups need closing before seeing main text,” “whether frequently encountering ads while scrolling” (needs optimization if more than 2 times).

Make Ads “Not Annoying, Not Blocking”

Follow Google’s popup policy: Popups on phone need to be triggered after user action (e.g., “after scrolling 3 screens”), and close button must be prominent (size ≥48x48px).

Reduce ad quantity: Mobile ads should not exceed 20% of page content (e.g., article pages only have 1 banner ad at bottom).

Match content relevance: Education page ads should prioritize promoting “learning tools” (e.g., “UI design asset website membership”), not unrelated products.

Lost Backlinks

Backlinks (links from other websites to yours) are Google’s “votes” for evaluating website authority—websites losing over 10% of backlinks have core keyword rankings dropping an average of 27 positions and indexing coverage reduced by 18% (Ahrefs 2024 data).

Links are like “website reputation”; partner deleting links or pages becoming invalid makes Google think “your website is no longer recognized.”

The More “Passive,” The More Dangerous

A vocational training school website lost the link pointing to its “UI design course” from partner “Education Resources Website” due to redesign (originally bringing 500+ effective clicks monthly), causing that course page’s ranking to slide from #5 to #20, and backlink count to drop from 87 to 52.

Use Tools to “Track” Backlink Changes

• Ahrefs: Enter domain, view “backlinks” report for “Lost Backlinks,” focus on “high-authority sources” (e.g., websites with DA≥20).
• Manual spot checks: Regularly check partner websites (e.g., industry forums, education platforms), confirm whether links still exist (verify with link:your domain search).

Keep Links “Unbroken, Keep Authority”

Proactively contact for restoration: After discovering link invalid, contact their administrator (e.g., “our course page has moved to new address /new-ui-course, please update link”).

Supplement alternative links: If original partner cannot restore, find same-level websites to acquire new links (e.g., education industry forums, vocational training communities).

Clean up invalid links: Delete links pointing to 404 pages (e.g., old version “free resources” page deleted, proactively contact to remove link).

Core Algorithm Update Impact

Google conducts 2-3 core algorithm updates each year (e.g., 2024’s Helpful Content Update, 2023’s Core Update).

Each update adjusts evaluation dimensions for “page quality“—may place more emphasis on “user dwell time,” may reduce weight of “low-quality backlinks,” or may strengthen priority of “mobile experience.”

From “Technical Metrics” to “User Value”

A digital product review website had “2023 flagship phone recommendations” content only listing parameters (no “beginner purchase suggestions,” “actual battery life tests”), causing ranking to slide from #3 to #18 after 2024 Helpful Content Update, with organic traffic dropping 41%.

Track Updates, Adjust Strategy

• Check official announcements: Google’s Search Central blog (https://developers.google.com/search/blog) pre-announces update directions (e.g., “this update focuses more on content practicality”).
• Check ranking fluctuations: Use Ahrefs’ “Algorithm Updates” tool to compare keyword ranking changes before and after update (e.g., pages with ranking drops for “phone recommendations” are mostly with empty content).
• Fill gaps: If update emphasizes “user value,” add “practical steps,” “common questions”; if it emphasizes “technical metrics,” optimize loading speed, clean up dead links.

Increased Keyword Competition

Keyword competition is dynamic—new websites entering, old competitors optimizing, industry heat rising will all cause your “core words” to rank lower.

Ahrefs 2024 data shows competition intensity for Top 3 keywords (measured by “backlink count + content quality”) grows 18% annually; original Top 1 page content length increases by an average of 35%, and backlink count increases by 50%.

From “Quantity” to “Quality”

An e-commerce website had long held #1 ranking for “wireless earbuds recommendations” keyword (800 words, 50 backlinks), but in 2024, a new competitor website published 2000 words of content (including “noise-canceling test data,” “100-user survey”) and acquired 200 industry forum backlinks, causing original #1 ranking to drop to #5, and CTR from 12% to 5%.

Differentiated Competition, Strengthen Advantages

• Find “long-tail keywords“: Avoid big words (e.g., “wireless earbuds”), turn to more specific words (e.g., “noise-canceling wireless earbuds for students,” “wireless earbuds battery life test”), reducing competition intensity by 60%.
• Supplement “exclusive content”: Do “user surveys” competitors don’t have (e.g., “interviewed 50 earbuds users, summarized 3 pitfalls to avoid”), “test data” (e.g., “battery remaining after 8 hours of continuous use”).
• Switch “backlink channels”: Move from low-authority forums to industry authority platforms (e.g., tech media, vertical communities), improve backlink “quality” (Google values links from DR≥70 websites more).

Search Intent Changes

Search intent is users’ “real needs” when searching—could be “information gathering” (e.g., “how coffee machines work”), could be “purchase decision” (e.g., “coffee machine recommendations 2024”), could be “problem solving” (e.g., “how to fix leaking coffee machine”).

Google 2024 research shows 62% of search terms’ “intent” has changed in the past 2 years: users shifting from “finding information” to “finding solutions,” from “broad queries” to “precise needs.”

From “Broad” to “Precise,” From “Information” to “Action”

A coffee training website ranked well for “coffee latte art beginner” content (users’ need was “learning basics”), but in 2024, users’ search terms shifted to “common latte art failures” (need was “solving specific problems”), causing original page ranking to drop 27 positions and traffic to decrease 45%.

Insight Intent, Adjust Content

• Check “related searches”: At bottom of Google search results page, check “related searches” (e.g., searching “coffee latte art beginner,” bottom shows “what to do if latte art fails”), which are direct signals of user intent.
• Analyze “People also ask”: “People also ask” on search results page (e.g., “what tools needed for latte art?” “how long to practice latte art?”) reflects users’ deeper needs.
• Adjust content structure: Original “beginner guide” can be split into “basic steps,” “common questions,” “advanced techniques,” covering users’ full journey from “learning” to “using.”

Website Hacking

Hacking is a website’s “security red line”—​​Hacked websites are marked by Google as “insecure” (address bar shows “⚠️This site may be hacked”).

User click intention (CTR) drops 41% and indexing coverage reduces 22% (Google 2024 Security Report data).

Attack methods are covert (e.g., malware injection, content tampering, 植入恶意链接), so even if website “looks normal,” Google may have already “penalized” it.

Common Forms of Hacking

An outdoor gear website was injected with malicious code due to server vulnerability (popup “click to claim bonus” appeared at page bottom), and users were redirected to gambling websites after clicking. After Google’s detection, the website was marked “insecure,” with core keyword ranking sliding from #3 to #19 and organic traffic dropping 62%.

Use Tools to “Scan” Security Risks

• Sucuri SiteCheck: Enter URL to detect malicious code, blacklist records (e.g., marked by Google Safe Browsing).
• Google Search Console: Log in to dashboard → “Security Issues” report, check for “website hacked” alerts (e.g., “unauthorized content modification detected”).

Quickly Restore “Safe Status”

• Clean malicious code: Restore website with clean backup (if available), or manually delete suspicious files (e.g., unfamiliar PHP files in wp-content/uploads directory).
• Fix vulnerabilities: Update CMS system (e.g., WordPress), plugins to latest versions; close unnecessary ports (e.g., change FTP default port 21 to non-standard port).
• Apply for unmarking: After cleanup, submit “security review” through Google Search Console (need to provide cleanup proof, e.g., virus scan report).

Structured Data Errors

Structured data (e.g., JSON-LD markup) is a website’s “translator”—it tells Google “what content this is” (e.g., articles, products, events), displaying richer search results (e.g., ratings, prices, summaries).

Ahrefs 2024 data shows pages with correct structured data have rich media results display rate 40% higher than error pages, and click-through rate (CTR) 28% higher.

Types of Structured Data Errors

An e-commerce platform had structured data error on “outdoor jacket” product page (not marked “waterproof index,” “applicable temperature”), causing search results to only show “product name + image,” while competitor pages showed “waterproof 10000mm+ suitable for -10°C,” resulting in that product’s CTR dropping from 12% to 5% and ranking falling 17 positions.

Use Tools to “Verify” Markup Validity

• Google Structured Data Testing Tool: Enter page URL to check for “errors” (e.g., “missing required properties,” “syntax errors”).

• Schema Markup Validator (Schema.org official tool): Check if markup types comply with standards (e.g., “article” needs to include headline,”datePublished”).

Make Data “Accurate + Complete”

Mark according to guidelines: Refer to Google’s “Structured Data Guidelines” (https://developers.google.com/search/docs/appearance/structured-data), ensure types (e.g., Article,”Product”) and properties (e.g., articles need “author,” “datePublished”) are correct.

Supplement key information: Product pages add “price,” “inventory,” “rating”; article pages add “reading time,” “keywords”; event pages add “time,” “location.”

Test before going live: Verify with tools without errors, then deploy to website (avoid going live directly causing error markup to be crawled).

Seasonal/Periodic Fluctuations

Seasonal/periodic fluctuations are the “natural laws” of industries—demand for certain products/services varies with seasons, holidays, and policy changes (e.g., winter thermal products peak in November, summer sun-protection products peak in July).

Google 2024 Search Trends data shows industries with obvious seasonal fluctuations (e.g., clothing, appliances) have core keyword ranking fluctuation amplitude 35% larger than non-seasonal industries.

Demand “Rises Then Falls,” Ranking “Fluctuates Synchronously”

A thermal products website failed to plan winter content in advance (e.g., “2024 new winter down jackets”), causing core keyword “winter mountaineering jacket” ranking to slide from #5 to #22 in October, and November traffic to be 45% less than expected.

Use Data to “Predict” Fluctuation Patterns

• Google Trends: Enter keywords (e.g., “winter down jackets”), check “annual trends” (peak months of search volume).
• Historical data comparison: Analyze same period traffic and ranking changes from past 3 years (e.g., “November 2022 traffic was 4 times that of September”).

Proactively “Adapt” to Fluctuation Cycles

• Pre-update content: Publish “seasonal content” 1-2 months before fluctuation (e.g., publish “2024 winter mountaineering gear purchasing guide” in October).
• Adjust keywords: Add seasonal keywords (e.g., “winter,” “2024 new arrivals”), cover users’ new needs (e.g., “winter down jacket anti-feather leakage”).
• Reuse historical content: Adjust non-seasonal content to “general version” (e.g., change summer “sun-protection clothing recommendations” to “year-round sun-protection outfit guide”), avoid traffic loss.

Those sudden ranking drops are rarely because “Google suddenly targeted you”

In closing: SEO is not “chasing algorithm research,” but “creating value for users”