The first thing I check is whether there was a recent Google update or a technical issue.
After that, I'd review indexing, search console errors, traffic patterns, and then look at backlinks and content changes to find the cause.
What's Your First Step When a Website Loses Rankings?
- Thread starter SingWave
- Start date
After that, I'd review indexing, search console errors, traffic patterns, and then look at backlinks and content changes to find the cause.
I check search console first then recants updates technical issue backlink change before finxing .
lucasmiller
Newbie
- Jul 7, 2026
- 20
- 1
First, i would look at whether it was a site wide or URL specific problem. A site wide ranking loss could be something like penguin. However, if only a few of the site pages have experienced a ranking drop, then there might be an issue related to search intent, freshness, or competitors.
SilentAurora
Newbie
- Jun 23, 2026
- 15
- 3
I compare the lost keywords and pages. This helps me see whether the problem is affecting the whole website or only certain content.
- Mar 16, 2026
- 101
- 14
Check google search console first, then analyze algorithm updates, technical issues and backlinks.
- Oct 5, 2009
- 2,342
- 1,198
The first thing I check is whether the traffic drop aligns with a Google algorithm update. If it doesn't, I look for technical issues like indexing, crawl errors, robots.txt, canonicals, or server downtime. Then I review Search Console for affected pages and queries, check recent backlink losses, and finally compare any recent content or site changes. Most ranking drops can usually be traced back to one of these areas.
SeokingRanker
BANNED
- Jun 10, 2026
- 82
- 7
The first thing I'd check is Google Search Console for indexing issues, manual actions, or major drops in impressions before making any changes.
The first thing that I would check is whether it is just me who has shifted to HTTPS or whether other competitors has done it as well. In case everyone has shifted i would give it a couple of days before making any move.
- Jun 16, 2022
- 2,845
- 852
Improve both content and backlink building strategy. It will give result slowly and you need to be patient throughout the process. In case, you do not see any progress in 1 year or so., you need to move on to other projects.