30-40 percent drop during two occasions recently

P

PeterNorthpole

Junior Member
Joined
Sep 5, 2024
Messages
193
Reaction score
71
In the beginning of December, I experienced my first major drop at 30 percent. I quickly recovered and continued to grow. Now all the sudden, I had an even steeper drop.

Are these drops normal, and what's causing them? They make me a bit nervous since I'm dependent on organic traffic.

I don't do any blackhat SEO. My SEO growth comes mainly from content.

I attached screenshots.


Screenshot 2026-01-25 193508.png
 

Attachments

  • Screenshot 2026-01-25 193520.png
    Screenshot 2026-01-25 193520.png
    24.7 KB · Views: 60
  • Screenshot 2026-01-25 193531.png
    Screenshot 2026-01-25 193531.png
    31.2 KB · Views: 44
Advertise on BHW
Yes, these kinds of drops are fairly normal, especially for sites growing mainly through content. What you’re likely seeing is a mix of Google re-evaluating rankings, SERP volatility, or partial algorithm updates rather than a penalty.
 
PeterNorthpole said:
Why exactly?
Click to expand...
Without looking at the data, everything is basically guesswork. Drops can happen for tons of reasons serps shifting, intent changing, competitors stepping up, keyword cannibalization, or Google just testing rankings. To really understand why, you need to dig into page-level data: which pages dropped, which queries lost traffic, what happened to ctr and impressions, and how competitors moved. That’s the only way to tell if it’s normal volatility or something that actually needs fixing.
 
I'm also seeing these ranking drops occassionally. Google might be testing something as these are short term changes and there is no change in competition in my case. The dips are mainly because Google is removing some webpages from SERPs (not deindexed) or deranking them to see if the competitors have better CTR. However, my sites are consistently growing, so I stopped bothering about occasional dips. It would be a nightmare if the traffic doesn't return to normalcy.
 
Starblazer said:
I'm also seeing these ranking drops occassionally. Google might be testing something as these are short term changes and there is no change in competition in my case. The dips are mainly because Google is removing some webpages from SERPs (not deindexed) or deranking them to see if the competitors have better CTR. However, my sites are consistently growing, so I stopped bothering about occasional dips. It would be a nightmare if the traffic doesn't return to normalcy.
Click to expand...
Are your occasional dips 30 percent?
 
These are normal fluctuations not something to worry about it. Google when update or change something in alghorithm can create these small drops but if getting back up no worry. Wait for a week or so and you will see the real story
 
PeterNorthpole said:
Are your occasional dips 30 percent?
Click to expand...
Yes, some are 20-30% but quickly recovered within 2-3 days. I have also observed a delay in GSC reporting during these periods. For example, if there is a dip on Monday, GSC won't update data from Saturday onwards. Within 1-2 days after seeing dip in performance graph, the traffic starts recovering. If it doesn't, then it's time to panic.
 
PeterNorthpole said:
In the beginning of December, I experienced my first major drop at 30 percent. I quickly recovered and continued to grow. Now all the sudden, I had an even steeper drop.

Are these drops normal, and what's causing them? They make me a bit nervous since I'm dependent on organic traffic.

I don't do any blackhat SEO. My SEO growth comes mainly from content.

I attached screenshots.


View attachment 502255
Click to expand...
Do you update your content and do OFF-Page SEO?
 
30-40% drops are not normal volatility; they indicate a core update or manual penalty. Since you're white-hat, it's likely the December 2023 Core Update and a more recent HCU (Helpful Content Update) rollout. Audit your content for quality and EEAT signals; Google is now aggressively demoting content that doesn't demonstrate real expertise.
 
DId you update the on page elements or change significantly? It can be because of that but without having other informations is like guess work. Is not normal usually but if you check in a week back and still is drop then there is a problem but if get back up you shouldn't not worried. Also what about the content do you use AI? It may affect the seo after the google updates
 
finnomo said:
30-40% drops are not normal volatility; they indicate a core update or manual penalty. Since you're white-hat, it's likely the December 2023 Core Update and a more recent HCU (Helpful Content Update) rollout. Audit your content for quality and EEAT signals; Google is now aggressively demoting content that doesn't demonstrate real expertise.
Click to expand...
The content in my case are fictional stories. They're not guides where I have to demonstrate expertise
dmitriyeva9 said:
DId you update the on page elements or change significantly? It can be because of that but without having other informations is like guess work. Is not normal usually but if you check in a week back and still is drop then there is a problem but if get back up you shouldn't not worried. Also what about the content do you use AI? It may affect the seo after the google updates
Click to expand...
No, I only update internal linking now and then.

I do use AI but not copy paste. I refine it myself. I have a high average engagement time per user, 6m and 40s for organic traffic (8m 51 sec for US visitors), so I don't see the content being the problem.
 
Let me share my experience it might help: I went through something very similar with my blog in mid 2025. I focused on personalizing the site by adding real images, real names, and a stronger human touch. I also connected the blog to my and my team’s LinkedIn and Instagram accounts.


Within about 4-5 months, we recovered all the traffic we had lost and even gained more, hopefully that will help.
 
NexusQuirk said:
Within about 4-5 months, we recovered all the traffic
Click to expand...
I'm glad you recovered, but it took me like 5 months to get this traffic to begin with (you can see on the screenshot). Might as well just start over again.

How steep was your drop?
 
PeterNorthpole said:
I update internal linking now and then. If you mean by acquiring backlinks then no, I don't do any off page seo
Click to expand...
You should consider doing it if you think content is not an issue; you can hire SEO audit person to analyze your site.
 
haris_1401 said:
You should consider doing it if you think content is not an issue; you can hire SEO audit person to analyze your site.
Click to expand...
I have considered buying backlinks from other similar websites, but doesn't that fall into black hat territory?

I checked GSC under manual actions or security issues, and there are no issues, so it doesn't seem I've gotten penalized.
 

Attachments

  • Screenshot 2026-01-26 151719.png
    Screenshot 2026-01-26 151719.png
    11.2 KB · Views: 20
  • Screenshot 2026-01-26 151724.png
    Screenshot 2026-01-26 151724.png
    11 KB · Views: 16
its possible there "tweaking" things behind the scenes... have you switched up strategies as of late?
 
Advertise on BHW
You must log in or register to reply here.
Sign up now!

Main Menu

Home Main Forum List Black Hat SEO White Hat SEO BHW Newbie Guide Blogging Black Hat Tools Social Media Downloads

Marketplace

Account Selling Content / Copywriting EBooks / Methods Hosting Misc Proxies For Sale SEO - Link building SEO - Packages Social Media Social Media - Panels Web Design More

Making Money

Affiliate Programs Hire a Freelancer IM Journeys Making Money Pay Per Click Site Flipping Want to Buy

BlackHat World

Dispute Resolution Forum Suggestions & Feedback Introductions Lounge
Back
Top