Improving SEO but no results, why?

1SEOWarrior said:

Since there are lots of page and ecommerce site, there might be a Keyword Cannibalization issue. Product variants might cause this issue.Have a look in this.

Another important factor is google algo update, you need to have a look whether it is affected or not.

Click to expand...

Hank Tzeng said:

There are too many factors that affect SEO, and you can only try repeatedly on your own. SEO is a highly experience-driven technique. It's difficult to do well just by reading public articles about SEO. The truly effective methods are not something anyone will tell you; you have to test repeatedly until you achieve the results you want.

By the way, the GTMetrix score is too low, the LCP (Largest Contentful Paint) is definitely high. Optimized websites usually score at least a B (even those with many ads). It's quite common for regular websites to achieve two A’s. When other similar websites have high scores, but your loading speed is slow, you'll be out of the game. However, page speed is not the only factor. I’ve seen authoritative websites with low GTMetrix scores still rank well. This can be considered one factor, but there are other higher-priority reasons influencing the rankings.

Click to expand...

GruAlek said:

organic traffic initially rebounded to 3,000-4,000 visitors per month during the first three months. However, it has since decreased to 1,000-2,000 visitors.

Click to expand...

GruAlek said:

I work for an eCommerce site that faced technical issues after migration, and no SEO efforts were implemented at all. Initially, our site's status on Ubersuggest was 44, but I improved it to 89 through various SEO activities. I addressed technical problems, including resolving 404 errors on over 5,000 pages and improving site speed from F (31%) to D (50%) according to GTMetrix. I also edited the robots.txt file to prevent unnecessary pages from being indexed and fixed duplicate elements in the HTML, such as the canonical tags, meta titles, and descriptions. I completed a thorough optimization of the site and disavowed toxic backlinks that threatened its authority.

As a result, organic traffic initially rebounded to 3,000-4,000 visitors per month during the first three months. However, it has since decreased to 1,000-2,000 visitors. I'm wondering why, despite improving the site's SEO, I am seeing lower traffic instead of better results.

Click to expand...

Possible Reasons & Fixes​

Solution:​

• Reanalyze backlink health & content quality
• Update & optimize existing content
• Use Google Search Console to fix any new issues
• Monitor competitor activity & adjust strategy

Peter Ngo said:

If your SEO improves then demotes after a period of time, there is a good chance that your pages are not serving/ satisfying the users intents.

Can be a good idea to go through your search console to see which queries gave u traffic, and which lost it.

Click to expand...

MS Shahbaz said:

You're on the right track with technical fixes, but here’s why your traffic might be dropping:

Possible Reasons & Fixes​

Algorithm Updates – Google updates may have impacted rankings. Check Search Console & SEO news for changes.
Disavow Mistakes – Removing good backlinks by mistake can hurt rankings. Double-check disavowed links.
Lost Backlinks – Check Ahrefs/SEMrush for lost authority links. Rebuild if necessary.
Thin Content or Cannibalization – Ensure high-quality content and check if pages are competing for the same keywords.
Indexing & Crawling Issues – Use Google Search Console to see if pages are still indexed properly.
Competitor Growth – Analyze if competitors have outranked you with new content or backlinks.

Solution:​

• Reanalyze backlink health & content quality
• Update & optimize existing content
• Use Google Search Console to fix any new issues
• Monitor competitor activity & adjust strategy

Have you checked if your main keywords lost rankings?

Click to expand...

1. Google's Algorithm Updates:
   
   • Google frequently updates its search algorithms, and these changes can impact rankings, sometimes in unpredictable ways. If you've seen traffic drop after initial gains, it could be due to a core update or other algorithm changes that your site hasn't fully recovered from.
   • Solution: Check if there were any Google updates around the time your traffic decreased. You can check the Google Search Console for any significant changes or penalties.
2. Search Intent and Keyword Shifts:
   
   • Even though your site’s technical SEO has improved, your keyword strategy might need adjustment. The keywords you’re targeting may not be yielding the traffic you expected, or your competitors may have strengthened their SEO efforts as well.
   • Solution: Review your target keywords and search intent. Make sure you're aligning your content with what users are actually searching for. Tools like Ubersuggest, Ahrefs, or SEMrush can help you track keyword performance and identify new opportunities.
3. User Experience (UX) and Engagement Metrics:
   
   • If the site’s content is now well-optimized but doesn’t fully meet the needs of users or fails to engage them, it could result in lower engagement (high bounce rates, short session durations). Google takes user behavior signals into account when ranking pages.
   • Solution: Look into user engagement metrics like time on site, bounce rate, and conversion rate in Google Analytics. Make sure your site is providing clear calls to action and a seamless user experience.
4. Content Depth and Quality:
   
   • Even if you’ve fixed technical issues, the content itself may not be fully optimized. Google prioritizes content that provides value, answers questions, and addresses user needs comprehensively.
   • Solution: Make sure your content is of high quality, comprehensive, and addresses the user's search intent better than your competitors. It might also help to add more in-depth content (long-form articles, blogs, guides) or multimedia (videos, images) to your pages.
5. Competitor Activity:
   
   • SEO is a competitive field, and your competitors may be investing more in their SEO strategies. If they’ve ramped up their efforts (content, backlinks, or UX), it could directly affect your rankings.
   • Solution: Conduct competitor analysis to see if your competitors are outpacing you in terms of content or backlinks. You can use tools like Ahrefs, SEMrush, or SpyFu to track their activities.
6. Backlink Profile and Domain Authority:
   
   • Although you've disavowed toxic backlinks, if you haven’t been actively building high-quality backlinks since the migration, your site's authority may not be growing fast enough to maintain or improve rankings.
   • Solution: Continue building a strong backlink profile with quality, relevant links. You can use tools like Ahrefs to track your backlinks and identify new opportunities.
7. Seasonality:
   
   • Depending on your business or industry, your site’s traffic may be affected by seasonality. For example, eCommerce stores might experience spikes during the holiday season but see drops in the months that follow.
   • Solution: If seasonality is a factor, try to optimize your site for all year-round traffic with evergreen content or seasonal campaigns. Keep track of traffic trends to understand if seasonality is affecting your traffic.
8. Content Cannibalization:
   
   • If your site has multiple pages targeting the same keywords or similar content, it can result in content cannibalization. This means Google might have trouble determining which page to rank.
   • Solution: Check for content cannibalization and consolidate similar pages. Use canonical tags properly to tell Google which page should be the primary ranking page.
9. Technical Issues (Hidden Ones):
   
   • While you've addressed major technical problems, there might still be some hidden issues on the site that are affecting its performance. For example, issues with site redirects, broken internal links, or mobile-friendliness could affect rankings.
   • Solution: Run a full audit with a tool like Screaming Frog or SEMrush to uncover any hidden technical issues that might have been missed.