So you’ve heard rumours of a potential Algorithm update or it simply looks like your traffic is down. Here is a walk-through of how you can check in less than 2 minutes if you site has been affected or not by a Google penalty.
1. Check if it is an actual update (1 minute)
Head to Moz.com List of major algorithm change and see if all the buzz and discussion is actually related to an algorithm update.
2. Step by Step Analysis process (5 min max)
One of the tools we regularly use is a really simply and efficient way to match any know Google algorithm update against your Google organic traffic. You will need access to your Google Analytics accounts and be sure that your AdWords traffic is not mixed up with your SEO traffic.
2.1 Login to Panguin Tool
Head to Panguin tool and login using your Google Analytics account credentials
2.2 Authorise access
You should then be prompted to select an account and authorise access
2.3 Pick the right profile
Select the right account, profile and view. I generally recommend selecting the raw data view unless you have created specific view by geography or channel.
2.5 Select the right timeframe
I recommend checking your traffic using a weekly view first to see any visible trends. Pick at least 1 year and see if any loss of traffic starts near an algorithm update. Drill down deeper with a daily view and a shorter time frame (2 months before the algorithm update).
Rule of thumb, if the drop in traffic is not within 3 days of an official update, this could something else.
Note: There is generally a 2-3 days delay in the data extracted by the tool. If you are looking for the most recent traffic change, skip this section and go straight to Analytics view.
2.6 View your most important pages
If your site draws a large part of its SEO traffic from the homepage (>20%), I highly recommend drilling down at a page level. Your homepage might be unaffected by an algorithm change, as such the overall traffic volume could look a bit weaker without raising alarm bells while your money pages (service, product or category pages) suffer greatly.
So check your top 10-20 pages and see if any of them see a great deal of traffic change associated with a specific algorithm update. The discovery could help you identify if a specific type of pages has been affected
2. Rank tracking tool
Also, if you use any other rank tracking tools, it might be worth checking them. All have limitations but can still add elements of information such as the % of
Have you been able to pinpoint your problem? It could be something more serious or harder to analyse. Contact us to see how we can help you audit and improve your SEO performance.
