Not every drop is a problem — some industries have entirely normal seasonal traffic patterns worth ruling out before assuming something's broken.
A year-over-year comparison, rather than just looking at last month, reveals whether a drop matches a recurring seasonal pattern or represents a genuine, new deviation worth investigating.
If publicly available data or general industry commentary suggests competitors saw a similar dip around the same time, that's evidence pointing toward an industry-wide seasonal or market factor rather than a site-specific problem.
A gradual, predictable decline over weeks looks different from a sudden, sharp drop overnight. Sudden drops are far more likely to indicate a technical issue, penalty, or specific event than a genuine, slower seasonal pattern.
Even if a drop looks plausibly seasonal, a quick check for technical issues (indexing errors, broken pages, accidental noindex tags) costs little and rules out a coincidental technical problem masquerading as seasonality.
Get a clear read on what's happening with your own site.
Run a free audit →