12 replies
Hey warriors, I manage a site that was seeing 100-200 visitors daily. Out of no where we're seeing 0-5 visitors according to Analytics. The site's been live, no serious updates, and we haven't had any other problems.

Could it be that Analytics wasn't truly reporting the correct traffic in the first place? What would have caused the change in traffic, or reporting for that matter?

Thanks!
#analytics #traffic drop
  • Profile picture of the author SamirSM
    Originally Posted by dialseo View Post

    Hey warriors, I manage a site that was seeing 100-200 visitors daily. Out of no where we're seeing 0-5 visitors according to Analytics. The site's been live, no serious updates, and we haven't had any other problems.

    Could it be that Analytics wasn't truly reporting the correct traffic in the first place? What would have caused the change in traffic, or reporting for that matter?

    Thanks!
    Check the Alexa Rank for one. Then depending on which web host you are using, there might be a record of all visits. Check in the Cpanel.

    It is very much possible that the keywords you were ranking in got captured by another regularly updated site.
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  • Profile picture of the author Najmi
    Have you checked the number of visitors in your cPanel?
    Maybe there's some type of glitch in your Analytics account
    I get it too sometimes but my cPanel tells the truth all the time

    -Najmi-
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  • Profile picture of the author mandark
    Take a look at exactly where that traffic was coming from (Traffic Sources section). Maybe you'll find useful info there - for example, were you getting 100 hits per day from an article, but that article has now been removed?
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  • Profile picture of the author Marvin Johnston
    Originally Posted by dialseo View Post

    Could it be that Analytics wasn't truly reporting the correct traffic in the first place? What would have caused the change in traffic, or reporting for that matter?
    One common problem is with the type of analytics being used showing or not showing bot visits to your site. Google analytics tends to not show bot visits, while the host analytics will generally show them.

    You also don't mention your primary traffic sources. Or where the site shows up in the serps, and did that position change for some or all of your keywords.

    Marvin
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    • Profile picture of the author dialseo
      Originally Posted by Marvin Johnston View Post

      One common problem is with the type of analytics being used showing or not showing bot visits to your site. Google analytics tends to not show bot visits, while the host analytics will generally show them.

      You also don't mention your primary traffic sources. Or where the site shows up in the serps, and did that position change for some or all of your keywords.

      Marvin
      Main source of traffic is search engines, by a landslide. The site scores top 3 for varied key phrases. I've not noticed a change in SERPs positions, however.
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  • Profile picture of the author whiteshadow1890
    Banned
    It is possible that the analytics data to not be updated.
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  • Profile picture of the author Jaredmoon
    Banned
    [DELETED]
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    • Profile picture of the author FriendlyRob
      Are we referring to Google Analytics, or something else?
      Signature

      See What I'm up to Now The New Blog

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  • Profile picture of the author JessicaE
    For how long were you getting 100-200 hits per day?
    Also, are you sure nothing changed? Did you delete some page that was getting a lot of hits?
    Is it possible that your place in the search results changed (if some other site is now ranked higher than your site)? The difference you are describing could be the difference between being in the first result page and the second one... SEO...

    Hope I helped,
    Jessie
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  • Profile picture of the author dialseo
    Thanks for everyone's input!

    We are talking Google Analytics. It was displaying data for just shy of a year, each day reflecting trends, eventually bouncing between 100-200 daily visitors (not impressions).

    The ONLY thing we did was add a new subscribe box (unobstructive) to the sidebar. Again the site has seen no down time.

    Alexa shows very conflicting information from what we've seen. It says 10 sites link in, while Yahoo shows around 500.

    I'll check with CPanel today and report back.

    I'd still like to have some answers for my client. Your help is most appreciated!
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  • Profile picture of the author mandark
    If adding the new subscribe box seems to have changed things, do some testing - remove the subscribe box and revert back to the way the site was. If that doesn't change anything, that's fine, just put the subscribe box back. If it DOES bring your traffic back, however, you have something to go on.
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    • Profile picture of the author dialseo
      Originally Posted by mandark View Post

      If adding the new subscribe box seems to have changed things, do some testing - remove the subscribe box and revert back to the way the site was. If that doesn't change anything, that's fine, just put the subscribe box back. If it DOES bring your traffic back, however, you have something to go on.
      It seems kind of crazy (to me) for that to be at fault. The box is two fields, on the lower right of the fold. It isn't cheapening, cumbersome to load, or an eyesore.

      I'll take it down today to try, because I believe in your methodology. If it is to blame, I'll be bewildered that a subscribe box knocked down 200ish daily visitors to 1-5.
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  • Profile picture of the author jonibravo
    Take a look at actuall visitors from your visiting database. Maybe there is some problem there. Because at sometimes same people open website again and again and website owner's softwares unable to detect this problem. It is a common error at certain places. Take a look at your side.
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