Traffic drop after the relaunch: causes and first aid
First check: Is it really a break-in?
Compare the same time periods, such as the same days of the week, and check whether the measurement itself is working. If tracking is missing on some pages after the relaunch, it looks like a drop, but it is not one.
The most common causes
- Missing or incorrect redirects – old addresses end in 404.
- The noindex or robots.txt of the test environment has gone live.
- Canonical tags point to incorrect addresses.
- Important content, titles or texts have been shortened or removed.
- The new page loads significantly slower.
First aid
- Check the robots.txt and meta-robots of the most important pages.
- Search for the pages with the largest losses in the Search Console performance report and test their old addresses.
- Sort 404 errors by visitors and add redirects.
- Complete the lost content on the new pages.
Not only search traffic
Direct traffic can also drop: bookmarks, links in emails, and printed QR codes. If scans of a QR code continue after the relaunch but no more requests are received, the code is likely landing on an error page.
Frequently asked questions
Fluctuations in the first few weeks are normal. If traffic remains significantly below the initial level after a few weeks, you should look for causes.
Technically often yes, but it is rarely sensible. The causes can usually be addressed specifically.
The pages that had the most clicks before the relaunch. That is where the loss is greatest.
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