It takes a lot to keep a viable and active SEO campaign consistently delivering results. With all the work that goes into the day-to-day management of a website or blog, it can be all too easy to fall behind in one or more areas. If this occurs, then your SEO campaign may slowly begin to unravel. Unfortunately for many, the damage is often done before it can be prevented from cascading across the entire brand. That is not to say that it is a permanent condition, and thankfully, there are ways to catch this trend in motion before it gets out of control. Below, we’ll talk about some of the signs you can spot that indicate a dying SEO campaign, which will allow you to act before it becomes an even bigger problem.

Organic Traffic Plummets

This is the number one sign of a dying SEO campaign and certainly a cause for alarm. Whenever organic traffic to a website drops, it is indicative that something has changed (and certainly not for the better). There can be multiple reasons for this happening: from SEO algorithm changes by search engines to compromised websites that may be pumping out black-hat/covert ads, you’ll need to consider all of the possibilities. Nevertheless, a sudden drop in organic traffic is not natural and needs to be addressed first and foremost by determining what is the underlying cause. In order to catch this as soon as possible, check your site metrics every week and monitor how organic page visits change between intervals.

Traffic Begins to Flatline or Decline

Any successful SEO traffic strategy is built around one basic premise: from month to month over the long term, your traffic should grow. There will no doubt be occasional ups or downs along the way, but a lack of movement or a continued down trend in your overall traffic is cause for worry. When assessing traffic in this regard, it is best to evaluate it over a monthly period. If two to three months go by and your traffic is either not growing or suddenly declining across all sources, then it is definitely time to consider some revisions to your SEO strategy. By doing so while also following the advice given in regards to organic traffic above, you’ll be able to prevent your efforts of pinging links and sharing content from being in vain.

Your Keywords Start Crashing

While keywords certainly don’t carry as much value as they did with respect to SEO campaigns in years past, they are still a vital component of any campaign’s effort. As such, pinging links and keywords and ranking well for them should be on your priorities list when considering any changes in your performance and traffic. If you suddenly notice a rapid drop in keyword performance – whether it be an isolated series of cases or for all keywords – you need to begin digging deeper for the answers behind this. It could be that something has merely changed with search engine algorithms and your strategy is now off, that your site is suddenly over-optimized by Google’s standards or that your brand has suddenly accrued tons of bad reviews. There are dozens of potential possibilities, so be sure to carefully examine all variables before jumping to any conclusions on your keyword performance.