I’d check first. Most of the checks are quick, free and done in Search Console, and doing them in order stops you paying to fix the wrong thing.
This is the order I use, turned into a tool you can work through in your browser.
What it does
Five quick questions first. Where do you see the fall, did the site change, which pages fell, what happened to impressions, what happened to enquiries.
From those answers it tells you where I’d look first, and why. It’s a place to start, not a diagnosis.
Then 18 checks, in order. Is the drop real? Does Analytics agree with Search Console? What date did it start? Did demand fall? Did the site change? Are pages indexed? Do the old URLs redirect? What does a made-up address return? Has the results page changed? Did a Google update overlap?
For each one you mark Found, Ruled out or Can’t tell, and write what you saw.
There’s also a small calculator for sizing the loss, using clicks and impressions before and after.
When you’re done you can copy a summary or download it as a CSV.
How I’d use it
Start with the questions, then go straight to the first four checks and don’t skip them.
The date matters more than the name of any update. If you can’t say what day clicks began to fall, everything else is guesswork.
Most of the checks will come back Ruled out. That’s the useful result, because it tells you where not to spend money.
What it won’t tell you
It won’t tell you that an update caused the drop. It won’t tell you that the drop cost you enquiries unless you were recording enquiries.
If most of your rows end up as Can’t tell, that’s a finding. It usually means missing history or missing tracking, and the first job is to fix that.
On a driver training investigation, the loss of visibility was proven, but whether it cost bookings wasn’t, because Analytics had recorded nothing for almost two years. Working through a list like this would have shown that on day one. The full case study has the detail.
Nothing you enter leaves your browser. Your answers are kept on your own device so you can come back to them, and there’s a button to clear them.
Prefer a spreadsheet?
The same checks are in a workbook, with a timeline tab for dates and a page-loss calculator. Download the traffic drop triage workbook.
If you’d rather someone else did it
I run these checks on other people’s sites as a traffic decline investigation. It starts from your own Search Console data and tells you what’s proven, what’s likely, what’s ruled out and what can’t be shown.
The guides behind the tool are free: why has my organic traffic dropped, after a redesign, after a Google update and enquiries down but traffic fine.
You can also request a free assessment or get in touch.
FAQ
Is the traffic drop triage tool free?
Yes. It runs in your browser with no sign-up, and the workbook version is a free download.
Do you see what I enter?
No. Everything stays in your browser. Your answers are saved on your own device so you can return to them, and the Clear everything button removes them.
Do I need anything other than Search Console?
Search Console covers most of it. Google Analytics helps with the second check and Google Trends with the demand check. If you don’t have analytics set up, the tool will tell you that’s the first thing to fix.
Will it tell me why my traffic dropped?
Not by itself. It shows you where I’d look first and what you’ve checked. A cause is something the evidence supports, and a tool can’t supply the evidence. It only stops you skipping the cheap checks.
Does it work if my traffic fell more than 16 months ago?
Partly. Search Console only keeps 16 months, so the start of an older decline may be gone. Mark that check Can’t tell, which is worth recording.