Seasonality in SEO – when is there the most traffic on the website?
Are you worried that traffic on your website is decreasing? It doesn’t necessarily mean that you’re doing something wrong. Decreases can be due to SEO seasonality, which is the natural cycle of user activity. Find out when traffic on your website is highest and when it starts to decrease.
What are seasons in SEO?
In SEO, we refer to the variable activity of users in the search engine throughout the year as seasons.
Seasonality applies to all industries and generally arises from the summer season (known as the “holiday season”) or due to Christmas, when internet traffic is significantly lower.
SEO seasons can also occur within specific industries – for example, a fireworks store will experience the highest organic traffic around New Year’s Eve.
Interest in the phrase “fireworks” over the course of a year.
Regardless of industry specifics, we will focus on general SEO trends that impact most websites.
What does seasonality look like in SEO?
The typical period of declines and growth is illustrated by the blue line on the chart below.
As we can observe in the above chart, SEO activity consists of four stages:
- The period of natural SEO declines starts to appear around June, which is at the beginning of the holiday season.
- The reduction in traffic continues until the end of August and slows down when people return from their summer vacation.
- In September, there is an increase in traffic until the Christmas season. The decreased internet users’ activity lasts until the New Year.
- In January, there is a dynamic growth in traffic, which stabilizes until the holiday season. The cycle starts again.
Changes in SEO results are not solely caused by actions taken on the website. Increases and decreases also occur due to natural periods in which people rest or work.
Website traffic is decreasing – what to do?
The movement from search engines resembles a stock market trends, where we have bull and bear markets. Periodic declines are a natural phenomenon and should not be a cause for concern on their own.
Of course, it is worth regularly analyzing the website and determining the causes of decreases or increases in positioning. However, the analysis should also take into account seasonality, which can have an impact of even several tens of percent.
Considering these cycles, achieving SEO records in July or August can be challenging, as many people take a break from work. Similarly, it is worth preparing the company for the winter period when website traffic is at its highest.
It is worth looking at your own charts from Google Analytics or Search Console to determine seasonality in your case. Understanding these mechanisms will not only allow you to remain calm when SEO temporarily decreases, but will also help predict upcoming waves of growth and increased customer activity.
Seasonality in SEO – Q&A
Typically, the highest traffic on the website occurs during the January-April season. That’s when the most people are working and using the Internet.
However, this is a general trend that can be disrupted in specific industries. For instance, for boat rental companies, the winter season will be characterized by the lowest SEO traffic.
Generally speaking, the lowest website traffic occurs during the summer season and also during the Christmas holidays. During these times, we experience the largest drops in SEO.
It is worth noting again, however, that individual industries, such as travel websites, may then experience the highest traffic on their pages.
Firstly, perhaps your industry doesn’t have to experience seasonality in SEO at all. This is a common case in industries where demand remains consistent throughout the year (e.g. hairdresser, undertaker).
Secondly, perhaps you are not yet generating enough traffic to notice such patterns. A new website that is still growing may break new records every month. However, over time, the number of users will increase, and natural activity patterns will become more visible.
Summary
- Seasonality in SEO refers to periods of growth and decline in organic traffic. This is the result of varying internet user activity throughout the year.
- Typically, SEO cycles are divided into four stages: a decline during summer vacations, a rebound in September, a decline during the holiday season, and a rebound in January.
- Changes in organic traffic are the result of not only active efforts but also SEO seasons, which may differ for different industries.
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