SEO Seasonality – When Does Website Traffic Peak?
Worried that traffic to your website is falling? It does not necessarily mean that you are doing something wrong. Declines may result from SEO seasonality, the natural cycle of user activity. Find out when website traffic is highest and when it starts to decrease.
What are seasons in SEO?
SEO seasons are periods of changing user activity in search engines throughout the year.
Seasonality affects every industry and is generally associated with the summer holiday period or Christmas, when online activity is significantly lower.
SEO seasons can also occur within specific industries. For example, a fireworks store will record the highest organic traffic around New Year’s Eve.
Interest in the phrase “fireworks” throughout the year.
Regardless of the specifics of individual industries, we will focus on general SEO trends that affect the vast majority of websites.
What does SEO seasonality look like?
The typical period of declines and increases is illustrated by the blue line in the chart below:
As the chart above shows, SEO activity consists of four stages:
- The period of natural SEO declines begins around June, at the start of the summer holiday season.
- The traffic reduction continues through the end of August and slows down when people return from their summer break.
- Traffic increases in September and continues to grow until Christmas. Lower online activity lasts until the New Year.
- Traffic rises dynamically in January and remains stable until the summer holiday season. The cycle then begins again.
Changes in SEO performance are not caused solely by actions taken on a website. Increases and declines also result from natural periods when people are resting or working.
Website traffic is falling – what should you do?
Search traffic resembles a stock market chart, with periods of bull and bear markets. Periodic declines are natural and, by themselves, should not yet be a cause for concern.
Of course, it is worth regularly monitoring your website and identifying the causes of declines or increases in rankings. However, the analysis should also account for seasonality, which can have an impact of several dozen percent.
Considering these cycles, it is difficult to set SEO records in July or August, when many people take a break from work. Similarly, it is worth preparing your business for the winter period, when website traffic is at its highest.
Review your own charts in Google Analytics or Search Console to identify seasonality in your case. Understanding these mechanisms will not only help you stay calm when SEO performance temporarily declines but also help you anticipate upcoming waves of growth and increased customer activity.
SEO Seasonality – Q&A
As a general rule, website traffic is highest between January and April. This is when the greatest number of people are working and using the internet.
However, this is only a general trend and may vary by industry. For example, a boat rental company will typically experience its lowest SEO traffic during the winter season.
Generally speaking, website traffic is lowest during the summer holiday season and around Christmas. This is when the greatest SEO declines occur.
Again, it is important to remember that individual industries, such as travel websites, may record their highest traffic during these periods.
First, your industry may not experience SEO seasonality at all. This is common in industries where demand remains steady throughout the year, such as hairdressing or funeral services.
Second, you may not yet be generating enough traffic to notice these patterns. A new website that is still growing may set new records every month. Over time, however, the number of users will increase and natural activity patterns will become more visible.
Summary
- SEO seasonality refers to periods of increasing and decreasing organic traffic. It results from changing user activity throughout the year.
- SEO cycles are generally divided into four stages: a summer decline, a September rebound, a Christmas decline, and a January rebound.
- Changes in organic traffic result not only from active optimization efforts but also from SEO seasons, which may vary between industries.
Would you like to learn the principles of SEO? We offer a unique SEO course that will prepare you for a career in search engine optimization or help you promote your own business.
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