If your Google rankings dropped suddenly, you are probably asking “why have my Google rankings dropped, and how do I get them back?” After twenty years of diagnosing ranking drops, I find the cause is almost always one of a handful of things. Here are the most common ones, how to check each, and what to do about it.

First, check whether the ranking drop is real

Before changing anything, make sure you are looking at a genuine drop:

Compare like with like. In Google Search Console, compare the last 28 days with the previous period, and with the same period last year, to rule out seasonal dips.
Check clicks and positions together. If positions are steady but clicks fell, the cause may be fewer searches or a change in how Google displays results, not a ranking loss.
Check your tracking. A broken analytics tag after a website update can look like a traffic collapse.

1. URL slug change – ranking drop

Does changing the URL slug lead to a ranking drop for that page? Quick answer: it can, but you can prevent most of it.

What is a URL slug?

The slug is the part of a web address that identifies a specific page, after the domain name. In www.paulhoda.uk/google-rankings-dropped-causes/, the slug is “google-rankings-dropped-causes”.

Why changing a URL slug can drop rankings

I once built a page for a client to first position in Google, supported by links from other websites and from the client’s own pages. The client then changed the URL slug without telling me. Overnight, every link pointed to a page that no longer existed, and within days the page had dropped.

Fixing a URL slug change with a 301 redirect

A 301 (permanent) redirect from the old address to the new one is the fix. It passes most of the old page’s value to the new one and sends visitors to the right place. Recovery is not always instant, because Google has to recrawl the redirect and the links pointing to it, and while that happens a competitor can take your place. Also update your own internal links to the new address so they do not go through the redirect.

The lesson: choose slugs carefully and treat them as permanent. Only change a URL when there is a strong reason, and always redirect the old one.

2. Ranking drop after a website redesign or migration

Redesigns are one of the most common causes of a big ranking drop I am asked to fix, especially moves to a new platform such as WordPress. If yours is one of them, my WordPress SEO help page explains what to check. Rankings usually fall because: Moving to a new domain carries its own risks, which I cover in what happens when a highly ranked domain is redirected.

Page addresses changed without 301 redirects, so the old pages return 404 errors.
Pages were deleted or merged, losing content that was ranking.
Titles, headings and text were rewritten, removing the words the pages ranked for.
The new site was left set to “noindex” or blocked in robots.txt, a common leftover from the development site.
Internal links changed, so important pages are now harder to reach.

To prevent this, list every ranking page before the redesign, keep their addresses and key content where possible, redirect anything that moves, and check the new site for noindex tags before launch.

3. Ranking drop after switching from HTTP to HTTPS or changing domain

Moving to HTTPS or to a new domain should not cost rankings in the long term, but a badly handled move can. Make sure every old address redirects with a single 301 to its exact new version, update your sitemap and internal links, and add the new version to Google Search Console. For a domain change, also use the Change of Address tool. A short dip while Google processes the move is normal, and rankings typically settle within a few weeks when it is done properly.

4. Google core updates

Google releases several core updates a year, and they can move rankings sharply up or down. Check the Google Search Status Dashboard to see whether an update was rolling out when your traffic fell. Core updates do not target specific mistakes, so there is no quick fix. Google’s advice is to improve how helpful, original and trustworthy your content is, then wait for the next update for recovery to show. I cover this in more detail in my article on SEO tactics for Google updates.

5. Technical problems

Sudden, site-wide drops are often technical. Check the Pages report in Search Console for newly excluded pages, and look out for:

pages accidentally set to “noindex” by a plugin or theme update
robots.txt blocking important sections
server errors, hacked content or a slow host
wrong canonical tags pointing pages at other addresses

6. Lost links, stronger competitors and manual actions

Lost links. If important websites removed their links to you, rankings can slowly slide.
Competitors improved. Sometimes you did nothing wrong, and a competitor simply published a better page. Compare what now outranks you.
Manual actions. Rarely, Google applies a penalty by hand. Check Security and Manual Actions in Search Console. If there is one, it tells you why.
Changes to the results page. AI Overviews, map results and ads can push organic listings down even when your position has not changed.

Have a ranking drop? I can help

Finding the real cause quickly makes all the difference to how fast you recover. If you have lost rankings after a URL change, a redesign or an update, get in touch and I will review your site and tell you what happened. Get a second opinion on your rankings and I will tell you what I think caused the drop.