Domain traffic dropped from 8k to 0

[KimGrant]

I am considering acquiring a niche website focused on skiing, for which the seller asserts that all traffic originates from Bing. However, upon examining data from Semrush and Ahrefs, it is evident that the domain experienced significant growth in 2022, increasing from zero visitors in January 2022 to approximately 8,000 in November 2022. Subsequently, there was a steep decline in traffic. By February 2023, the traffic had decreased to 4,500 visitors, further plummeting to 2,000 in March 2023 and dropping to 300 by April 2023. Throughout the remainder of the year, traffic remained at approximately 200-300 visitors until it ultimately reached zero in January 2024, a status it has maintained since.

I am entirely confident in my ability to enhance the performance of this webpage, as it is well-structured and operates on WordPress, a platform with which I am quite familiar. Nonetheless, this drastic decline in traffic raises significant concerns for me. Could this downturn be attributed to a Google penalty? Is recovering from such a penalty possible without changing the domain name? Furthermore, could there be a method for me to identify the underlying cause of this traffic decline?

 

[hancock]

Check out the Google Helpful Content Update, which significantly impacted general information websites in September 2023. If your site focuses on general information, reviews, or any kind of general content, the HCU may have dealt a tough blow to its performance.

 

[natalie]

The issue may be attributed to insufficient management and a negative impact from Google. The individual in question has likely abandoned the website, exacerbating the situation due to Google's interventions. Throughout my experience as a website broker, I have observed several websites that have suffered demise due to inadequate management. Regarding the possibility of recovery, restoring the site is feasible. One should procure high-quality backlinks and rewrite, restructure, and update the existing articles to enhance their relevance and quality.

 

[Lucash]

Have you assessed the competitors for both short—and long-form keywords? In recent years, another entity may have established dominance in that niche. I have observed instances where domains experience significant reductions in traffic due to another website consistently producing superior content overall.