Title: Experiencing 0 Clicks and a Drop in Rankings Post-March 2025 Core Update—Coincidence or the Impact of AdSense Auto Ads?
Hello, r/SEO! I launched my website on February 24, 2025, as a side project focused on calculating the odds of winning prizes from scratch-off tickets available across the USA. Between my launch and March 14, 2025, my metrics were looking promising:
- Clicks: 166
- Impressions: 2,720
- Average CTR: 6.1%
- Average Position: 12
I was thrilled to see such a rapid increase in traffic. However, after March 15, my traffic completely vanished. Here are my metrics from March 15 to March 29, 2025 (yesterday):
- Clicks: 0
- Impressions: 52
- Average CTR: 0%
- Average Position: 52.5
I know the March 2025 Core Update rolled out between March 13 and March 27, and it’s been three days since the updates finished, yet I see no signs of recovery. Should I just wait it out a bit longer to see if things improve, or is there a potential issue with my site?
The only recent change I made was enabling AdSense and activating Auto Ads on March 15 after getting approval. I’ve since disabled Auto Ads to see if that helps. Other than that, I’ve only added more pages without altering the content of the existing ranked ones.
I would really appreciate any insights or advice you might have! Thank you!
One response to “0 clicks and lowered position on my website since the Google March Core 2025 Update? Or is it because I enabled AdSense Auto Ads?”
It sounds like you’re experiencing a significant drop in traffic, which can be frustrating, especially after seeing some initial success. Here are a few thoughts that might help you identify the cause and potentially improve the situation:
Google Core Update: It’s possible that your site was affected by the March 2025 Core Update. Core updates can lead to fluctuations in rankings, especially if Google’s algorithm has adjusted how it assesses the quality or relevance of content in your niche. Sometimes, sites experience a temporary dip in visibility after an update, but they can regain their position as Google re-evaluates sites.
AdSense Auto Ads: Enabling Auto Ads can affect user experience and site performance, especially if the ad placements disrupt the content flow or if they load slowly. This could lead to lower user engagement metrics, which may in turn influence rankings negatively. If you’ve disabled Auto Ads and your site is still struggling, it may be unrelated, but it’s good to monitor any changes once you’ve turned it off.
Content Quality: Even if you haven’t made any changes to existing content, continuously improving and updating your content based on the latest trends or user queries relevant to scratch-off tickets can be beneficial. Ensure your content is well-researched, engaging, and offers unique value to users.
Site Performance and UX: Check the overall performance of your website, including loading speed, mobile-friendliness, and overall user experience. Any issues here could also affect rankings and user engagement.
Backlink Profile: Consider building quality backlinks to your site. If your site is new, having a strong backlink profile can significantly impact your visibility in the search results.
Patience and Monitoring: Sometimes fluctuations can take time to stabilize. Continue to monitor your analytics for any signs of recovery. It can take weeks or even months for adjustments post-update to reflect in your traffic.
Engagement Metrics: If you have access to tools like Google Analytics, review engagement metrics such as bounce rate and session duration. A decline here could indicate users are not finding what they expected when clicking on your site, which could also influence rankings.
Community Feedback: Consider asking for feedback outside of just this post (such as usability tests or SEO audits) to garner other perspectives on any potential issues with your site.
It may take some time to see if the changes you made yield positive results. Keep iterating on your site, focusing on user experience and quality content, and monitor trends and updates in the SEO landscape. Good luck!