Why GSC Impressions Are Up But Traffic Is Falling: 4 Things To Consider First – Ask An SEO

Jun 16, 2026 04:00 PM - 2 months ago 52217

This week’s Ask an SEO mobility is:

“Why person page impressions accrued truthful overmuch successful GSC, but my page postulation is reducing? I thought it mightiness beryllium AIO, but erstwhile I look into this, not each pages person AI Overviews – what other could beryllium causing impressions to summation truthful much?”

Good question, and location are a fewer reasons why this could beryllium happening.

New contented sewage indexed and began to rank.
The layout of the hunt motor results page has changed.
You person irrelevant pages showing up for a query.
SERP features.

New Content Ranking

Sometimes new blog posts, merchandise aliases postulation pages, aliases groups of pages get indexed and statesman to show up successful the apical pages of Google. When this happens, impressions commencement to increase, but you whitethorn not beryllium successful a postulation position yet.

SERP Layout Changes

You whitethorn person the aforesaid rankings, aliases each of a abrupt person caller rankings but nary clicks (including positions 1 and 2). This happens erstwhile the layout of the hunt motor results page changes. It tin hap short-term aliases long-term, and it is virtually intolerable to way because it besides changes based connected wherever the personification is located.

Some of the SERP features that extremity SEO results from getting clicks include:

AI Overviews.
Featured snippets (also known arsenic reply boxes).
PPC ads (sponsored listings that look for illustration SEO results are a immense postulation slayer and apt money shaper for Google).
Shopping ads (there are sometimes 2 aliases 4 rows of these).
Map packs and section business listings showing up.
People Also Ask, things to know, and different rich | results.
Video thumbnails being shown.
Social media and forum results.

Each of these will push aliases distract from the SEO consequence getting traffic. If you’re listed connected the first page, but these extremity you from getting the click, your impressions will increase, but your postulation will not. In this situation, effort modifying your title and description, look to create aggregate types of media, including video and image contented erstwhile relevant, and if you person a beingness location, optimize it for the section packs.

Irrelevant Pages

Sometimes you’ll show up for a ample phrase, but it isn’t thing you sell, a work you provide, aliases a type of contented that is connected your page. I spot this hap regularly pinch beardown websites that are cleanable SEO wise and person the expertise to rank.

Ecommerce sites will motorboat a caller postulation of products, which tin beryllium themed for illustration colors aliases marque collaborations. If the homepage and marque are strong, the keyword-rich soul nexus pointing to the caller class aliases postulation page powers it up and tin boost it to show up for phrases that are irrelevant. This tin see colors, the marque you collaborated with, different brands’ position that person the aforesaid sanction arsenic your caller merchandise collection, etc.

I’ve seen work providers show up for irrelevant phrases to their services. An exterminator whitethorn specialize successful termites, and their SEO decided to overoptimize their page pinch keyword-stuffed headers and content. The title and meta tag are each astir the service, but the query “termites” is aligned pinch anatomy, biology, ways to region them yourself, etc. The different sites showing up amended meet the needs of the searcher, truthful immoderate postulation will click to the exterminator, astir will spell wherever they’ll find the accusation they’re looking for.

Hacked sites get this a lot. Vulnerabilities successful plugins, nonstop hacks, and thing that allows personification to commencement publishing contented connected your tract tin origin irrelevant queries to show up for porn, payday, pills, gambling, etc. Plug your guidelines domain into a instrumentality for illustration Semrush, Ahrefs, Moz, seoClarity, etc., that offers rank search information and look for the keywords pinch ample hunt volumes. If you don’t person a paid tool, spell into Search Console and look astatine queries. Sort by impressions and look for which person ample impressions but nary clicks. Now click the query, and you’ll spot the page showing up.

You tin besides export the database of queries and person it analyzed by Claude, ChatGPT, etc., quickly by asking which queries are not applicable to your website topically. From there, you tin find the hacked pages aliases irrelevant experiences quickly and return action.

SERP Features

Getting a caller SERP feature, for illustration being successful a People Also Ask, is exciting, but it won’t ever lead to much traffic. The champion you tin do is marque building, truthful group cognize astir your website aliases institution and why you exist. When this happens and you commencement populating, you whitethorn beryllium capable to get the clicks.

Brand building present is removing promotional and self-serving contented from pages that are not merchandise and conversion-oriented. This includes blog posts and informative pages. Don’t talk astir why you’re awesome connected your merchandise and class pages either; attraction connected solving the customer’s needs. This will waste your products and services arsenic a solution and hopefully support them coming back.

Don’t opportunity “Our XYZ is the champion for ABC”; instead, say, “The XYZ connected this page useful perfectly for A, B, and C if mixed pinch 123.” This is portion of reducing “we, we” syndrome and conversion complaint optimization. It’s 1 of the quickest and fastest wins.

On your blog, don’t brag astir your products and worldly them in. Instead, springiness solutions users tin usage if they’re not a customer to build their trust. This goes acold pinch SEO and getting societal media shares, too. People will cognize you supply solutions and will beryllium much apt to support returning for more. Our clients who do this good thin to get much postulation from SERP features than the ones that ever request to self-promote.

Start With These To Diagnose

Increased impressions without immoderate postulation are a communal point successful SEO. These are 4 of the normal starting points to diagnose and hole the issue. If it’s a matter of being astatine the bottommost of the SERPs, you’ll request to activity connected getting to the apical positions, but that is an wholly different topic, truthful I didn’t see it here. I dream this helps.

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