Weird traffic drop after cleanup

Realistically, yeah, I’ve seen that happen more than once. Sometimes “cleanup” just means you changed enough stuff at once that Google gets twitchy for a bit. Thin pages disappearing can also make the site look smaller/weirder short term before anything settles. I’d be more suspicious if the drop lasts a couple weeks, not a couple days. If you nuked a bunch of internal links too, you may have accidentally cut off some pages that were still doing a little work. Just my experience.

Yeah, been there. “Cleanup” on a site is weirdly often followed by a wobble, like Google needs a minute to figure out what you just did. The annoying part is you never know if it’s just normal churn or you actually broke some stuff. Removing thin pages can absolutely tank a few long-tail drips for a bit too, even if it was the right call. I’d give it a little time before touching anything else. If you keep fiddling with it every day, it just gets messier. I mean, That’s how I look at it.

Technically, yeah, I’ve had that happen. Usually it’s not “Google hates cleanup,” it’s more like you changed enough signals at once that it takes a bit to stop wobbling. The internal links thing is the part I’d watch first. I’ve seen sites lose some weird little traffic pockets just because a few pages stopped getting passed any juice at all. Removing thin pages is fine, but if they were propping up other junk pages or even just helping crawl paths, the drop can look nastier before it settles. I wouldn’t touch anything else for a week or two, honestly. That’s where people screw it up — they panic, start “fixing” the fix, and then…

Yeah, I’ve had that too. Usually right after a cleanup too, which is the annoying part. If you changed a bunch of stuff at once, I wouldn’t even trust the numbers for a bit. Google seems to do that stupid little wobble where it re-evaluates the site and everything looks worse before it settles. Thin pages disappearing can also drag down those random long-tail visits for a while. The internal links part is the one I’d be side-eyeing though. I’ve definitely cut off pages that were quietly doing something useful and didn’t notice until traffic dipped. Not saying that’s what happened here, but it’s the first thing I’d check before blaming the cleanup itself. I’d probably leave it alone for a week or two and see if it stabilizes. If you keep tweaking it every day, you never really know what caused what.

Yeah, I’ve seen that. Usually the cleanup itself isn’t the problem, it’s the site needing time to stop wobbling after you yank a bunch of stuff around. The internal links bit would make me a little nervous though. I’ve definitely “fixed” a site and then realized I’d cut off some dumb little page that was quietly feeding the rest of it. I’d leave it alone for now, annoying as that is.

Honestly, yeah, that’s pretty normal in my experience. The annoying part is you never know if it’s the cleanup itself or just Google taking its sweet time to reprocess everything. The internal links thing is the one I’d watch closest. I’ve had “junk” pages end up doing some sneaky work for crawl paths or just keeping a few long-tail terms alive, and once they’re gone the site looks worse for a bit. Doesn’t mean the cleanup was wrong, just means the site lost some weird little support structure. I’d honestly stop touching it for now. If you keep fiddling every day, you’ll never know what actually caused the dip.

Honestly, yeah, that’s the fun part — you “clean up” and suddenly the site looks like it got kicked in the teeth. I’d be side-eyeing those internal link changes more than the thin pages tbh. Google loves pretending it’s all about quality until you remove some dumb little page that was apparently holding the whole thing together. Interesting take.

Yeah, I’d be looking at the internal links first too. Thin page removals usually don’t tank things by themselves, but if you chopped a bunch of crawl paths or orphaned a few decent pages, Google can act like the site fell off a cliff for a bit. I’ve had cleanup phases where traffic dipped for 2-3 weeks before settling back. If you keep changing stuff every day though, you’ll never know what actually broke it.