My travel blog just won’t rank after Google updates… what’s going on?

I’ve got a blog full of travel guides for Europe, which is something I really know well. But after all the Google updates over the last year, my traffic has just tanked.

No matter what I write, I never seem to rank, even when I go after keywords that should be a good fit. It started recovering a little in September 2024, but the next update crushed it again.

Anyone else dealing with this? Any advice or things that are working for you? My site has authority, it’s been around for years, and I put a lot of effort into it—no AI spam, fast load times, updated posts. But I feel like I’m wasting my time at this point. Help!

That update killed my site too. I’m at the point where I don’t even know if it’s worth continuing anymore. My site: Colouringprintouts.com

J.cole2 said:
That update killed my site too. I’m at the point where I don’t even know if it’s worth continuing anymore. My site: Colouringprintouts.com

Yeah, I feel the same way. It was finally getting better, then bam… gone again.

J.cole2 said:
That update killed my site too. I’m at the point where I don’t even know if it’s worth continuing anymore. My site: Colouringprintouts.com

You need way more text on your pages if you want to rank. I know it seems weird for a site like yours, but try adding detailed descriptions under each image. Maybe talk about why the artwork is relaxing or add a little background about the subject. Also, your mobile layout is a bit overloaded with ads—it’s not the best experience for visitors.

Try sharing your content across all your social platforms and repurpose it in different ways to get more visibility. If you think Google updates hit you hard, check out this post from another forum where someone shared recovery tips: https://www.reddit.com/user/madhuforcontent/comments/1hslbnf/how_to_recover_website_traffic_and_rankings/

Honestly, I’d ditch Mediavine. I have a feeling their ad setup messes with rankings. Plus, on mobile, it’s a rough experience for users.

Have you considered switching to AdSense?

Tracy said:
Honestly, I’d ditch Mediavine. I have a feeling their ad setup messes with rankings. Plus, on mobile, it’s a rough experience for users.

Have you considered switching to AdSense?

AdSense is awful though.

@Brookrogen
I haven’t had issues with it, and my sites are still (barely) holding their rankings.

What’s your blog URL?

Drop your blog URL here or in a DM, and I can take a look to see if anything stands out.

Same boat here. Google traffic is worse with every update. I was in tears last night out of pure frustration. This is brutal.

Scott said:
Same boat here. Google traffic is worse with every update. I was in tears last night out of pure frustration. This is brutal.

I know exactly how you feel. I just wanted to see if anyone has seen any improvement after these updates. There has to be some hope out there, right? :pray:

You’re not alone. Blogging isn’t dead—it’s just changing. Try focusing less on Google and more on things like email lists, communities, and direct traffic. And backlinks from solid sites still matter a lot.

If you share your blog, I’d be happy to check it out and give some feedback.

I run a travel blog too. I was ranking on page one for tons of articles. After the December update? Nothing. It’s like my site doesn’t exist anymore, no matter what I do. I don’t even know where to start fixing it.