Why is my website getting no traffic and what to do?

Main cause — search engines can't find you

For 80% of new sites with zero traffic, the situation is one of three: pages aren't in Google's index, content doesn't match real user queries, or the niche is so competitive that without a 6+ month budget you have no realistic chance.

Top 5 reasons for zero traffic

• Not in the index. Check: site:yoursite.com on Google. If you see 0 results — indexation is blocked (via robots.txt, noindex meta, or 5xx errors).
• No keyword targeting. Content is written "about the company" rather than answering specific queries. Without keyword research, traffic won't come.
• Young domain. Google grants trust to sites over 3-6 months. Before that, rankings are low even with perfect SEO.
• Technical errors. Slow loading, poor Core Web Vitals, broken redirects, duplicate pages.
• High competition. For niches like "buy apartment in NYC" — no budget under $5k/month gets you anywhere as a newcomer.

What to do right now

1. Connect Google Search Console. Check "Pages" or "Coverage" — see how many pages are indexed and which are excluded.
2. Run a technical audit. Tools: Screaming Frog (free up to 500 URLs), PageSpeed Insights.
3. Build a keyword map. Use Ahrefs, Semrush, or Keyword Planner to collect 50-200 keywords your site SHOULD rank for.
4. Analyze competitors. Look at the top 10 results for your main keyword — you'll understand the content and backlink requirements.
5. Set a 3-6 month plan. SEO isn't "set it and traffic flows." It's a long-game discipline.

When to get a professional SEO audit

If you've spent 2-3 months on "improvements" with no traffic — it's time for a comprehensive audit. A good audit, done in 24-48 hours, will pinpoint exactly where the problem is: indexation, content, links, or technical. Without diagnosis, you'll burn time and money guessing.