Ethereum.org’s organic traffic has seen a huge drop over the last few years – while some macro conditions can impact search demand, Ethereum appears to have seen a strong loss in organic traffic beyond sentiment & awareness.
In this article we review Google updates, potential impacts, and possible roads to recovery for Ethereum.
Looking for a Crypto SEO Agency?
Ethereum.org’s organic traffic surged through 2021 and early 2022, peaking around April 2022 at roughly 2.2 million monthly visits. After this peak, a downward trend set in.
At the time of writing, Ethereum is the 5th result for its own brand. Demand for ‘Ethereum’ was overtaken by demand for ‘ethereum price’ in the US and other key countries, this appears to have caused Google to deem other websites as more relevant than Ethereum.org. This appears to have occurred during the HCU (helpful content update) – if users are looking for information pertaining to ETH’s price, it’s likely that CoinMarketCap, etc. are better resources.
These trends suggest multiple steep drops rather than one continuous decline, indicating that specific events or changes (likely search algorithm updates) coincided with the biggest traffic losses. Two of the core keywords driving traffic were:
- ‘ethereum price’ Global Volume 849.8K, US volume 550k
- ‘ethereum’ Global Volume 1.1M, US volume 165k
| Position | Type | Domain |
| 1 | Top stories | cointelegraph.com |
| 1 | Top stories | tronweekly.com |
| 1 | Top stories | thecryptoupdates.com |
| 1 | Top stories | blockchainmagazine.com |
| 1 | Top stories | cointelegraph.com |
| 1 | Top stories | decrypt.co |
| 1 | Top stories | blockchain.news |
| 1 | People also ask | vaneck.com |
| 1 | People also ask | bitget.com |
| 1 | People also ask | investinghaven.com |
| 1 | People also ask | bankrate.com |
| 1 | Organic | coinmarketcap.com |
| 2 | Organic | wikipedia.org |
| 3 | Organic | x.com |
| 3 | Knowledge panel | wikipedia.org |
| 4 | Organic | reddit.com |
| 5 | Organic | ethereum.org |
By late 2023, traffic had plummeted over 90% from its high, falling to around 200,000 visits per month. In 2024, the site’s traffic dropped and sustained at a much lower level (generally 100k–180k monthly) with a slight uptick mid-year, followed by further declines toward the end of 2024.
Click-through Rate Estimates
Based on this position, CTR models predict, based on many factors what an expected CTR % should be – while we can’t confirm Ethereum’s traffic, we can review and estimate organic traffic.
| position | Branded % | Non Branded % |
| 1 | 33.41 | 25.77 |
| 2 | 13.16 | 10.85 |
| 3 | 7.69 | 6.56 |
| 4 | 5.05 | 4.36 |
| 5 | 3.39 | 3.06 |
Currently, we’d expect anywhere between 3-5% CTR based on this ranking for brand, approximately, between the two core keywords, ‘ethereum’ and ‘ethereum price’ we see circa 1.9M searches a month, with Ethereum now capturing circa 100k users via organic, 100,000 clicks from 1,900,000 = 5.2% CTR.
This falls from the possible 37-40% CTR held by position 1, which would equate to around 800,000k, which was Ethereum.org’s last ATH in terms of traffic in April. This allows us to share an informed opinion on the importance of rankings, and how a drop of 2-3 positions can lead to exponential traffic loss.
Timeline of Google Updates & Traffic Drops
Several of Google’s major algorithm updates align closely with Ethereum.org’s traffic declines. Here, we dive into known Google updates, and how they may of impacted Ethereum’s traffic, Notably:
Google released a broad core update in late May 2022, which likely contributed to the initial downturn after Ethereum.org’s April 2022 peak. Core updates generally reassess search rankings site-wide to reward high-quality, relevant content. Ethereum.org’s traffic dipped in May–June 2022, suggesting the site may have lost some rankings as Google recalibrated results. (This was a more modest drop compared to later losses.)
A significant drop occurred around April 2023, shortly after Google’s March 15–28, 2023 core update. This core update was a typical broad algorithm change, and many sites saw volatility. In Ethereum.org’s case, organic visits fell ~40% from March to April 2023. The timing strongly suggests the March core update hit the site’s rankings. Google’s core updates aim to surface more useful, original content and demote content deemed low-quality or less relevant. Ethereum.org may have been affected if certain pages were viewed as less aligned with search intent or lower in “quality” under the new criteria.
Google’s Helpful Content Update (HCU) ran from Sept. 14 to 28, 2023. This update focuses on promoting “people-first” content and devaluing content made just to rank. Interestingly, Ethereum.org’s traffic did not immediately drop during September, however, this rollout took around 2-3 weeks, from then, we saw a sharp drop in traffic.
In early October 2023, Google rolled out two overlapping updates: a broad core update (Oct. 5–19) and a spam update (Oct. 4–20). Ethereum.org’s traffic dropped sharply in October (from ~743k in Sept to ~548k in Oct), marking one of its steepest single-month declines. The October 2023 core update’s effects were hard to isolate because it coincided with a major spam-fighting algorithm change. The spam update aimed to “clean up several types of spam” – including cloaking, hacked content, auto-generated and scraped content – across various languages. While Ethereum.org isn’t a spam site, the overlap of a volatile core update and a spam purge created significant ranking turbulence across the web. It’s likely Ethereum.org lost rankings during this period as Google re-evaluated content and cut down on anything deemed low-value or spam-adjacent.
Hot on the heels of October’s changes, Google launched another broad core update on Nov. 2, 2023, which finished by Nov. 19. This update was reported as extremely volatile – even more so than the October spam update. For Ethereum.org, November brought a massive traffic plunge (to ~218k, down ~60% from October). The overlap of the November core update with a November reviews update made its impact even more pronounced. Given Ethereum.org isn’t a reviews site, the core update was the primary factor. Google’s messaging around these late-2023 core updates emphasized showing “genuinely useful” content over content “made just to perform well on Search”. The implication is that Ethereum.org’s pages were outperformed by other sites that Google’s new algorithms deemed more useful or trustworthy for certain queries.
Google’s next core update started March 5, 2024 and became the largest core update in Google’s history, taking 45 days to fully roll out (completed April 19, 2024). Simultaneously, Google launched a March 2024 spam update (March 5–20) targeting new spam tactics. By early 2024, Ethereum.org’s traffic had already been severely reduced, so the site didn’t see another huge drop during this update. In fact, its traffic in March–April 2024 remained relatively steady (~170k to 160k). It’s possible that by this point the site had “bottomed out,” or that any minor losses were offset by the removal of competing spam in search results. The March 2024 core update did state a goal of reducing low-quality and unoriginal content by 45% in results. If Ethereum.org had any lingering quality issues, it may have struggled to regain rankings during this period.
Google released another broad core update on Aug. 15, 2024, completing Sept. 3. This update was also large, and Google noted it took into account feedback from the prior helpful content update to better serve smaller, high-quality publishers. In mid-2024, Ethereum.org was seeing a gentle recovery (traffic rose to ~181k in Aug from ~153k in June). However, following the August core update, the site’s traffic fell again – down to ~161k in Sept and then ~125k by Oct 2024. This suggests the August 2024 core update may have reversed some of Ethereum.org’s mid-year gains, possibly because the algorithm adjusted which sites are considered most relevant or authoritative for Ethereum-related searches.
Google unexpectedly rolled out back-to-back core updates in November and December 2024. The Nov 2024 core update ran Nov. 11–Dec. 5, followed just a week later by the Dec 2024 core update on Dec. 12–18. Additionally, a December 2024 spam update ran from Dec. 19–26. These late-2024 updates were somewhat less impactful than the earlier ones, but still showed moderate volatility. Ethereum.org’s traffic dipped marginally further (from ~115k in Nov to ~107k in Dec). The December spam update was a broad global spam cleanup that “hit very hard” in many cases, though it mainly targeted outright spam sites. For Ethereum.org, the consecutive core updates likely prevented any immediate recovery during the holiday period. The site’s rankings remained suppressed as Google continued fine-tuning its quality and spam thresholds.
In progress as of 13.03.25.
In summary, most of Ethereum.org’s traffic declines align with major Google core algorithm updates, with late 2023 being especially devastating. Spam-related updates in late 2023 and late 2024 coincided with core updates, compounding the volatility. Each update refined Google’s ability to identify quality, relevance, and trustworthiness – and Ethereum.org often lost search visibility when these standards were tightened or recalibrated.
Protect & Inform your SEO
We’ve helped the leading Web3 projects & brands scale their SEO.
Why the Updates Hit Ethereum.org – Potential Factors
The pattern of losses suggests that Google’s changing algorithms judged some aspects of Ethereum.org less favourably over time. A few potential reasons stand out:
Content Quality and Relevance:
Broad core updates are designed to reward content that is original, comprehensive, and satisfies user intent, while demoting content that is thin, outdated, or not as helpful. Ethereum.org’s content is largely developer-focused documentation and information about the Ethereum platform. It’s authoritative, but much of it is highly technical. Google may have decided that for many popular Ethereum-related queries (e.g. “what is Ethereum”, “Ethereum price”, “how to use Ethereum”), users prefer simpler explanations or news sources over the official technical docs. If the site lacked beginner-friendly or SEO-optimised pages for those queries, it could lose rankings to sites that better matched the average searcher’s intent. In short, as Google’s core updates refined their understanding of usefulness, some of Ethereum.org’s pages might have been deemed less immediately useful for the queries they were ranking for, despite being accurate.
E-A-T and YMYL Considerations:
Crypto topics often fall under “Your Money or Your Life” (YMYL) content, which means Google holds them to higher standards of Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness (E-A-T). While Ethereum.org is the official source for Ethereum, it’s possible that Google’s algorithms still found areas to improve. For example, Google might favour sites with clear financial or educational guidance for users over a pure developer perspective. If Ethereum.org’s content or structure didn’t demonstrate certain trust signals (e.g. clear authorship or sourcing on informational articles, or content geared toward novice users making financial decisions), core updates could downgrade its visibility. Each core update since 2021 has increasingly emphasised E-A-T for YMYL topics. Ethereum.org’s massive traffic drop in late 2023 following those core updates suggests the site’s authority in Google’s eyes was re-evaluated – perhaps Google started treating other sites (like news outlets, educational sites, or even community Q&A forums) as more appropriate authorities for many Ethereum-related searches.
Site Structure and Content Depth:
Google’s October 2024 communications revealed an algorithm that checks if parts of a site are “starkly different” from other sections and then adjusts site-wide ranking signals accordingly. Ethereum.org hosts a variety of content – from beginner guides, to technical developer docs, to ecosystem news. If some sections of the site were much weaker (in quality or user engagement) than others, this algorithm might have reduced the site’s overall authority signal. For instance, if the blog or community sections weren’t as robust as the docs, it could pull down the whole domain’s rankings slightly. Ensuring a consistently high quality across all sections is important, especially after updates like this.
Backlink and Spam Signals:
Google’s spam updates (like the link spam update in late 2022 and the broad spam updates in 2023/24) could indirectly impact a legitimate site like Ethereum.org. These updates invalidate spammy or low-quality backlinks that sites might have accrued. Ethereum.org likely has thousands of backlinks, not all from reputable sites (many scraper and low-quality sites link to official resources). If Google’s spam algorithms neutralised a chunk of Ethereum.org’s backlink profile, the site’s authority score might have dropped, contributing to ranking declines. Importantly, this isn’t a manual penalty – it’s Google discounting the value of bad links. The result would be Ethereum.org losing some of the “link juice” that was helping its rankings. In addition, spam updates remove a lot of junk sites from results, which can reshuffle rankings for everyone. Ethereum.org might not benefit from these if its own relevance score was borderline; instead, other authoritative sites filled the void when spam was cleared out.
No Direct Penalty, But Competitive Losses:
It’s worth noting that Google’s core updates don’t “penalise” specific sites for specific actions; rather, they reassess the relative quality and relevance of all content. So Ethereum.org’s decline likely means that, post-update, other websites were deemed more relevant or helpful for the queries that used to drive traffic to Ethereum.org. For example, a query like “Ethereum smart contract tutorial” might have shifted – perhaps a YouTube result, a developer blog, or a site like Medium gained priority over Ethereum.org’s own documentation after the updates. These shifts accumulate, resulting in a significant traffic drop. The core updates in late 2023 were especially aimed at surfacing “content that people find genuinely useful”. If Ethereum.org’s pages didn’t meet the evolving criteria for usefulness (for the average searcher, not necessarily for an expert user), that could explain the loss of rankings.
In summary, the Google updates likely impacted Ethereum.org by favouring content that is more user-friendly, fresh, and aligned with search intent, especially for non-developer audiences. Ethereum.org’s highly technical or static content may have been outperformed by more accessible content on other sites when Google raised the bar on quality and relevance. Additionally, any reduction in perceived authority – whether from E-A-T factors or backlink devaluations – would make it harder for the site to rank as prominently as before.
Insights and Recovery Strategies
Recovering from an organic traffic decline of this magnitude requires addressing the core issues highlighted by Google’s updates. Here are some strategies and insights for Ethereum.org to consider:
Audit and Improve Content Quality:
Conduct a thorough content audit of Ethereum.org. Identify pages that have outdated information, thin content, or that don’t seem to satisfy user needs (e.g. high bounce rates or short time-on-page). Revise and expand these pages to provide more value. For instance, if a documentation page is very terse or overly technical, add context, examples, or links to beginner-friendly resources. Emphasise original, in-depth content that can’t be found elsewhere. By improving overall content quality and depth, the site stands a better chance of meeting Google’s core update standards. (Core updates reward sites that demonstrate expertise and fresh, useful content in their niche.)
Align Content with Search Intent:
Analyse the keywords for which Ethereum.org lost rankings and consider why another result might now be favoured. If, for example, people searching “Ethereum” or “smart contracts” are often beginners, Ethereum.org should ensure it has a clearly presented introductory page for those topics (even if it links to deeper docs for details). Creating or optimising content to match the intent behind high-volume queries can win back Google’s favour. This might mean adding FAQ pages, glossaries, or concise explainers that are more approachable, complementing the detailed technical docs. Essentially, show Google that Ethereum.org serves all levels of user intent – from novice questions to advanced technical deep-dives.
Demonstrate E-E-A-T:
Emphasise Ethereum.org’s Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness throughout the site. Some practical steps: add author bylines and profiles on blog posts or guides, especially if Ethereum Foundation experts or well-known developers can be shown as the content creators. Include references or external citations in informational content to trustworthy sources (for example, if explaining a concept, link to research or reputable publications). Make sure the site has an up-to-date “About” page that establishes the Ethereum Foundation’s credibility. If there are sections that could raise trust concerns (e.g. anything about security, finance, or user investments), add clear disclaimers or safety tips to show responsibility. By bolstering E-E-A-T signals, Ethereum.org can improve how the site is evaluated during core updates that scrutinise YMYL content.
Technical SEO and Indexing:
Ensure there are no technical issues hindering Ethereum.org in Google. For instance, check that hreflang tags are correctly implemented for multilingual content so that Google serves the right language to the right users (avoiding any duplicate content confusion). Verify in Google Search Console that important pages aren’t excluded or encountering crawl errors. Also, review the site’s structure – it should be easy for Google to crawl and understand the hierarchy of content (from general topics down to specifics). A clear, logical site structure can help Google’s algorithms better evaluate the site’s content and context.
Remove or Noindex Low-Value Pages:
If the audit finds pages that are very thin, of low value, or not intended for search discovery (for example, stub pages, outdated announcements, or duplicate translations), consider removing them or using a noindex tag. Core updates assess site quality in aggregate; having a portion of the site be low-quality can drag down the whole domain. Cleaning up these pages can improve the overall quality signal of Ethereum.org. This includes clearing out any spammy user-generated content if present (e.g. spammy forum threads or comments, though on the official site this may be minimal). Reducing index bloat ensures Google focuses on your best content.
Monitor Backlinks and Disavow if Necessary:
While Ethereum.org naturally accumulates backlinks (some good, some bad), it may be useful to review the backlink profile. If there was a surge of spammy links (perhaps from crypto scam sites or link farms) that coincided with traffic drops, consider using Google’s Disavow Tool for those domains. Google’s spam updates generally handle bad links automatically, but a proactive cleanup can’t hurt if there are clearly toxic links pointing to the site. More importantly, strengthen the backlink profile by earning high-quality links: for example, publish shareable content (like research, insights into Ethereum usage, or developer tutorials) that authoritative sites will cite. A robust, natural link profile boosts the site’s authority so it can better withstand algorithm changes.
Stay Current with Google’s Guidelines:
Google’s algorithms and guidelines evolve continuously. Ethereum.org should stay informed about future updates and documented changes. For example, if Google releases new guidance on AI-generated content or content experience, the site should ensure compliance (e.g. if any content is AI-assisted, it should be vetted for quality and have human oversight). By promptly adapting to Google’s known best practices – such as Core Web Vitals for page experience, mobile usability, etc. – the site can avoid being on the wrong side of an update. In 2024, Google even rolled out AI-powered search features and a “topic authority” system for news; while not directly tied to core updates, these indicate the importance of authoritative, well-tailored content. Ethereum.org could take cues from these and continue positioning itself as the authoritative hub for Ethereum information.
Leverage Analytics and User Feedback:
Finally, use data to guide recovery. Analyse which pages lost the most traffic and for what queries. If possible, gather user feedback on those pages – are visitors finding what they need? High drop-off rates might indicate content isn’t meeting expectations. By improving engagement metrics (like time on page, bounce rate) through better content and UX, Ethereum.org can send positive signals to Google. Over time, as the site’s content is refreshed and user satisfaction improves, the rankings should recover organically (though it may take until a subsequent core update recalibrates rankings in the site’s favour).
Recovering from a core update-induced decline is typically a gradual process. Google’s own advice notes that sites might not regain rankings until the next core update after improvements are made, since that’s when the algorithm can reassess the site with fresh eyes
Ethereum.org will need to implement improvements and then be patient. By focusing on user-first content, demonstrating its authority, and fixing any technical or quality weaknesses, the site stands a strong chance of regaining lost ground. Future Google updates (like core updates in 2025) could then reward Ethereum.org’s enhancements, allowing its organic traffic to rise again.
Let’s Talk Crypto SEO.
Sources used:
https://hackernoon.com/9-common-technical-seo-issues-and-how-to-fix-them-beginners-guide
https://hackernoon.com/top-use-cases-of-generative-ai-in-seo
https://hackernoon.com/how-to-use-off-site-seo-to-improve-your-website-traffic
