# Find pages losing organic search traffic

Compare consecutive Search Console periods and queue pages with meaningful click losses. Each row shows the two traffic totals and the size of the drop.

**Category** Marketing · Search Performance  
**Tools** n8n, Google Search Console, Google Sheets  
**Trigger** Weekly schedule on Monday at 08:00 in the workflow timezone  
**Package** [Workflow JSON](search-content-decay.n8n.json) · [Test payloads](test-payloads.json) · [Validation report](validation-report.txt)

Import the JSON in n8n and run **Run with sample data**. The workflow imports inactive with **dryRun** enabled. The sample run uses fictional data and skips connected apps. Select credentials on the named nodes before testing live inputs.

## How it works

1. Query web-search performance by page for the latest 28 days and the preceding 28 days. Allow a configurable reporting lag and request finalized data.
2. Compare pages that appear in both periods. Flag declines above the configured baseline, absolute drop, and percentage drop.
3. Upsert findings by period and URL. The team checks seasonality, search changes, and page changes before deciding what to refresh.

## How to use

1. Enter the exact Search Console property in **Setup**, such as **sc-domain:example.com** or **https://www.example.com/**, and the destination spreadsheet ID.
2. Create a generic **OAuth2 API** credential for Google with the **https://www.googleapis.com/auth/webmasters.readonly** scope. Use Google's authorization and token endpoints and a user with access to the property. Select it on both Search Console HTTP nodes. Enable the Search Console API in your Google Cloud project.
3. Create a tab called **Search Review Queue** with **Finding ID, Page, Period End, Baseline Clicks, Recent Clicks, Lost Clicks, Drop Percent, Baseline Impressions, Recent Impressions**. Connect the Google Sheets account.
4. Set the workflow timezone and thresholds. The defaults require at least 30 baseline clicks, 15 lost clicks, and a 25 percent drop. Test a scheduled staging run before activating the regular report.

## Test and operate

- The fixture returns one flagged page with a 50 percent click decline.
- Pages absent from the latest response count toward **missingFromRecent**. Investigate them independently since Search Console can omit rows.
- If either window reaches the row limit, the workflow stops. Increase the limit within the API maximum or adapt the query to a narrower page scope.
- Repeating the same period updates the same finding rows. A new period creates a fresh set of review items.

A click decline is a review signal. Check comparison dates, impressions, search position, and recent site changes before editing a page.

[n8n Marketing source](https://n8n.io/workflows/13838-detect-content-decay-from-google-search-console-and-alert-via-slack-and-email/) · [Search Console Search Analytics API](https://developers.google.com/webmaster-tools/v1/searchanalytics/query)