With so many metrics to consider in today’s world of content creation, e-commerce and marketing, it can be easy to forget about various data-points or ignore them altogether. Unfortunately, the world of internet marketing and creation doesn’t reward those who engage in these forms of behaviour. Especially when it comes to conversions, it is important to keep a close eye on what is going on with respect to your marketing efforts. Have your conversion rates suddenly become better or worse, and you’re unsure why this is happening? Continue reading to find out some of the reasons potentially behind this.

Website Alterations

Has your website changed recently in one way or another? This can impact conversions in a variety of ways. If you have embarked upon a journey to make changes that improve usability, then it is possible that more people are simply interacting and following through with calls to action. If you have made a less than objective change to the website and conversion rates are dropping, then you may wish to consider reverting. There is also the element of SEO to consider. If your site has been significantly changed and has not taken into account actions that preserve SEO when directories are renamed or pages are moved/deleted, then you could simply be the victim of less traffic.

Price Fluctuations

If the price you are pinging to Google for various items or services has changed recently, then this is an obvious red flag for dips and spikes in conversion rates. In some cases, search engines may not have updated your prices when reflected in metadata, meaning that searchers may see the old price in SERPs and a (higher or lower) price on the page. If your traffic has increased, then this is obviously a good sign that your price changes are having the intended effect. If your traffic has changed and/or you have increased prices, then you’ll seriously want to consider whether any changes made were the best or necessary decision.

Seasonal Shifts

Some products will do better in select seasons than others. If you are selling coats and jackets, for instance, do not expect a huge boom in conversions unless you are significantly discounting merchandise. Likewise, items that are designed for a particular season will do much better when that season rolls around. There may also be a series of current events happening that is driving attention to the broader product or service that you offer (and to a lesser extent, to your website). This piqued interest is almost always temporary and will soon fade, but it is nevertheless important to understand when and why it is happening.

Changes in Traffic Sources

If you are keeping up with traffic that is being pinged to Google Analytics or a similar platform, then you’ll be able to see exactly from where your traffic comes. Has it recently changed in terms of the amount originating from each source? A more professional and/or relevant source of traffic for your site may have emerged through link building or referral exercises, or perhaps a once-important driver of traffic has now changed or deleted the links sending people to you. Another common example is that you’ve been dinged or upgraded by Google’s algorithms and are no longer deriving as much or as little traffic from the search engine giant.