Over the past eighteen months, the pandemic has made business unpredictable at best. Most industries saw a sharp downward trend for a few months in the first half of 2020, but then as more and more companies recognized e-commerce as the way forward, online sales started to fill in the gap, and web traffic soared.
In the summer of 2021, however, people are enjoying greater freedom of movement thanks to relaxed restrictions. This has caused a long-awaited resurgence for travel-related companies, but most other industries are experiencing a pronounced dip in web traffic as consumers unplug for a while and head out of the house to make up for lost time with summer trips. This in turn has caused some panic amongst businesses that have worked hard to adapt their marketing strategies to the new normal. So what can you do if you’re one of the millions of businesses experiencing this drop in website visitors?
Don’t stress out about it. Aside from a few scattered industries, we’re all in the same boat with this downswing in traffic, so it’s not something you’re suddenly doing wrong. You can’t control this kind of external fluctuation, and therefore there’s nothing to be gained from worrying about it. Summer vacations will end and school will be starting again soon, so we’re all waiting to see how that seasonal shift affects web traffic trends. This is new territory and no one really knows for sure, so we all just have to keep our eyes open and be ready to respond to any changes.
Do your best to attract new traffic. What you can do in the meantime, however, is take the opportunity to assess your current SEO practices and fine-tune your approach. There have been a few Google algorithm updates this year, and although most sites weren’t greatly affected either way, it never hurts to make sure that you’re taking advantage of all the ways that search engines can help bring people to your website. Don’t forget your social channels, either – they can be powerful tools both for organic traffic and paid advertising.
Focus on what’s important. Web traffic is one way to measure success, but in a time where traffic is down almost across the board, you can look to some other metrics to measure how your business is doing. Pay attention to your conversions in particular – after all, all the traffic in the world isn’t going to matter if you’re not turning those visitors into paying and returning customers.
Web traffic is one of the more complex aspects of digital marketing, so it’s essential to have someone knowledgeable on your team. Contact us for a free consultation – we’ll help you understand what you’re doing right, and what improvements you could be making to take your marketing strategy to the next level.
COGO Interactive is an award-winning digital marketing agency specializing in online marketing strategy, web design, SEO and social media marketing. We work with clients in Virginia, Maryland, Washington, DC and across the nation.
