Web Sales Enquiries Have Stopped

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Guys,

I need your help.

I've been working with a great client on their SEO for the past couple of years.

Everything was great; impressions, clicks, enquiries and sales.

Then just before the CWS/Page Experience update enquiries stopped (and so did sales).

Then the Page Experience metrics fell off a cliff.

The clients VERY good web developer addressed all the CWS/Page Experience issues, and everything recovered at the beginning of August.

The only thing is, although impressions and clicks are now the best they've ever been (600+ keywords on page 1, 8440 clicks, 453k impressions, all In The Field metrics for mobile and desktop are Good) and continue rising, we've not been getting ANY enquiries since the beginning of September.

I have tested the web forms (Gravity Forms) and they all appear to be working fine.

Any suggestions/recommendations?

Thanks very much,
Richard
#enquiries #sales #stopped #web
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  • Profile picture of the author dave_hermansen
    Yeah ... don't base everything off of one month - especially September - which tends to be one of the worst sales months of the year across many many niches.
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  • Profile picture of the author Rife Interactive
    Thanks Dave,

    I've been telling myself that people just aren't interested in the offer and/or we need to focus on more competitive, higher volume keywords (which we're working on and just about to start a PPC campaign).

    But the truth is we had 13 enquiries last September, which is 13 more than this September.

    And more importantly, because of the fixes we made to Page Experience impressions and clicks are almost double what they were a year ago.

    So I feel something's not right?
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  • Profile picture of the author SARubin
    Originally Posted by Rife Interactive View Post

    Guys,

    I need your help.

    I've been working with a great client on their SEO for the past couple of years.

    Everything was great; impressions, clicks, enquiries and sales.

    Then just before the CWS/Page Experience update enquiries stopped (and so did sales).

    Then the Page Experience metrics fell off a cliff.

    The clients VERY good web developer addressed all the CWS/Page Experience issues, and everything recovered at the beginning of August.

    The only thing is, although impressions and clicks are now the best they've ever been (600+ keywords on page 1, 8440 clicks, 453k impressions, all In The Field metrics for mobile and desktop are Good) and continue rising, we've not been getting ANY enquiries since the beginning of September.

    I have tested the web forms (Gravity Forms) and they all appear to be working fine.

    Any suggestions/recommendations?

    Thanks very much,
    Richard

    Hard to know what's wrong without more info, and without seeing the before and after changes of the website. Also I have no idea what you're selling or who your market is.

    But I can offer you some generic insights based on the fundamental principles of behavioral economics...


    When your developer made the changes, what did they change?

    Did they change the font or font size? Rearrange the layout or move the inquiry form, from one position to another? Change any colors on the site? Change the copy to make it fit better with the new design?


    There's dozens of possible tweaks that can nudge conversions (higher or lower) depending on your target market.

    Just because google says the page experience is better according to their algorithm, doesn't necessarily mean it's better for the conversion flow with your actual buyers.

    So that's one possibility.


    Another possibility, and this might not be what you want to hear, see, smell, taste or feel - but it might not be anything you did that crashed your response rates.

    Depending on your offer (or niche) the current news cycles might be affecting your market.
    In the past month... America had a disastrous pullout from Afghanistan, one of the major financial lenders in China (Evergrande) just defaulted on billions of dollars in loan payments, and Covid is still a major disruption in many parts of the world.

    These types of uncertainties have an effect on peoples spending habits. Spending can go up or down depending on the what you're selling and the current news cycle. And as frustrating as it is, some of these things we have no control over except to zig and zag with the changes.

    So there's another possibility.


    I can think of a half dozen more possibilities off the top of my head, but without more insights into your operation I would just be guessing and throwing out words to hear the sound of my own voice (which I don't mind doing, because I have a wonderful voice) but guessing games rarely ever solve strategic problems.

    The best recommendation I have for you right now is to look at the 2 possibilities I mention above, and see if they help you trigger your own insights into the solution.


    Best of luck to you,
    Steve
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    • Profile picture of the author sonjay
      Originally Posted by SARubin View Post

      Hard to know what's wrong without more info, and without seeing the before and after changes of the website. Also I have no idea what you're selling or who your market is.
      - couldn't have put it better than that.

      Have you back-tracked the different things which led to inquiries and sales? Review your conversion elements, including but not limited to the call-to-actions (even sentences telling the users what to do next) and the overall content (for example in a niche I'm working on, the fees and requirements like the credit cards accepted, customers expect to see these on the landing pages to help them decide right there and then).
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      • Profile picture of the author Rife Interactive
        As I say the look and feel is the same as it was, we've just improved CWV (mainly speed).

        CROs on the list for later this year.

        Thanks,
        Richard
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  • Profile picture of the author Rife Interactive
    Thanks Steve,

    The look and feel of the site has remained the same. The developer just changed the LCP/FID/CLS response times as necessary.

    I think the attached screenshot says it all.

    Yes, there's a lot going on currently that could be impacting sales, but it's an upmarket product and I don't think it's been affected by world events (but it would be great if that's all it is!).

    Cheers,
    Richard

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    • Profile picture of the author SARubin
      Originally Posted by Rife Interactive View Post

      Thanks Steve,

      The look and feel of the site has remained the same. The developer just changed the LCP/FID/CLS response times as necessary.
      Cool. At least you can take that one off the table now.

      Originally Posted by Rife Interactive View Post

      Yes, there's a lot going on currently that could be impacting sales, but it's an upmarket product and I don't think it's been affected by world events (but it would be great if that's all it is!).

      Cheers,
      Richard
      I still don't know what market you're in, so all I can do is guess. But I'll toss out one more generic question for you...

      If your offer isn't being affected by world events, has there been any local or niche related events in your market (or adjacent markets) in the past month? Something that might cause people to hesitate before they buy?

      Or better yet, something you can tap into and bring your numbers up by changing your offer?




      OK, without knowing more about what we're talking about I think that's all the guessing I can do for now.

      I wish you the best of luck figuring this one out, Richard. Hopefully it's only a speed bump. And if it turns out to be more than a blip, you have some exciting detective work ahead of you. And like a water drop of insight, in the middle of a marketing ocean, I hope I've added something positive to to your search.

      All the best,
      Steve
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  • Profile picture of the author DABK
    So, these 600+ keywords on page 1, are they the same as we're on page 1 before?

    Where do the visitors come from? What country? How many from the country you sell in? How many from the same places as before?

    What page do they visit first? What do they do then? On what page(s) do the fall off?

    How many make it to the sales page? How many used to before?

    If you get about the same number if people to your sales page and your sales page is not broken, you are getting a different type of visitor, someone earlier in the sales process or not a buyer at all.

    By the way, did you try to buy? Did you test the sales page, in other words.

    Originally Posted by Rife Interactive View Post


    The only thing is, although impressions and clicks are now the best they've ever been (600+ keywords on page 1, 8440 clicks, 453k impressions, all In The Field metrics for mobile and desktop are Good) and continue rising, we've not been getting ANY enquiries since the beginning of September.

    Richard
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  • Profile picture of the author Rife Interactive
    600+ keywords are about the same.

    Mainly from UK and US.

    Landing page depends on the product they're searching for. Most end up on the Contact Us page.

    Yes, quite a few of us have tested the sales pages and all working fine.

    However, I do suspect a security plugin is causing a problem with Gravity Forms.

    I hope to confirm this in the next couple of days.

    Thanks,
    Richard
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    • Profile picture of the author DABK
      So, you did not, once on your contact page, contacted yourself?


      Originally Posted by Rife Interactive View Post

      600+ keywords are about the same.

      Mainly from UK and US.

      Landing page depends on the product they're searching for. Most end up on the Contact Us page.

      Yes, quite a few of us have tested the sales pages and all working fine.

      However, I do suspect a security plugin is causing a problem with Gravity Forms.

      I hope to confirm this in the next couple of days.

      Thanks,
      Richard
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  • Profile picture of the author mattlaclear
    Are you still having the problem? If you pm me the link I can lend you an extra set of eyeballs. Scary business sometimes.
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