Why is my traffic dropping after moving to a new platform?

[LouSells]

Hi,

I moved my existing website to Shopify just over a year ago now and have spent extensive time checking and adding all obvious seo, back links, blogs, social media links and email marketing. We are active on Google shopping also and when I search items I can see our stock. We used to get maybe 20-40 visitors per day but now we are lucky to get 4 and maybe 2-4 sales per week. It’s soul destroying. We are struggling and now have no real advertising budget or budget for external tech support. 

can anyone advise or offer a good deal with almost guaranteed results in the uk market as im at a loss of what to do next.

thanks

www.LouSells.co.uk

[biznazz101]

Some things that could be improved for better chance of conversion:
-Add a logo, currently it is just a wordmark using the same text style shown throughout the website, this doesn't inspire confidence for possible customers

-Image aspect ratios should be the same so things look uniform on the website

-Seller sign up should have a CTA button instead of the current plain text link

-The homepage could use some work, maybe add an image banner or slideshow with CTA button as well as a featured product or collection. Customers lose patience fast, you want them a few clicks away from a purchase as soon as they reach the homepage, and you need to motivate them to take an action such as viewing or adding a product

-Add an image to your "about us" page and maybe a set of buttons: "Shop Now" & "Contact Us" in place of the existing contact form

In terms of driving traffic, your blog is a good start along with backlinks etc. You can also try and optimize your content/product descriptions for SEO. The best advice I can give is to utilize social media ads, try different platforms, target audiences, and ad sets till you find what works best for your brand. It is best to hire an expert for the ads, but if this isn't an option see what your competitors are doing in terms of ads and use that as a starting point, this can be done easily using Facebook. (of course ads will cost $, but it is important for growing your store if it lacks traffic)

I hope that helps, don't hesitate to reach out for more help with your store!
@biznazz101 

[LouSells]

Thanks, these were really helpful. I have made some changes that and hope that this helps get some traction on the website.

[LouSells]

Thanks for your guidance and recommendations

[EmmanuelFlossie · Accepted solution]

Generally the first weeks of January is always slower, if you have advertised for more than a year, you can check your performance from last year, and see if a drop existed during the same period.

In my opinion, it is not abnormal to have lower performance during this period.

You can also check if your competitors are having the same issue by viewing the auction insights, compare the period of slow performance vs the previous period.

[LouSells]

Thank you, yes time of year won't help but it was just the low levels of visitors that had concerned me and it has been that way for several months

[EmmanuelFlossie]

If it's several months that is not normal.

In this case, I would look at which day the drop in performance happened. 

Then check your Google Ads history to see if you have made any changes.

I would also try to think back what changed in Google Merchant Center, as there is no change history, it will be harder to figure out.

But generally, either your competitors improved performance and you did not, or you made a change that did not go well.

I recommend starting by improving the data feed quality by following the requirements and recommendations here: https://support.google.com/merchants/answer/7052112?hl=en

[Clayton_Bates]

Hi @LouSells,

Clayton Bates here from Shopify Experts 

Most of my best clients making the most money have either done one or both of the below 

• Built A Brand (Free But Takes Time)
• Paid Ads (Costs Money But Gets Faster Results)

 Checking your social media accounts it looks like you're close to breaking through and getting more traffic that way. 

The site could use with some little tweaks and improvement to help those visitors that are coming. 

I made heaps of free videos on my YouTube that might help 

https://www.youtube.com/@ClaytonBatesShopifyExpert/videos

I'm sure you will get everything going great soon

Pretty much anything is possible when you put your mind to it. 

Cheers

Clayton Bates - Inspire Small Business

[LouSells]

Thanks yes I am running ads and hoping this helps generate some interest 

[Gojiberry-Amee]

Hi LouSells, 

This is Amee from Gojiberry - Shopify Survey & Feedback App. 

Having a few sales a week is quite a big step forward already! First, pat yourselves on the shoulders for that. I took a look at your store and have a few suggestions that will help increase your conversion rate: 

1. Banners. I understand the need for SEO and placing words on top, but I think having some attractive banners goes a long way. Perhaps consider having the words come second? 

2. Connect Social Media. I went ahead and followed you on Instagram! Since you already have a growing Instagram account, it would help to connect the feed to your main site, thus giving it more social proof. Research shows that 76% of customers buy products seen on social media posts. 

3. Influencer Collab. Since you have visually appealing products, it would be good to connect with micro-influencers, send them some of your pieces, and ask them to create some content for your social media as well as your Shopify store. 

4. Connecting online with offline. If you have a showroom / physical store, make sure to always be telling your customers about your online store, adding a quick card with your online store address provides your new customers a chance to purchase again without coming to your physical store. 

5. Testimonials. Try to showcase at least 5 testimonials on your site. Whether it's from friends and family, or your offline store customers. Having some social proof helps boost consumer confidence in your site. 

6. Ask your customers! (Most effective for increasing conversion) When you have some converting customers, ask them how they found out about your shop. You can easily do so with a post-purchase survey app, and reward your customers with coupons/points to keep them coming back again. Once you find out your strongest marketing channel, focus more effort and money on that.

Hope this helps! 

Amee | Gojiberry Team