Our behaviour in searching for products or services has always been in flux. But lately, we’re seeing a much bigger shift in customer behaviour than usual. If you’ve noticed reduced web traffic from organic search recently, you’re getting fewer clicks from social media and/or your blog is generating little new business, find out what’s happening here – and how you can adjust.
We used to be able to rely on a solid SEO strategy to get click-throughs on Google. Alas, the age of AI has shifted that. In the past, social media posts were a great way to get people to visit your site, but now these platforms have algorithms in place making third-party links virtually useless. Both of these shifts mean you’ll be seeing a decline in web traffic (particularly to blog posts) and, ultimately, fewer conversions/sales.
When two of your main sources of leads suddenly slow down, or dry up entirely, it’s easy to panic. But rather than doubling down on a path that has stopped delivering results, it’s time to pivot. Let’s take a look at what is happening, and I’ll share my best advice on how to change course.
SEO and AI leaving you scratching your head? Check out my blog post on Small Business SEO in the Age of AI Search!
Contents:
The Old Way: Search-Driven Web Traffic
The Shift: Social and Networking-Driven Discovery
What does that mean for your marketing?
Owning Your Channels
Recap and Takeaways
The Old Way: Search-driven web traffic
The old model was fairly simple. People went to the internet searching for answers to their questions. Your website content – particularly blog posts – and strong SEO brought them to your website. There, they would find this valuable and helpful content, which would solve their problem and add a potential client to your roster.
Getting high-quality clicks to your website resulted in your page ranking higher in Google searches, both for people looking for similar advice and people looking for your services. The higher you ranked, the more web traffic you were likely to receive. Which, in turn, creates even better results from organic searches. It ran, if properly managed, like a well-oiled machine.
You could also encourage people to keep in touch with you by signing up for your mailing list or following you on social media. This is where you could convert them from potential to paying customers, encouraging reviews, referrals and repeat business in the process.
Additionally, you could send further positive signals to Google by driving traffic from your email newsletter and social media to your website. Positive online reviews from happy clients also helped.
How did this impact your web traffic?
This system had a lot of benefits. For a start, it gave you measurable traffic, something easy to track and notice any shifts in. It also had fairly predictable outcomes, because as long as you kept creating relevant content, this positive loop would continue. But on top of that, it meant you were attracting a high-intent audience. People who were already genuinely interested in what you had to offer.
In this scenario, online search played the discovery part of your sales funnel (or customer journey, as I prefer to call it). Social media, your newsletter or podcast was then responsible for nurturing people to become paying clients through building trust and credibility, with the conversion stage often happening on your website.
The Shift: Social and networking-driven discovery
Now people are less likely to use Google to research the answers to their questions. They’re asking ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini instead. And while the LLMs (Large Language Models) might have used your content, among others, to be able to answer their questions, they won’t add external links to their answers unless they’re specifically asked to.
Interestingly enough, Google has also followed that trend. It now delivers the answer to your question directly in their search results. Over the past few years, around two-thirds of Google searches resulted in zero clicks.
At the same time, social media algorithms have changed. Their aim is to keep people on the platform longer by reducing the visibility of posts containing links. And some of them go even further, not allowing any links in their feed.
So, if your web traffic from organic searches and social media platforms has dropped off, and you’re generating fewer leads as a result, this is why.
Other changes contributed to this as well. These days, we are more likely to like a social media post with a quick double-tap than read a long caption, comment or share. And with engagement becoming more passive, social media content has quickly shifted towards bite-sized, attention-grabbing or inspiring tidbits.
In a nutshell…
Google search is no longer a way to get discovered by potential clients. And, social media is less about building relationships and keeping in touch to nurture followers into customers.
Instead, social media has become a discovery platform all of its own. The focus is on brand awareness, similar to networking, where you make new contacts and get people to connect, follow and/or subscribe. While Google is generating web traffic predominantly from people looking specifically for you or your services.
Looking at your funnel, social media has now somehow moved into the role of discovery platform. And your website and blog have become your focus for building credibility and trust – and ultimately convert people into paying customers.
What does that mean for your marketing?
All of the above means that you need to revisit your marketing strategy. Being clear on how and where you attract new potential clients and convert them from followers into loyal clients in light of the latest changes in consumer behaviour is key.
The next step is to realign your marketing channels and customer journey and adapt your content accordingly. Which platforms are you using for the discovery, nurture, credibility and conversion part of your sales funnel? And how are you best guiding people from one stage to another?
For example, you could be looking at sharing bite-sized insights on social media from now on, saving deeper takeaways and expertise for those who have signed up to your newsletter.
Owning your channels
Apart from flexibility, there’s another lesson here: The importance of owning your channels.
Social media platforms are great – but they are not yours. Not only are you subject to whatever developers are trying to achieve next with their algorithms, but you could also lose access to an account permanently through no fault of your own. Scary, but true!
And the same goes for online search. All the hard work you’ve put into your blog and SEO isn’t pulling as much of its weight anymore if Google is sending fewer potential clients to your site.
So, focus your efforts on your newsletter, a podcast or Substack – your communities – instead. No one can take your mailing list from you – your Instagram followers, however, aren’t yours to begin with.
It’s also crucial to prioritise these platforms because they are so much less dependent on algorithms. You ultimately have far more control over who gets to see the expertise you’re sharing.
As an add-on to your own platforms, consider things like public speaking or being a guest on someone else’s podcast. This is a great way to reach new audiences in the discovery phase, taking a little pressure off your own channels. Collaborations are also an excellent way of doing this. Check out my blog post discussing how to successfully collaborate with other businesses.
Recap and Takeaways – How to regain control of your web traffic
I know that was a lot to take in! But in short, how potential clients discover you is changing. There’s a big shift from active search to passive exploration.
If this shift is impacting your business through your web traffic, I’d encourage you to take some time to revisit your marketing strategy and current customer journey. Look for gaps in your strategy where your marketing is falling back into the old model, and work out how to adjust.
If you found this post helpful and you’re looking for more practical guidance on this (and so many other marketing topics), don’t forget to subscribe to my newsletter.
KEEP READING
To read more about this topic, have a look at these:
How to Build Trust with Your Marketing (and Attract the Right Clients)
Clarity that wins Clients: Your Brand Messaging Framework
Small Business Brand Strategy: Stop Blending In and Start Standing Out
How to Make Your Marketing Resilient – Building a Strategy to Weather All Storms
