When the sun is shining, beer gardens are bustling and Brits are stripped down to their shorts and T-shirts, it’s understandable that your website traffic may take a hit.
If the change in weather can have an impact on our search behaviour, then seasonal changes will undoubtedly have a similar effect.
In the world of online marketing, understanding how the changing of the seasons can impact traffic is important, as it can help anticipate a decline in sessions, impressions and a variety of other performance metrics.
When you can anticipate these seasonal changes, you’re better equipped to persevere through the slower periods and hit the ground running when traffic picks up.
Let’s start at the beginning of the year. January can be a varied month depending on your business.
If you work in the fitness or self-help industry, you may find that the traffic to your website spikes following the festive season, with an influx of ‘new year, new me’ clients.
If you’re e-commerce, on the other hand, you may notice a drop in traffic, as customers are holding on to their money after an expensive month.
It is typical to see a dip in traffic at the beginning of the year, since fewer people are searching after Christmas.
With early pay days in December and the (what feels like) 17 weeks of January, people are just trying to survive until the end of the month. Get through January and you can get through anything.
As the winter season progresses into early spring, you might not see the ‘spring’ in traffic you’re hoping for. People are still dealing with the financial effects of Christmas or are spending time with loved ones over Easter.
Traffic should start levelling off towards the end of these months, with the warmer weather and lighter nights putting a spring in our step. A website for a garden centre, for example, may start to see an increase in web traffic and sales during this time, as customers start to think about preparing their gardens for summer.
The summer can be a slow season for websites of many industries, as this is the time most people are keeping the kids entertained during the holidays, or enjoying a much-needed getaway.
On the other hand, the industries that make these things possible, such as holiday companies, recreational activities, attractions and transportation may see an increase in traffic during the summer season.
Traffic is likely to increase during the autumnal season, as this is when organised online shoppers begin their Christmas shopping. Online retailers are likely to reap the rewards of this increase in web traffic through to the end of the season as a result of the rising popularity of Black Friday.
Online retailers should anticipate an increase in web traffic during the winter season. Throughout the holiday season, the internet welcomes an influx of online shoppers searching for the best promotions and stocks of that must-have gift.
In a recent study, it was revealed that only 34% of shoppers were doing their Christmas shopping exclusively in-store. That means 66% of shoppers could be headed to your site!
It’s important to plan ahead to capitalise on the impact the change in seasons can have on web traffic throughout the year.
Slow summer? Start planning your festive marketing campaign! Blue January? Start drafting your spring content ahead of time!
A useful tool for analysing changes in search behaviour for a certain keyword or term is Google Trends.
This free tool can explore the web to identify the amount of interest a keyword or term has received over time, whether that be over the past day, year or five years. You can see when people start searching, when the term reaches its peak, and when the number of searches start to decline.
This information gives you a good indication of the best time to start producing content to ensure that it’s published and ranking ahead of people searching for it.
Need help understanding the seasonal changes of your web traffic? Contact the friendly team at Engage Web today.
- How we approach AI adoption in SEO - January 23, 2025
- Google tests addition of sitelink carousels on desktop search - January 16, 2025
- Growing height of Google’s AI Overviews is taking over the SERPs - January 9, 2025
