Real problems

Need help with ecommerce diaster

[Joyces]

Hi
Firstly I apologise for posting but I'm desperate and this Forum seems to be full of people who know what they are talking about.

My business is not big and it struggles but we keep going but all of a sudden my orders have dropped to the extent that I may go bust very soon. Again I'm sorry if I shouldn't be posting this but people are going to loose their jobs and I'm at my wits end.

Orders have been slow all year but 3 weeks ago they really fell off and haven't recovered. I've been working day and night to try and find a solution and a reason but I think I need someone with a fresh approach to have a look.

The PPC campaign doesn't seem to be the problem so I can only assume it is organics. Organic traffic has been down all year but in a relatively constant way.

When orders fell away I checked my ranking in Google Webmaster expecting to see a huge dip in my average position but nothing has changed. I checked traffic in analytics and although down no corresponding huge drop. The website seems to working OK, few gliches with paypal now and again but not enough to explain this.

I am convinced there is a reason but I just can't see it and now it is a race against time.

Can anyone suggest checking anything else which shed some llight. There are no Manual actions in webmaster tools and the site is clean if you run it through a malware checker. What am I missing

Any help would be really appreciated
Thanks
Andrea

[makeonlineshop]

Can you see at which step of the checkout process people leave your website ?

[Joyces]

They do leave during the checkout process but this hasn't increased from what it was before.

[piatkow]

If you can't pin the problem to an online issue then perhaps it is an offline one.

I don't know what your product is but if it is a general consumer products then it could be down to a push by a major retailer. For something more specialist or B2B then maybe just better use of specialist press ads or trade show presence. I don't know about your customers but I am always more comfortable dealing with a company that I have heard of in the real worlld.

[Joyces]

I have considered this but there is nothing obvious from search results no manufacturers giving heavy discount etc. I understand your view on using names you recognise and trust, but this drop off was sudden, so although valid, I don't think it really fits the pattern.

It's like banging your head against a brick wall. I've tested for mobility usage and the site is mobile friendly, I have placed test orders using mobile, tablet and desktop and encountered no problems. The only other possibility is that someone has cancelled Christmas and forgot to tell me!

I believe there is a problem and the trick is to identify it. I have asked web designers, SEO, PPC management companies and have tested everything they say and can't find a cause. I know it is out there and hopefully someone will suggest something and I'll find the problem before its too late.

Thanks for your time, all posts are greatly appreciated.
Andrea

[engine]

Welcome to WebmasterWorld, Joyces.
Just some immediate thoughts.
Make sure that your site works on mobile, both Android and Apple. The huge growth in mobile use may be playing a part.
Make sure your site is mobile friendly.

The PPC campaign doesn't seem to be the problem so I can only assume it is organics. Organic traffic has been down all year but in a relatively constant way.

I'd want to identify that to make sure.

[LifeinAsia]

Have you looked at your site error logs? Maybe visitors are getting errors on pages you didn't check (or on pages you did check, but for whatever reason no error happened for you)?

They do leave during the checkout process but this hasn't increased from what it was before.

Is there a higher (than previous) dropout rate somewhere else in the funnel?

[makeonlineshop]

Most of the people check on mobile but do not buy and pay on mobile, so I don't think it can be related ?

[Joyces]

Thanks everyone for posting I will look into all points raised.