Answers

How do you tell whether a change to your website worked?

Ascent Vision · Published October 15, 2026

Write down the date of every change, then compare the inquiries that arrived in the weeks after it with the same number of weeks before, and with the same weeks last year if your work is seasonal. Change one thing at a time where you can, give it long enough to show, and judge it by inquiries and customers, not by clicks or visits.

Keep a change log

A change you cannot date is a change you cannot judge. Keep a simple note, ideally next to your lead tracker, with a line for every change to the website:

• The date it went live.
• What changed, in a sentence: a new homepage headline, a shorter contact form, a new service page.
• Why you made it, and what you hoped would happen.
• Anything else that happened that week, such as an ad starting, a holiday or a mention in the local paper.

Compare like with like

Count inquiries over the same number of weeks before and after the change, counted the same way both times. Four weeks on each side is often a reasonable start for a business with steady inquiries; if inquiries are few, a longer window usually tells you more.

Seasons can fool you. A change made just before the busy months can look like a success only because the phone always rings then, so compare with the same weeks last year as well. The related answer on seasonal marketing explains why seasons are best compared with seasons.

One change at a time

If you rewrite the homepage, shorten the form and start an ad in the same week, and inquiries rise, you will not know which one did it. Where you can, make one change, give it a few weeks, then make the next. When several changes have to go out together, record them as one and judge them together.

Judge by inquiries and customers, not clicks

Visits and clicks can rise while inquiries stay flat, and a change that brings fewer but better-fitting inquiries can be a win. Look at how many inquiries arrived, how many became paying jobs, and whether they were the kind of work you want. The related answer on how to know if your marketing is working covers the wider monthly numbers.

When the answer is unclear

• Too few inquiries to tell: wait longer before judging, rather than undoing the change straight away.
• Inquiries dropped: first check the basics, such as whether the form still sends and the phone number still works.
• No difference either way: a change that makes the site clearer and does no harm is often worth keeping.

Related answers

• How do you know if your marketing is working?
• How do you set up a simple lead tracker?
• How should a seasonal business plan its marketing?