HubSpot Traffic Decline Highlights Revenue-Focused SEO Metrics

HubSpot lost 80% of its traffic while its revenue continued to grow, according to a Search Engine Journal report featuring chief marketing officer Kipp Bodnar. The contrast highlights a question for marketers: how closely does a change in traffic reflect a change in business performance?

Traffic measures how many visits a site receives, but it does not by itself show how much revenue those visits generate. Revenue per visit adds another perspective by relating revenue to the number of visits. Looking at both measures can help teams assess whether changes in audience size are accompanied by changes in the value of that audience.

The distinction matters when reporting on search performance. A decline in visits is still worth investigating, but the traffic figure alone cannot establish its effect on revenue. Marketers can compare traffic and revenue measures over the same period rather than treating either one as a complete account of performance.

The report also points to AI referral conversions as a measure to track. A referral identifies where a visit came from; a conversion records whether a visitor completed an action a business considers valuable. Examining both can help marketers evaluate visits from AI sources against their own objectives, rather than counting referrals alone.

Another consideration is audience development beyond Google. Building an audience across more than one source gives marketers a broader view of how people discover and engage with their business. It also means evaluating each source on its contribution, rather than assuming that the source producing the most visits is necessarily the most valuable.

What this means for marketers

Review traffic alongside revenue per visit, and define the conversion actions used to assess AI referrals. When comparing periods or sources, use consistent measures so the results can be interpreted on the same basis. Consider how audiences are reached beyond Google as well. HubSpot’s experience illustrates why a traffic decline and business results should be examined together, without assuming that one metric tells the whole story.