Any e-commerce company depends on website conversions to drive their business. When those performance figures suffer, it's likely because of problems you'll find in your website experience, maybe even on your home page.

This can torpedo your online revenues, but there's good news: Many of the barriers to better conversions are easily resolved through some simple fixes. Here are five ways to increase conversions:

Not every business has consistent customer activity throughout the calendar year. Just as a public swimming pool doesn't do much business in the winter, certain businesses know their biggest earnings opportunities only come around during certain months of the year.

For home services companies, that peak season is the summer. Consequently, successful SEO for home services requires that these companies plan their marketing schedules with this cycle in mind. Data shows that online search volume for most home services businesses begins to rise between April and May, peaks between June and July and drops sharply in September. How do small to midsize businesses plan a marketing and SEO strategy that takes this cycle into account? It all starts well before the summer business heats up.

This past year wasn't a huge one for Google algorithm updates, as there were only two major, verified changes that occurred. However, even though the changes weren't significant, they have some big implications for the future of search engine optimization (SEO), and are definitely worth acknowledging.

Google Bets Big on Mobile

The first big algorithm update of 2016 happened in May, when Google put even more emphasis on the ever-expanding mobile market. According to Search Engine Land, Google's aim was to build on 2015's mobilegeddon update and boost up pages that either had responsive or mobile-friendly designs. Though this update doesn't punish websites without mobile versions, it does lay the groundwork for a more substantial mobile update in the future, which could arrive later this year. This why you should optimize your website for mobile now. In fact, Google even has a mobile-friendly test you can use to see where your page stands and learn about any improvements that should be made.

Popular wisdom states that most people make up their minds about someone within seven seconds of meeting them. And while that might seem extremely short, studies show that when it comes to websites, first impressions come even faster. According to Inc., most consumers form a first impression of a website in just 50 milliseconds. For comparison, the literal blink of an eye ranges between 300 to 400 milliseconds, which makes this statistic even more staggering. So how can you ensure your website is making the right first impression? You may be surprised by what you learn after some simple website comparison. Taking a hard look at what others in your industry are doing (and more importantly, how much success they're generating) can help you inform your own business approach and ensure you're making the best first impression possible.

For the last decade, marketers have been hearing all about the mobile revolution, the point at which mobile usage would overtake desktop usage as the primary way consumers access the web. And now, according to a new comScore report, the revolution is here: 65 percent of all digital media time is now on mobile devices. Desktop usage is down 12 percent compared to 2013, comprising only 35 percent of time spent online. So now that the mobile revolution has arrived, how can marketers stay ahead of the curve?

Wondering how to rank on Google but unsure where to start? Though there are plenty of easy ways marketers can increase their rankings over time in Google's search engine results page (SERP), you could be making one big mistake that could cause your ranking to plummet: not offering a mobile or responsively designed site. In the past, having a website that was optimized for mobile was a definite plus but didn't have much of an impact on search results and ranking. However, now that we truly live in a mobile-first world, the search landscape has changed, and having a website optimized for mobile is more critical than ever. And here's why.

Google has just released data showing the recent shifts in mobile search trends, and these shifts have major implications for marketers. Even accounting for the fact that study participants already personally owned a computer and a mobile device, the trend is clear — more searches are happening on smartphones than on computers. Here are some key findings.

Search Has Gone Mobile

• Some 40 percent of respondents used only their smartphones for daily Internet searches.
• 57 percent of smartphone users use more than one type of device.

If you're searching for an SEO vendor, it can be hard to tell the good ones from the bad. Your best line of defense is to recognize the signs of a bad vendor. Certain SEO practices can be identified during the interview process and can expose a prospective partner as a fraud. Here are five such practices to look out for.

1. A Vague, Undefined Strategy

This is where the conversation starts; a weak SEO partner will be obvious right away. Effective SEO work requires a blueprint for success — you must understand what aspects of SEO will be prioritized, what keywords will be targeted and how limited resources will be allocated. If an SEO provider can't explain this to you or insists that they don't want to give away their methods, it's time to look elsewhere. As Forbes points out, SEO isn't the work of magic — every firm is playing with the same rules.

For digital marketers, there's no moving target more perplexing than search engine optimization (SEO). Not only are the rules almost always changing, Google and other search engines don't publicize the algorithms used to organize and rank search results. With each tweak of the algorithm, marketers have to adjust their strategy to stay at the front of the pack. If you're in search of SEO tips to improve your current approach, consider these steps to shore up your SEO.

It's no secret that consumers are increasingly tied to their mobile devices, and while some business owners may look at this trend and shake their heads, thinking that this movement toward digital spells eventual doom for their physical business, nothing could be further from the truth. In fact, data recently released by Google shows that mobile search is driving consumers to stores in physical, trackable ways. How can you make sure that your business is taking full advantage of this trend? Here's how to attract customers using mobile search: