The Frustration That Sparked This Post
A manager I was advising said something that stuck with me:
“My team doesn’t seem to care about business objectives—they only focus on their KPIs.”
It sounds like a leadership problem. And it is.
But here’s the kicker:
When I asked him if he’d actually shared the business objectives with his team, his answer was, “Not directly.” If he did not share them, or better yet, factor them into the contributions of the staff so their KPIs drive his, then they of course are not in alignment.
That disconnect isn’t unusual—it’s normal. And it’s killing digital performance in ways most companies never measure.
When No One Owns the Bigger Picture
This manager wasn’t talking about vague mission statements or stockholder platitudes. He meant real, strategic objectives—like:
- Increase sales by 20%
- Reduce cart abandonment by 15%
- Launch three new product lines
None of those showed up in the marketing briefs. The web team never saw them. The SEO team certainly didn’t. And the project leads were optimizing for on-time delivery, not business impact.
No one had stitched the pieces together.
Real Story: How a Redesign Tanked Sales
One company I worked with was excited about its site redesign and relaunch. It was sleek, modern, on-brand. The design team had done its job. The manager explained that the new site would enhance conversions, aesthetics, and other key aspects, thereby meeting a critical requirement for a 20% sales increase, which meant they could not compromise on current search marketing performance after the rebuild.
I did not initially win the project due to the “consending” nature of my questions.
- Where do you expect the incremental 20% to come from?
- What content is driving sales online currently?
- Are any of those pages impacted by the consolidation, refresh or changes to the site?
- What steps have you added to the workflow to integrate SEO best practices?
- What is your plan for redirecting any impacted pages?
But no one involved in the redesign:
- Analyzed what was actually driving traffic or revenue
- Reviewed the conversion flows
- Planned how to retain organic search traffic
They removed hundreds of indexed pages. Rewrote URLs. Deleted the product configurator. All without involving SEO, analytics, or the business unit owners.
The Signal
The only time SEO came up was in a generic requirement:
“The site must not lose traffic.”
There was no plan, no checkpoint, and no accountability for the two critical reasons for the website refresh.
The Launch Fallout
As soon as the new site went live:
- Organic traffic cratered.
- Revenue dropped sharply.
- Support calls spiked because users couldn’t find product specs or documentation.
And here’s the real tragedy:
60–80% of previously high-converting pages were deleted or replaced.
The new pages had no backlinks, no structured data, and no relevance built up.
Why Did This Happen?
Because each team did their job.
- Design made a beautiful site.
- Dev launched on time.
- Content rewrote everything for tone and brand voice.
- SEO was brought in after launch to “fix the drops.”
Everyone hit their launch metrics, but the business lost millions.
What I Found Was Alarming
Of the consultants they had spoken with, it seemed I was the only one to ask those pesky questions, and they realized that if they had answered them rather than being frustrated by them, they might have prevented this disaster. When I reviewed the actual redesign plans, the disconnect was staggering.
- Layout changes had no tie to conversions.
- Product configurators—a major sales tool—were untouched.
- Information density was being gutted.
- High-performing pages were on the chopping block—set to be deleted or merged without analysis.
Worse, the team planned to consolidate content without first understanding what was working. There was no mandate to preserve what works, no process to measure the impact of the cuts, and no accountability for performance outcomes.
The Hidden Killer: Absence of a Champion
The project lacked a single person asking:
“Are we sure this change helps us hit our business goals?”
Without that champion, everyone defaulted to their silo:
- Writers optimized for readability—not conversions.
- Devs prioritized performance over indexability.
- Product teams never saw the information architecture.
- SEO flagged risks, but too late to stop the train.
The Real KPI Trap
I’ve seen this play out dozens of times:
Each team is chasing a different goal—none of which ladder up to actual business performance.
The result?
- High-traffic pages that don’t convert
- Gorgeous UX that hides key content
- SEO reports showing growth… with declining revenue
How to Fix This (Even If You’re Not the Boss)
You don’t need to be the CMO to change this. Here’s what any team lead or strategist can start doing today:
Clarify the Objective—Loudly
Ask early:
“What’s the business win if this goes right?”
Get that answer written down. Make it visible. Build timelines around that, not just tasks.
Inventory What Already Works
Before redesigning, understand:
- What pages drive the most traffic
- What pages convert
- What gets shared or linked to
Don’t blow up your MVP pages to chase an abstract brand vision.
Build Checkpoints Into Your Plan
Don’t wait for launch to realize something’s broken.
Bake in checkpoints:
- Is traffic holding?
- Are conversions stable?
- Are redirects in place?
Assign a Champion
Every project needs a Business Objective Advocate.
Not to micromanage—but to keep reminding everyone why this is being done in the first place.
Final Thought
We all say we care about results. But too often, our actions suggest otherwise.
Projects fall apart not because people are incompetent, but because no one’s watching the alignment between the work and the why.
In this situation, individual team objectives and actions were perceived as more important than those of the organization. This is all too common today, where UX, creative, or development teams have a more decisive influence over the website, debilitating the performance of other teams. Web teams must focus on the overall ecosystem and how all of the elements come together, and while their contribution is important, it must also help others be successful. Too often, individuals and teams forget their purpose and the goal they’re working towards. If they’re not reminded and someone reinforces the mission, they’re likely to fail.
