The goal of any online business owner is to make money.
They travel different paths to achieve this goal for their websites. Just as long as they keep their eye on the prize, it doesn’t matter what methods or tactics they employ.
If you’re earning more than enough to cover the costs of running your website, then consider yourself successful!
On the other side of the coin are people who are struggling to turn a profit from their websites. To be fair, building a profit-generating site is no walk in the park. For them to not get sidetracked from their main goal (which is what’s keeping them from breaking through to success), they need attention to detail, organization skills, and commitment.
If they fail to display these virtues, then they can easily expect their online business to hemorrhage money! The question now is, how much?
If you feel like that your online business is losing money and can’t do anything about it, then you need to determine the probable causes of your inability to make money with your website. Below are some of the common reasons that affect your site performance and make an impact to your bottom line.
Your site sucks
Your website is like an online portal to everything your audience wants to know about your business. Therefore, you need to put your best foot forward by featuring your brand in the most compelling way possible. This means that your design, content, and interface should provide an exceptional user experience that is reflective of your business.
If any of these elements don’t flow the way that they’re supposed to, then that could potentially leave a bad taste in the mouth (or eyes) of your audience. The more glaring flaws that your website has, the more reason why they shouldn’t visit your site again or patronize your brand ever.
The problem with a site is that there are so many variables that you need to get right to appease your visitors. For example, if your site has a responsive design and well-written content but has a mediocre web host, then you can expect for your site to be inaccessible more often than not. If your site is down, then they won’t be able to read your content and will be forced to leave your site. In fact, you can even calculate the exact amount of money you’re losing depending on the web host you’re using.
And that’s just one factor that you need to consider. You just cannot afford losing visitors and potential customers this way, which is why you need to optimize your site for the benefit of your target audience and make sure that everything works. Your ability to attend to every detail of your website will play a role in the success of your site.
Fix: Keeping tab of all website factors can be confusing. You need to track all the elements and make sure that they’re up and running. This simple yet comprehensive checklist from Website Builder Expert is a good place to start. It lists down the foundations of a fully functional site that you can be proud of.
If you want to build your website and optimize it further, getting a full lowdown on the things you need to do, then use Woorank to help your website get its feet off the ground. The tool allows you to analyze areas that your site needs to improve on, as well as actionable steps to moving your business forward.
You don’t manage your finances well
It’s not enough that you earn money from your website. You need to learn how to handle the money you acquire properly so you can reap your earnings. And it’s not only spending your money wisely on your business – you also need to keep track of your expenses and clean your books so you would encounter losses and penalties down the lines.
Another factor you need to consider is forecasting your potential earnings in the foreseeable future so you can predict your website’s profitability, anticipate inopportune moments, and develop strategies based on the provided data.
Fix: Handling your finances depends on how organized you want to be. You don’t have to manage your money personally – you can easily delegate the task to an accountant or a CFO who has the pedigree and experience when it comes to financial matters. This person will help organize your records, an important factor when securing funds from investors who will provide you money if your books are well-arranged.
For your business, you need to foresee your website’s cash flow and make well-informed decisions based on the data provided.
A tool like Dryrun will provide you insights to your finances and how much money your business is making. From here, you can break down your earnings to view sales projections and prepare budget plans to expedite the growth of your business.
You fail to automate menial tasks
If you take pleasure in doing tasks that a virtual assistant can do, then you’re probably overcommitting yourself to things beyond your abilities.
You can argue that hiring something to do accounting, invoicing, and other tasks beyond your scope of work will cost money. Your possible logic is that, instead of hiring people or using tools to make life easier for you, you’d rather do everything yourself just to cut costs.
I’d hate to break it to you, but time is money! Ironically, by saving money and doing all the work yourself, you’re losing money in the long run.
You need to delegate tasks to the right people or tools so you can free up time doing what you do best. By focusing all your energies on your expertise and letting others around you do the same, you can increase the proficiency of your business and make everything run like clockwork. By investing in people to perform tasks they are good at, you can expect your website to produce just as well!
Fix: Consider hiring intelligent virtual assistants and remote workers. In today’s gig economy, everybody is looking for the next side hustle, and you can provide jobs for those looking.
Upwork and Fiverr are two of the top online marketplaces and with good reason. They connect entrepreneurs like yourself with highly talented freelancers who are more than capable of getting any job done.
While they are considerably more affordable than getting an in-house person for the job, there are risks that you have to consider as well. It’s all about making the right choices by taking the good with the bad and placing your faith in people.
Wrapping it up
Money is a means to an end. It can help you pay the bills, provide for your family, and other things that you’ll eventually need in life to keep you happy and content. This reason is why it is important to keep track of and maximize your earnings.
If your website or any of your money-makers isn’t producing the income you expect from them, then changes need to be made. The tips and advice above should help you get your online business straight, so you can maximize the money you make from your site.
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