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July 13, 2016
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People were always telling you that your business needed a website. So you went ahead and made one. But it’s spent most of its time just… y’know, sitting there. It doesn’t seem to be bringing in much money at all.
Making money through a website can be tough, but it’s not an impossible challenge. You just need to know how to play your cards right. If your website isn’t bringing in as much money as you’d expected, try out some of these suggestions.
A web design overhaul
Often, the key problem with a business’s website is that it’s either not very pretty or not easy to use. It may seem like the first one there shouldn’t count for much. After all, who cares about what your website looks like if the content is good, right? But if you’ve got a nice-looking website, people will want to spend more time there. A good-looking website also helps you attain solve the second problem I listed there. A website can be hard to use simply because it looks like a mess. It can also be caused by the user having to click too many times to get from the home page to the product to the checkout. Consider working with web design specialists.
Cross-sales
I’m assuming that, in your lifetime, you’ve visited Amazon. Ever notice that they’re often pushing you to buy more than one product? When you’re looking at, say, a new paperback, they’ll give you suggestions for more. Customers who bought this also bought these! That kind of thing. This is a handy way of boosting profits if you have similar items available on your website. There are e-commerce plugins that can let you implement the feature.
Mailing list
A lot of business owners make the mistake of thinking that email subscription lists can’t do much for their business. They think that it’s something we don’t do anymore, that it’s nothing more than a relic from the 1990s/AOL era. But users still sign up for email notifications all the time. Many sales across e-commerce can be attributed to emails notifying members of interesting offers. Don’t dismiss email list platforms!
Premium service
Your website is probably free to access and use. But have you ever considered offering premium content? That is, content that can only be accessed by those paying a small subscription free? This approach can be used with pretty much any type of website. Amazon offers premium services for those who are signed up for Prime memberships. Non-e-commerce websites that offer such services include The New Yorker.
Donations
Just like many of these suggestions, this option isn’t going to be right for everyone. But donations could work for you if you’re dedicated to a niche fanbase. Websites that focus on humanitarianism, journalism, and creativity are usually good candidates. Independent artists, for example, often have donation features on their websites. News sites like The Guardian take donations in order to help fund varied journalism on a website that is expensive to run. It may not be the right approach for e-commerce sites, however!
