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When Do You Shutdown?

by Anisa A
17 replies
So our website has been up and running with Shopify back end since the end of October 2013.

As you know, Shopify does most of the SEO for you so you rank well for individual products.

I've tried everything I could but my website traffic has not picked up unless I advertise here and there with Facebook, or some other website.

And the conversion rates are very low.

So if you had a website that wasn't generating enough traffic or conversion rates for 3 months straight, how long would you wait to shut it down? Should I give it another month? Two months? How long can it go on?

Thanks!
#business #shutdown #traffic #website
  • Profile picture of the author TeamBringIt
    Originally Posted by Anisa A View Post

    So our website has been up and running with Shopify back end since the end of October 2013.

    As you know, Shopify does most of the SEO for you so you rank well for individual products.

    I've tried everything I could but my website traffic has not picked up unless I advertise here and there with Facebook, or some other website.

    And the conversion rates are very low.

    So if you had a website that wasn't generating enough traffic or conversion rates for 3 months straight, how long would you wait to shut it down? Should I give it another month? Two months? How long can it go on?

    Thanks!
    3 months, is very early, to throw in the towel. work on improving the conversions and then ramp up the traffic.
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  • Profile picture of the author karolinaboy
    Originally Posted by Anisa A View Post

    So our website has been up and running with Shopify back end since the end of October 2013.

    As you know, Shopify does most of the SEO for you so you rank well for individual products.

    I've tried everything I could but my website traffic has not picked up unless I advertise here and there with Facebook, or some other website.

    And the conversion rates are very low.

    So if you had a website that wasn't generating enough traffic or conversion rates for 3 months straight, how long would you wait to shut it down? Should I give it another month? Two months? How long can it go on?

    Thanks!
    Never give up. Thomas Edison tried 1000 ways before getting the light bub to work.

    I also think you should look at it as if it was a over weight person wanting to have a six pack. It won't happen over night.

    I'd say do it for 90 days. Do your research to see what's working and what's not working and gt rid of what's not working and do more of what's working. If it doesn't happen then, then try it for another 90 days.
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  • Profile picture of the author Ken Somerville
    Team is giving you good advice. I would ad that the type of site that you have, will always rank low with google, as it is a straight sales site. If you make some changes, and start adding blog articles, you will find yourself jumping in ranking, in short order. You could do reviews on the products, that you offer.

    SEO is always a long term project. Months, and in some cases years, of work. So three months, is nothing. But when you deal with a straight sales site, paid ads, are what is going to get you the most traffic.

    And if you are going to do PPC, then you want to target target target. When you do a facebook camp. you want to be very specific with who sees that ad. When you do that you will find that your conversions will increase.

    Hope this helps you.
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  • Profile picture of the author TeamBringIt
    I highly suggest, that you visit other TOP e-commerce sites and test out everything. Look at their ads, descriptions, cart process. This will help you, improve your conversions. Once YOU have observed and implemented, THEN you go after more targeted traffic and try to expand on your marketing...

    Ecommerce is very competitive, I use to consult for a top-tier e-com business and it is not an easy business to run...
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  • Profile picture of the author Anisa A
    Thanks everyone.

    You're giving me some good advice.

    I do have blog articles on the website that I'm promoting on the social forums as well.

    It's possible that I may have underestimated the difficulty of generating traffic to an e-commerce website.

    Because from the look of things, it looks like I will have to put more money into marketing it then I've put into merchandise, website, SEO etc.
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  • Profile picture of the author PinkStar
    Originally Posted by Anisa A View Post

    I've tried everything I could but my website traffic has not picked up unless I advertise here and there with Facebook, or some other website.
    Everything such as...?
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    Move it along folks, nothing to see here
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    • Profile picture of the author desbravador
      i waited for maybe around 6 months before I started getting steady traffic, depending only on content, with no advertising.... I think patience is the key
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    • Profile picture of the author Anisa A
      In the three months that I've been active, I've written 8 blog post articles that are related to the industry.

      I've a social presence on all of the major networks, I'm constantly working on forum posting, blog posting, content sharing (besides my own products and blogs), I've made use of targetted traffic services, fiverr, google+ gigs, yahoo questions and answers.

      As a mother of a growing toddler who has a lot of work to do around the house anyway, this is the best I can muster with 3-4 hours of work every night.

      I'm told that 3-4 hours a day won't cut it. But that's the best I can do for now.
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      • Profile picture of the author Jason Kanigan
        Originally Posted by Anisa A View Post

        In the three months that I've been active, I've written 8 blog post articles that are related to the industry.

        I've a social presence on all of the major networks, I'm constantly working on forum posting, blog posting, content sharing (besides my own products and blogs), I've made use of targetted traffic services, fiverr, google+ gigs, yahoo questions and answers.

        As a mother of a growing toddler who has a lot of work to do around the house anyway, this is the best I can muster with 3-4 hours of work every night.

        I'm told that 3-4 hours a day won't cut it. But that's the best I can do for now.
        3-4 hours may be enough, but it has to be the right effort during those hours.

        You need more blog posts than 8 and you need to be getting in front of your target market. Do you know where they are online?
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        • Profile picture of the author Anisa A
          Mine is an online toddler, children's boutique so I'm a part of the target audience. I know the websites and blogs my audience hangs out at.

          I'm great when it comes to content generating, and I can generate a lot of content in a short amount of time. I've just been trying to funnel all my efforts equally instead of focusing on one thing at a time. Admittedly thats a bit overwhelming at times.
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  • Profile picture of the author Jason Kanigan
    Heh this reminds me of martial arts students who would walk around exclaiming, "I've been training hard for six months!"

    Nuthin'.

    The ONE guy I saw get awarded a black belt at my studio in four years had trained for eleven.

    What are you doing to generate traffic?
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    >> For Agency Founders: The Fast Shortcut To Selling SEO, Leadgen, Webdesign & Other Services
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  • Profile picture of the author extremeboy
    do research what is your market then do video marketing,content marketing and website marketing on targeted niche you will must get leads and not set back after some failurs as failures are the best teacher
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    • Profile picture of the author DWolfe
      If that is your web-site in your signature ? If it is have you ever tried selling 1 or 2 of those products on Amazon ? You can than build a list of those buyers and promote other products on your site to them. I would not throw in the towel, it looks like a decent site .
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      • Profile picture of the author Anisa A
        With the majority of my suppliers, selling on Amazon is a no go. Neither is selling on Ebay. Because they manufacture boutique clothing and cannot compete with Amazon or Ebay if that happens.

        However I can try selling some of the other products on Amazon.

        BTW, I have been advertising with Facebook at $10 a day for over a week now, and this has generated a $145 conversions. This has given me new hope. Reading your encouraging words has helped me as well. So thank you everybody!

        Also, this article has confirmed all of what you've been saying: The 7 Traits of Successful Entrepreneurs | Entrepreneur.com
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  • Profile picture of the author ronrule
    Some of my clients - in particular the ones making $25k-$65k per WEEK with their eCommerce sites - didn't turn a profit for a year.

    Stay the course. Reinvest 100% of what you make into paid traffic (AdWords, etc.) and build a real business, don't rely on SEO.
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    Ron Rule
    http://ronrule.com

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  • Profile picture of the author creztor
    Good question. For brick and mortar stores they talk about turning a profit within the first 6 months. I'd say that is a fair rule to apply to running an online biz also. If you have done everything you could possibly have done and you are still bleeding/losing money after 6 months, then I think you may need to take a look at what you are doing and if it is worthwhile.
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  • Profile picture of the author Peter Lessard
    Oh the hair stands up on the back of my neck when I hear "I tried everything" lol

    Let me put it in perspective.
    I am NOT a musician.
    If I went into a store selling musical instruments later and tried the flute, the trumpet and the guitar do you think any of that would turn out well?

    Tell me you hired the best seo guy, the best facebook guy, the best ppc guy while making sure that a conversion specialist was monitoring everything and then you failed and I would say just move to another niche. Of course none of us are expert at all these things and 99% of us cannot afford to bring in the best so that is why it often takes a year or more to get where we want, because we have to test and learn.

    Other factors include the following.
    Are you competing in a brutal niche? Are there better offers than yours? Do you REALLY have the resources to compete in this niche. Should you of even chosen this niche to begin with given your skills and resources.
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