Challenges Of Website Growth
Growth is inevitable with most things in our lives. Anything we plant, whether it be a vegetable or an idea, needs some kind of fuel in order to begin the growing process. And the amount of energy we put into it will directly affect how well and how fast growth occurs.
The same concept applies to websites. If you have a website that you are using to generate revenue, and it is on the verge of a stage in its growth, you may be unsure how to handle it, especially if this is the first time you’ve had the experience. But the success of website growth at any stage depends on how well prepared you are.
Developing a Mindset for Success
Given the financial hardships that so many are facing, it may seem like success is less likely than ever. But expecting the worst, as much of a norm as it may have seemed to become, won’t do anything to help your site or your level of success to grow.
The first thing to consider when your website is at a stage of growth is what that growth is going to mean. Will having a bigger and more popular website mean that you will do less work, or more? Are you yourself at a place where you can handle more work, or be able to hand over that work to someone else so that you can do less?
A bigger website may also mean that more funding is needed to keep the momentum going. Is your budget ready for the additional resources that having a bigger website will demand? If not, you may need to consider other sources for capital, such as crowdfunding or getting financing from your bank.
And although many of us dream of fame in one form or another, it can be a surprise to realize what that means. Being a well-known site means that you will always be watched, by both your visitors and your competition. This will mean being even more on the ball with making sure your site is working as it should.
Potential Barriers to Successful Website Growth
Every growing website faces a number of risks. One of these is traffic. Often, when a website becomes popular, their bandwidth allotment doesn’t change, or at least not right away. This can mean that visitors have multiple issues when trying to reach a site. After so many failed attempts, those visitors can quickly turn into lost customers and less revenue.
And it experts advise that, even if your site is just getting started, that you think ahead by ensuring that the hosting package you’ve chosen is capable of handling future demand for traffic. Also, a good idea is to check your host’s policy to see what steps they take should your traffic exceed your amount of bandwidth.
Most website owners don’t think about how big their site may get over the next few years. And this can mean that, once growth does occur, that there are simply too many pages with too much information to be able to update in a short amount of time. Again, planning ahead is the best solution for this. You may wish to consider the hiring of an individual to manage and update your pages. If you are doing it yourself, then think about how best to make your site editing easier, such as keeping its common design elements in one location, or using templates that new information can easily be placed in.
In the early days of your website, you may have been able to get by with little more than a few pictures or descriptions of your products or services. But when your site increases in popularity, so too must the quality of information that you provide to your customers. Do you have any glowing feedback from previous customers that would help your current visitors make the decision to purchase? Perhaps you now have a better camera, and can replace old images of your products with newer images of much higher quality.
There is certainly a lot to think about when a website increases in size. And while all of your site’s new needs may seem overwhelming, combining solid planning with your vision of what you want your site to be can mean a much higher degree of success than simply letting the chips fall where they may.
Guest author Jesse Schwarz writes on a variety of topics related to technology, particularly in the area of managing your own website. He helps future webmasters with advice, tutorials and instruction on how to identify the best web hosting sites for their particular needs.
