Have you ever wondered why so many businesses fail? According to many sources on the topic, 90 percent of online startups fail within the first 4 months. Now that sounds alarming but when you look at how competitive the web has become, it really isn’t.

And frankly, even though product can sometimes be an issue, I feel that the main reason why online businesses fail is that they’re not getting any or enough website visitors that match their target audience.

You see, almost anyone can put together a website today but the real challenge is attracting qualified prospects and converting those people into customers.

Listen, no matter what you sell, the one thing that you’ll always need is the right people paying attention to your company. When people aren’t doing so, your online business is at risk of failing, period!

The winners are always those that can attract qualified prospects and convert those visitors into paying customers. But there’re other reasons why an online business may fail too. So let’s take a look.

Top 10 Reasons Why Online Businesses Fail

Here’re the primary reasons why your online business might fail. Knowing these dangers can save you tons of time, money and wasted energy.

1. No SEO (search engine optimization)

80 percent or more of consumers begin their research with a search engine. Ignoring this strategy has been the downfall of many online startups. Not to mention that Google alone, processes 4,464,000,000 searches per day.

Use SEO to increase your organic (or free) traffic…
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And to support any other ongoing marketing efforts. Plus if you think that most users click on paid ads, well, that’s just not true. Look at this chart from Similar Web, comparing where people click the most between organic and paid search:

As you can see, 94.95 percent of Internet users prefer non-paid search results. I don’t know the real reason why but I suspect it has a bit to do with trust issues.

2. Bad Web Copy

Writing for the web is different from other types of content. Copy on the web must be more inclusive and focused on each visitor. To effectively write for online viewers, it’s important that you consider using first and second person narratives.

3. Lack of Commitment

A lot of people want to start a business but very few actually commit to it. Lots more keep talking about it with their friends and family without doing anything (NO ACTION). Make a decision to go through with the entire process of starting a business and stick to it.

4. Poor Planning

The financial, mental, emotional and physical toll of a business can be crippling if proper plans are not put in place. Think of your situation and plan ahead to address these concerns.

Things like ensuring that you have an income source to lean on while you’re working on your business is critical in many cases. Also, the product or service that you want to sell may require that you spend more time building trust and authority (or your reputation) with the intended audience.

In situations like this, think of another product that you can offer right away without the need for strong mid-range reputation building. This can be a source of revenue while you’re setting your business up for the real crème de la crème.

5. Failure to Align Actions With Business Goals

Everything that you do in regard to your business should be moving you closer to your objectives. If you want 10k followers on Facebook, ask yourself why? If the answer doesn’t align with what you’re trying to accomplish, then it’s not a good idea to grow that platform. Instead, maybe growing your website audience is a better place to focus your time and budget.

6. Improper Use of Social Media

One of the biggest misconceptions is that you need to grow your Social Media following to increase sales and brand awareness. This was probably true 8 years ago but it’s not the same today and quite the opposite.

Social media companies have reduced organic reach in favor of ad revenue and they’re not done. Recently, Facebook reduced its organic reach again and we roughly estimate that it’s currently below 1 percent.

So instead, use social media platforms to attract visitors to your website (a platform you control). Marketing power has shifted to user-generated content and influencers. Therefore, people who grow their own platforms (build an audience) or leverage user-generated content (this is what social media companies do) are going to be in an advantageous position.

7. Not Clear About The Target Audience

Knowing your audience and where to find them is crucial to marketing success. Use research to create personas or fictional representations of your ideal customers. This way, you’ll know their potential interests, job roles or title, wants, pain points etc.

8. No Business Plan

Yes, you still need a business plan in the 21st century. Perhaps, not a traditional 45-page copy but you need one if you want to hit your goals. You should write a business plan that outlines your plans and objectives before you start a business.

And even if you’ve already started, just write one anyways. It’s like a roadmap to your success and you never know when you’ll need to use it to sway investors.

9. Zero Visibility of Founders/Employees

Put your best people out there! People want to know some of the individuals behind a company. It’s a great way of strengthening or building trust, which leads to more sales.

10. The “One-Man or Woman Army”

Trying to do everything yourself is inefficient and can be unproductive. There’s a reason why experts exist and you should use them. Because no matter how good you are at your craft, there’s always areas that demand a different set of expertise.

Things like accounting, legal, graphic design, marketing etc. Hire professionals to help you with the things that you’re not good at so that you can focus on the ones you excel at.

Would you like to create a marketing system that attracts visitors to your website daily without even lifting a finger? That’s part of what we do at Tech Help Canada. We help you market your business online.

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