How to handle advertising on your website during the slow season?

Websites are open for business all year round, but in some instances, there are going to be sites that experience slower periods at certain times of the year. For example, if you operate a site devoted to ski equipment, it’s probably fair to suggest that you won’t see a ton of action during the spring and summer months. Similarly, a website about water parks in winter might not have as much traffic as it did during the summer. The question now is how to handle advertising on your site during those slow periods? It’s not necessary or smart to shut down entirely, and there are in fact things that you can do to make sure that you are still making money during those lean months.

Keep expenses in line with revenuesIt’s never a good idea to spend more than you earn, which is why you especially need to keep an eye on your revenues during the quieter months on your website. Look for things that you can cut back because there are sure to be expenses that are unnecessary when you are scaling back your business for a few months each year. Spend less than what you bring in and your business will easily survive those down periods.

Weight your ad server optionsAre you working with an ad server that is not easy to scale down when times are slow? If you have a long term contract or a high minimum commitment then your ad serving cost might be high even when the ad revenue is down. If it is the case, maybe now is the time to make a change to a more flexible ad server that you can upgrade and downgrade easily based on your seasonal usage.

Look out for business opportunitiesJust because your business has slowed down it doesn’t mean that you should be putting your feet up and taking time off waiting for things to pick up again. You should still open for deals and leads during the slower months. People who love skiing are still going to be interested in what you have to offer during the summer months, as they may already be thinking and planning about what they need to get back on the slopes once ski season returns. Business may slow, but it usually never stop entirely, so always be on the lookout for new customers.

Take care of existing advertisersIf you have people who advertise with you on a regular basis, the slow times are when you should really look after them. First, you don’t want to lose your existing advertisers. Second, you will have more time to actually reach out and see how they are doing, during which time you can talk to them about your plan for the website, which may include letting them know about upcoming developments, offerings, products or services. If you have existing contracts in place, this is the time to make sure that things are good, and perhaps to talk about renewals.

Plan aheadThe busy season will be back upon you before you know it. It can be hectic and chaos if you have done little in the way of planning. Use your slower period to put together a plan of action that will help you grow your business in the next season because you probably won’t have time to do it once your ads start bearing some fruit again.