How do i get to increase and popularize my academic website

It has been over an year now since my academic website went online. Ever since i have faced stagnation despite all kind of marketing including encouraging referrals by word of mouth and digital marketing. Currently, I only have one client who post work once each week and she has remained loyal for the past 4 months. My question is how do i break from this cycle and reach more clients.

Hello, what have you actually tried? I mean online efforts. Offline may be harder to measure.

@Donald
regarding online marketing i have tried google ads which is a paid plan, i have also tried facebook sponsored adverts just to mention a few.

I'm not sure how Google allowed you to advertise, unless you used smart keywords like editing or tutoring ; ) Facebook - same story. I doubt students these days trust ads. Most block them and don't see them at at all. In countries where ad blockers are not that popular yet, students don't have enough money to purchase such service.

There's also Twitter and Pintrest, but they are a waste of time too. From my stats, students use less keywords to find "writing services" than a few years ago.

One reason could be that there are fewer students now. Why? Because it's getting harder to get good student loans and having a college degree does not guarantee a great job.

Anyway, I'd try word of mouth marketing, maybe this good customer knows someone else she could refer your services to. Then, forums like this one which allows you to build brand (if you are a featured writer or something).

Paying for ads, knowing that 80% of them could be clicked by bots or your competitors, is not a good idea unless you have big marketing budget.

@Donald
thanks for the information, no wonder i have noticed that the field is greatly changing. I will have to work more on word of mouth and referrals.

Agree with this. If you're planning to setup an academic writing site, try to focus more on testimonials. If you're willing to, try to reach out to people you already know if they're academically struggling (or just in general struggling to keep up with their grades). Trying to focus more on these firm and substantial commentaries are more beneficial than anything else.

i already have an academic website that has been running for over an year now. i also have a section for testimonials and also tutor reviews. but still i cannot comprehend why the slow traction

Word of mouth is the best way to build your client base. It's often the slowest way, but it will result in growth over the long term. Key factors are to be sure to always provide the best quality work and to meet deadlines. Remember that most happy customers don't always share their experiences while unhappy customers tell everyone. That's one of many reasons it's imperative that quality and timeliness can't be compromised. :)

Advertising can be helpful if done correctly and in the right places. Social media is okay for adding to your online presence, but most students aren't going to engage via social media. Most will engage through your website and email, which you will want to be 100% sure is error-free and professional. Be sure to use proper capitalization, etc. in all correspondence and avoid lazy writing (i.e. using texting-style such as "i already have...").

thank you so much your insight was very resourceful, i will have to put more effort in promoting the website. i have already began an Instagram account with the website name and also a back-link to the website. i hope it will work.

Roughly how long have you been writing for hire and roughly how many total clients have you had since you started?

Heavily agree with this. For some reason, you cannot gain a lot of traction from social media when it comes to the industry. Better resort to building rapore with clients prior and then trying to work with traditional advertising methods.

Students tend to shy away from academic writing companies these days. Mostly because they don't want to get scammed or have apprehensions about plagiarism. However that is not to say that the students have stopped hiring writers totally. It is difficult to keep the business afloat these days because of these reasons, which are just two among the many reasons companies are struggling. While the websites have gotten flashier, and they have learned to use social media to promote their business, the companies continue to flounder because their reputations precede them. I wonder if the OP was able to keep his company afloat. Having one regular client will not pay for all of the expenses attached to running the server. It sounds like he did not make it and I can understand why. Sometimes, the bad image of other companies just rub off on an honest one. Making it more difficult for the honest company to stay in business. The best way to increase the popularity of his website? I think he should have given his one client an affiliate fee, just to help promote his company at his place of study. Sometimes, one has to spend money to make money.