Online publishers are faced with a multitude of tasks on a daily basis. And whenever you manage to free up a bit of that load, it is crucial for the success of your company. But what if I told you that you could actually get a lot more done, maybe even better, and way faster?
And it would all add up to your website monetization! How?
By simply outsourcing some of those tasks. No matter if we’re talking about writing code, designing, or plain content-writing, or even rating your website (?).
Continue reading to find out what are the most in need parts of the website monetization that require outsourcing, and how you can do it like a pro.
What services you might want to outsource
Frankly speaking, you should entrust any tasks that are supposed to be created by specialists, to their rightful expert. Unless you’re a wonder kid, with more than one ace in your sleeve. But even so, a second specialized opinion helps.
Especially if you’re in it to win it. Website traffic can be a lot simpler and more effectively monetized, when you’ve got a fully functioning website. If some aspects of it are not working, then you might be in for just a (bad) surprise – instead of money.
Believe it or not, but users won’t stick with you for long, with a hard-to-load website, faulty links, and a hardy UX-friendly layout and content. While your visibility can greatly be affected if you don’t go for quality services.
Allow me to be more specific!
Front End, Back End, or Full Stack Developers
For a start, here’s a visual to help you decide what kind of developer your need:
When you’re about to launch a new website, you need professional assistance. Your website has to perfectly function, and you can’t risk leaving anything to fate.
Especially really pesky bugs in your codes that might cause:
- browser compatibility issues
- data loss (without backups)
- unknown bugs
- unresponsive websites
- links and forms not to perform
- Google bots not crawling your website
- slow site speed and huge bounce rates
And if you don’t know from the top of your head how to fix those, there’s no denying that you actually do need a developer.
Design
Believe it or not, but good photoshop skills mean nothing if your design doesn’t provide for a good UX. And what about perfectly adding to your website developer and content specialist’s work?
There’s a saying that goes: ‘mess with the bull, you get the horns’. In simple words, think website design is a task your 8-grade nephew can pull, and you’ll pay the price. And your monetization efforts will show it.
Here’s a taste of what bad website designs get you:
- colors that don’t work visually
- heavy graphics and slow load time
- bad editing and sizing
- outdated designs and poor navigation
- problems with how the text is displayed
Content
Do you write amazing compositions and essays? Were you an A+ grade student in college? Do you think Content is King just because everyone can do it?! Then you desperately need a Content Specialist! Be it a Content Writer and/or Copywriter (but definitely the last).
Don’t hire a Content Specialist and you’ll kill both, your great website layout and code. Doubt it? Here’s what bad content brings you:
- Fluff and way too much information – Frustrated users
- Mixed and unclear messages – Confused users
- Using features instead of benefits (that’s so 2008!) – What users?
- Plagiarism – ‘The original source gets your’ users (while your SEO and good positioning in SERP will be affected)
- No unique selling points and too many Call to actions – Suffocated users
- No brand voice – Did we already say confused users?
- What are keywords? – Not your target users
- Creative and not specific headlines – ‘What am I doing here’ user
You get the point. And we already said it, but we’ll repeat: you can’t get away with bad content. Mostly because sometimes you really need to tell your users exactly what they’re in for. But in an engaging, catchy, not-too-salesy, yet entertaining way. Or there’ll be no traffic for you to monetize.
SEO
Although many would think that these practices are dead, and there’s no point to invest in good quality SEO, we beg to differ.
Especially if you’re planning on making that eye-candy website pop and show on the main search engines’ first page and stay there.
And just for the sake of clarity, good SEO will only help you bring more and better users to your website. Just so you could increase your monetization even further.
But if you still think you can handle it, make sure not to:
- Forget to optimize your content and keep it relevant (hopefully, you didn’t think content ends there)
- Ignore Alt-Texts, Image Descriptions, and quality text linking
- Invest in poor-quality backlinks and link building
- Optimize for the sake of optimizing and not for the right keywords
- Dismiss long-tail keywords
- Make your website uncrawlable (who knew developers would come in handy again)
“Here are more tips to increase your Organic Traffic
PPC
If you already had to google PPC several times by now, chances are you need a PPC Specialist! And just to make it clear, this type of online advertising has been shown to bring 200% higher ROI.
But, by all means, you can try to do it yourself. Just make sure to avoid:
- Message discontinuity – content to the rescue once again
- Targeting too far and wide
- Getting too generic with your Main Value Proposition
- Scaling too fast and only focusing on the bottom of the funnel
- Forgetting about copy (PPC specialists must copywrite as a second nature)
And there would be a lot more to add, but let’s just get through the basics for now. Speaking of which, you’ll really love this next part?!
Where to find specialists
Unless you’re not connected to an underground Marketing Specialists’ Cartel and if you also want to save some financial resources, you might want to start your search online.
But the best is always to stick with what’s already been tested and shown to be working.
We give you… ?The Best Online Freelancing Platforms!
What is an Online Freelancing Platform? Only a place where freelancers and specialists from all over the world gather, and offer their talents to the highest bidder (or the opposite in some cases). Or for the company that is willing to accept their conditions, and would have a gain from their knowledge.
You can post jobs, or just browse through profiles and portfolios, check reviews, and single-handedly choose the person that best fits the description of the person you need. And the gig can be project-based, or one-time-only.
All of which are a lot nicer and simpler than actually having to screen a person to fill a physical position. Also, in most cases, these platforms often offer a sort of a contract that both parties enter the moment the match is made.
Upwork
Upwork is an American company, first established in 2013. It operates as a general open marketplace, which means that here you can find a varied host of specialists from all over the world.
Their main asset is their payment protection on all types of projects. Yet, this platform is preferred by freelancers for a more long-term basis.
But, if you need to get a pro for just a couple of hours, this platform has a system, which verifies the amount of time they spend working on your project.
They also allow you to filter through experience levels, or fixed and hourly payments. And they even have a very large database of specialists compared with the others, and relatively low fee packages available.
As a client, you can expect to be charged 5%, but you’d be getting your services from a platform that collaborates with many Fortune 500 companies.
And one that is also quoted in the NASDAQ 100 – top 100 tech companies from the New York Stock.
Hourly job rates ranging between: $10 and $60+
Freelancer
Freelancer is known as the actual first global freelancing platform, dating from 2002. Here, you can post jobs where freelancers bid their services based on your available projects. Or you could simply browse through specialists.
They take pride in the fact that once you post a job you can expect to get a quote from a professional, within 60 seconds. And they also offer modules to generate ideas and learn new skills.
Different from the guaranteed payment the former has, here you can pay whenever you’re happy with the work you receive.
Freelancer is available in: English, German, French, Indonesian, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, Turkish, Filipino, Dutch.
And their commission is a bit lower, of only 3%. Moreover, Freelancer is quoted in the Australian Stock Exchange, dedicated to the primary securities exchange.
Hourly job rates average: $3 to $70
(but can go to as high as $500)
Toptal
This global remote company was founded in 2010. Toptal’s main selling point is the very rigorous screening process on behalf of the company – accepting only 3% of the monthly applicants.
It’s a very good option if you’re looking for programmers. But this could also be a great fit if you’re looking for other top talents, like business, design, and other tech pros.
This global network is also a favorite of many Fortune 500 companies.
Yet with good services come greater fees. So, keep in mind that although Toptal doesn’t publish their service fee, you might get charged as much as you need to pay the freelancer in commissions for the platform’s services.
Aside from a $500 initial fee as a deposit.
Hourly job rates range from: $80 to $230
Fiverr
Fiverr is an Israeli-based outsource specialists’ marketplace, which dates from 2010. Most of the freelancers found here are from India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh. This can be a great thing, especially if you’re looking for help with certain cultures or dialects.
Their goal is to re-invent the way companies do business. And they supposedly provide for over 5 million professionals.
The client service fee here is also 5%, with a minimum of $2. However, the first thing that comes up in searches when you type in ‘fiverr com’, is not the commission. But complaints.
Nevertheless, reputable sources from around the internet suggest these are mostly coming from the sellers (of services in Fiverr’s case) – and for the 20% commission they have, we can also get why.
You can expect to receive Fiverr services in: English, Spanish, French, Dutch, Portuguese, Italian, and German.
And lastly, Fiverr is yet another company quoted in the New York Stock Exchange.
Project job rates range from: $5 to $250
(While the max cap is $995, Pro Verified freelancers can charge a lot more)
People per Hour
People Per Hour was launched in 2007, as a UK-based freelancing platform. If you’re looking for a more advanced version of Fiverr, where freelancers are verified, this is it.
In fact, specialists need to provide not only info on their identity, background, and skills, but also references.
Their strongest feature is to be the #1 freelancing community. And they also allow their members to get certificates, and up their skills.
This platform works by having freelancers enroll to different gigs you post. And based on their credentials and portfolio, you may give them the job or not. Also, going through the reviews you get a better understanding of what particular job the professional accomplished in various projects.
When you’ll find your match for the projects you post, you’ll have to consider a 10% service fee for the completion.
But this is not the end of it. If you’ll need more specialized help in choosing the best candidate, this commission might get even higher.
Hourly job rates ranges: $10 – $60+
Codementor
Codementor dating from back in 2013, this is an amazing database of all-level coders. But it’s strictly dedicated to developers, who can also join to just improve their skills.
The company based in Taipei, Taiwan, and San Francisco, California promises live 1:1 coding help.
This is the more low-cost version of Toptal, and not at as high level. It can be useful for both tech minds to improve their skills, and website owners in need of specialized support.
When you sign up on the platform, you’ll be asked to post a request, for which you can get help from various mentors. Alternatively, you can choose from the various specialists they enlist.
You’ll be able to get support in: English, Spanish, French, German, Russian, Chinese, Japanese, and Portuguese.
They also charge a 20% commission, which can however decrease based on the number of sessions that you require.
Mentoring job rates ranges: $10 – $80/15 minutes (minimum time frame)
Behance
If you’re into more specialized design help, then Behance is the platform that’s made for all your creative needs. And it’s owned by Adobe Systems, and working since 2005.
However, although it’s not initially intended for hiring freelancers and experts, you can also post jobs on this platform.
And creative minds contact you. At which point you can browse through freelancers’ portfolios (either for full-time jobs or just freelance gigs), and pitch them with your available price range.
They can either accept or reject. As you might suspect, the platform is not as intuitive, and you need to use a series of search entries, and some filters, to actually find freelancers.
But, on the other hand, this is the central hub where creative minds of the digital industry display their portfolios. So this is more of a ‘rock pushing Sisyphus kind of case.
The platform is available in 19 languages: English, Czech, Danish, German, Spanish, French, Italian, Dutch, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Finnish, Swedish, Turkish, Japanese, Korean, Chinese, and Chinese Traditional Language.
Some of the freelancers also add in their portfolios their preferred price ranges, but this is a very subjective case.
On the upside, employers get limited free job postings. But if you cross that limit, you can get charged $399 for a 30-day posting.
Hourly job rates ranges: to be decided on the spot (with the specialist)
Conventions
If all of the above still seem too costly due to the more or less spiked commissions, then you should consider expanding your reach and research offline.
And that’s super easy when you follow our Events Page. Just make sure to join us at every event, and you can find your right match.
Find out more about how to grow your website traffic (Part II)
How to choose the right talent?
The screening process is pretty simple in fact, thanks to these platforms’ layout:
- Check the freelancer’s portfolio or previous work satisfaction
Extra pointer: Don’t expect 5 stars work from 1 job/3 months and a 1 point review - Verify what the previous buyers have to say about this specialist
- Ask for proof of work, if he doesn’t have any jobs completed
- Test his knowledge in case you’re given the chance – using the mistakes from the first part of this article. If his answers are good, and you’re satisfied, he’s the one
- Contact the freelancer with any questions to make sure they are aligned with your expectations
And finally – make sure this enters within your designated budget. But be mindful to check the market price. How do you do that? You check the best-rated professionals from these platforms, and go down from there, based on your financial availability. Or you can simply google it.
Careful though, if you end up having to choose between the worst-rated, and doing it yourself, you’re probably not understanding enough of your needs for expert help.
If you’re given the chance to test the end result, before making the payment then put it to the test.
Use your actual friends and those ‘very dear’ friends of yours that keep on getting you into chain emails (still!), messages, and groups.
Ask for a favor or (get even) their ‘professional’ opinion. And just keep in mind, the more inexperienced and diversified this test group is, the more accurate results you’ll get. But don’t keep the freelancer waiting and make it fast.
If everything is up to speed and works as expected, make the payment without worries. Otherwise, ask for the needed changes.
But make sure to get well informed about the number of edits you get, with your current contract (some specialists only offer a set number of edits or re-checks before payment).
Still wondering what are the benefits of outsourcing?
Here they are in short:
- Cheaper professional services
- Faster growth
- More diversified results from your competitors
- Getting much-needed extra help during super-busy periods
- Access to Fortune 500 level or services
- Faster problem solving
- More time to focus on more relevant and important tasks (which lead to an ROI increase)
- Getting professional help that complies with the latest regulations
In other words, there are a lot of perks. But most importantly, you’ll gain the time you need to concentrate on the matters you know how to handle by yourself.
And you might also get to establish long-term relationships with actual big brains of your industry.
Did we forget anything? Add your thoughts in the comment section below!
