View Full Version : Encouraging click throughs
Just wondered if any 'experts' out there were prepared to share some secrets.
I have a merchant that I promote. I have top 10 Google rankings for their name. When a viewer clicks on the result they go straight to that merchants advert on my site. The page consists of content (for the search engines), a more info link to the merchant and I did have a small banner on their but now I have a widget. Unfortunately the widget is now image free so I will take it off tomorrow if it's still not functioning.
Anyway this advert gets a lot of viewings from people looking for this specific company. The problem is that most arrive and leave without clicking through to the merchant. I don't really understand why as they have found what they are looking for.
Feel free to critique the ad listing and tell me how I could get more clicks. Can't offer much in return except my gratitude :) .
Also wondered whether affiliates find text or image links get better results in general.
With shop window and Affiliate Windows, it is the last person to get the click thru that gets the sale and the commission.
What may be happening, is that you may be getting people doing comparisons and checking prices and the likes, then going elsewhere to check again and basically when they decide to buy it'll be the site they are currently on that they'll use to make the purchase. My missus is a right one for going round 100 sites looking at the identical product until she finds the right price, free delivery, discount code and all the rest of it, fortunately she always comes back to my site to make the actual purchase though.
I think i've had that happen to me quite a lot, but fortunately I'm still getting sales too.
Text wins every single time for me. But it's a case of trying to come up with original text that others don't use to catch buyers attention, cause there is a lot of us out there all trying to do the exact same thing.
I use high profile and prominantly placed banners more as a promotional tool to let people see that my site can attract reputable merchants and big name brands than as direct marketing, as banners tend to get ignored most of the time. I do my offers and sales pitches through other techniques such as posting offers on my forum and knowing what specific members of my community want so finding them the best deal and the likes. I put a huge amount of effort into individual satisfaction on my site as I've known and met a lot of the core members of my community for a good 5 years now, they basically keep the site and me going a lot of the time by being so loyal.
The biggest factor for getting sales in my opinion is having patience, the main part of the job is done once you know you are able to attract people to the site to see the adverts in the first place, forcing them to actually buy from you is impossible though, so you just have to sit tight and wait for it to happen and not be to hasty making big changes every day to try and push the sales, cause making changes when your getting visitors is just as likely to lose them than get more. Once people decide they like using your site to make their purchases, they will come back and do so again providing you keep your site fresh in their mind, either by getting them to bookmark you or by doing a newsletter so they don't forget about you.
A lot of it is down to pure luck, or hitting on an idea that catches the attention of the consumer market. One idea which I think has been superb is the fella doing the offsetshop, where carbon is offset for each sale made through that site, genius idea that has cleary caught the marketplace at a very eco conscious time, wish i'd thought of that one myself, but glad to see it doing well. The alternative is to get an idea in your head and work bloody hard at it with a long term vision, my main site Total Format for example isn't strictly a shopping site, the shopping section of it is just one small part of it, but because I have visitors that constantly come back for the various other parts of the site, they are gradually starting to see my shopping section as a useful resource too, so I get my sales because my visitors know they can trust me and the site.
If you want a little advice... Looking at your laptop website, what it says to me that it needs to make it more sticky for those coming to look, is stuff like laptop buying guides, troubleshooting for laptops, laptop articles, it needs some text heavy articles that will be of use to people who stop by, something that will draw them back to the site. I mean, I presume your equine site is quite well visited it looks well made and very useful, the thing I found on there, was that it had real content such as articles, something to make people stay on the site and not just pass through, something the laptop site seems to lack.
Fuzionit - I would just like to second pretty much everything Amoochi has to say. There are some excellent points there and the key one for me is 'patience'. Don't expect an overnight success. Also, think what you would like as potential shopper; does your site meet your own standards before you'd be happy to part with your hard earned money?
Amoochi - I've only just seen this thread so Thank You for the kind comments. TheOffsetShop has been hard work (as you may have seen from my grumbles and cries for help!), but as the idea is something we're quite passionate about it ourselves it has made it much easier to put the effort in. Of course it's very nice to get a little peer support. Thanks. And, without wanting to sound like a luvvie session, I love Total Format. A very enjoyable and well put together site that is regulary used by us. Nice work!
All the best
Hi
Re the laptop site. Agreed that needs lots more work. I've had to rebuild it due to some software issues so it's a work in progress.
Other comments are also useful but it was more comments on one specific page I was after. In fact one specific advert. I utilise the classified section on my site to promote certain affiliate products. I have a sophisticated stats package that enables me to see who is viewing my site at any given point. I can see what search terms they found me under, what pages they have browsed and any exit links that have clicked.
In this case I can see that many people find my Joules ad as they are looking for Joules clothing. They open the ad but then don't click through. So it's not the fact that I don't get a sale as another afilliate did, it's the fact that viewers don't click though at all.
I have made some modifications over the weekend and the click through rate appears to have improved a little.
It is irritating though to be able to watch someone arrive on your site then leave without clicking the links.
BTW, although the advert date shows Dec 3 2007, it wa actually posted a year ago. I just renewed it last week. I'm not that impatient!! :D
http://www.equineonline.net/equestrianclassifieds/index.php?a=2&b=522
I definately think it's just a case of having patience.
I get somewhere between 50,000 and 250,000 product views a day on one site, yet only something like 500 to 1,000 clickthru's and then far less actual purchases. Over the course of a month though it adds up as i'm sure you know.
The biggest thing i've noticed that's making a difference though, is by making the content of the site not appear like duplicate content to the search engine spiders. My Amoochi website is fairly straight out the box really and there's not been much tweaking to it and that gets way way less impressions, clickthrus and sales than my Total Format one does, which has had quite a bit of work done to it.
Hi
In this case I can see that many people find my Joules ad as they are looking for Joules clothing. They open the ad but then don't click through. So it's not the fact that I don't get a sale as another afilliate did, it's the fact that viewers don't click though at all.
I have made some modifications over the weekend and the click through rate appears to have improved a little.
It is irritating though to be able to watch someone arrive on your site then leave without clicking the links.
BTW, although the advert date shows Dec 3 2007, it wa actually posted a year ago. I just renewed it last week. I'm not that impatient!! :D
http://www.equineonline.net/equestrianclassifieds/index.php?a=2&b=522
Hi, This might just be me, but... I am terribly lazy, I want to see what I am looking for straight away and not have to hunt or scroll about. I personally would prefer to see the details above the fold and stats and action bits (send to friend etc) BELOW instead of being first.
Hi, This might just be me, but... I am terribly lazy, I want to see what I am looking for straight away and not have to hunt or scroll about. I personally would prefer to see the details above the fold and stats and action bits (send to friend etc) BELOW instead of being first.
You know, that's a good point and something I hadn't really thought of before. Will give changing the layout some thought. Thanks! :)