He started an online business and decided to go down the path of selling e-books and ads (affiliates, AdSense, etc.). He paid close to $1,000 to get his website ranked in the top 10 on various search engines, only to be dethroned by some 2-bit scammers using scammers. You say to yourself, “Okay, I had a hard time learning my lesson,” and then write it off as a business expense. Well, then there is an alternative: you decide to buy some PPC (pay per click) ads. You shop around a bit and try multiple companies, spend another $1000 and guess what, you got a ton of traffic. You think to yourself “Okay, I’m back on track.” He rubs his hands greedily and opens his account management panel/merchant toolbox and, to his disappointment, he only sees a few sales that don’t even cover a third of his costs. Where did you go wrong? Click fraud? shitty product? Slow website? I’ll sum it up in 2 words BAD CONVERSIONS.
Just because you got a couple of thousand visitors, doesn’t mean everyone will buy your products.
With the vastness of the web today and the tens of millions of websites out there, people will be window shopping. PPC makes window shopping very expensive, so it’s important to make sure that when a visitor arrives they’re happy with what they see and comfortable handing over their money for your product.
Here are some tips to convert those visitors into sales and increase revenue overall.
1. Don’t have a 1-page layout.
This is probably the fastest way to get a prospect to click that little X in the top right of your screen. Keep it short and sweet. The general population is lazy and doesn’t want to read 25 testimonials, just to see what the final product is. Give them a few, and then fill in the rest in that little tab that says click here for more testimonials.
2. Presentation.
I don’t think I need to go into too much detail here, just make it look professional. There are many free programs that you can use to create a professional-looking website. You wouldn’t walk into a store that somehow didn’t catch your eye, don’t expect anything different from an online visitor to your website.
3. This is my favorite, placing an ad for your competition (affiliate of course) on your website. If you can’t sell your product to them, you might as well make money off of your competitors’ product.
4. Quality content.
What is the first thing you do when you arrive at any website? If you like me, you’ll probably quickly scroll through the first page, then quickly browse all the different categories/tabs, if you like what you see, proceed back to the home page, tie your napkin around your neck and sink your teeth into it . So what is the point you may ask? Why do all this if all you want to do is sell your product? First of all, it’s not just about generating a sale, it’s about creating a community. The formula is tried and tested. There isn’t a single successful ONLINE business that doesn’t have a constantly changing website. If you have content that people tend to be more comfortable with, they will check out what you have to offer, read your blogs, articles and links. If you have message boards, they will check out what other people have to say about your product. They may even click on a banner (which could lead to additional sales) that might catch your eye. The end result is unlike a bar or cafe, you want visitors to stick around even though they are not buying anything, they are not taking a seat from paying customers, you have everything to gain and nothing to lose.
5. Added value.
Give them the illusion of getting something for free if they come back on that date, or if they sign up for your mailing list, etc., etc. This will give you a second chance to sell them a product or to sell them one of your affiliate products.
6. Start an affiliate program. There are two big reasons to do this. First of all, you will only pay for traffic from the products you sell. Second, it will generate a lot of free traffic. Some of this traffic may become regular visitors, others may purchase products from one of the other companies you are advertising a product for. Any way you look at this, it’s a win-win situation.
7. Change your content frequently. This is important. Visitors are interested in this and will stop visiting your website if this happens. Real world example, would you shop or hang out at a store/bar where people have been wearing the same clothes every day for the last 2 weeks? ditto for websites
Follow the tips above and you will surely get a higher conversion rate + additional income from other sources. Rant.
Health!