What to do with my blog.

[Chris Norman]

Hi everybody,

This is such a great place for support and sharing information. I have seen many sites and forums but this one is by far the best! This is my first post so I hope you are patient with me.

I created a blog during this past years thirty day challenge. Using article writing and traffic bug I was able to fortunately get my page to the #1 position in my niche. The problem is my niche is a bunch of looky loo's! I have recieved ample traffic but with moderate clicks on my ad and only one conversion. I determined my chosen niche was a bunch of people looking for free info or for plans but not particularly to buy. The niche is woodworking.

I have tried to sell the site on Flippa to no avail as it is not a money maker at this time in spite of page rank.

What do I do? Just let it go and move on? Should I try PPC? I am at a loss.

Any and all comments or suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

Take good care, Chris Norman

[Chris Norman]

Oh, by the way, I am new to the whole IM thing!

Chris

[Marya_Miller]

Chris, what's your blog address?

[Chris Norman]

Hey Marya, thanks for the interest. The address is: www.woodworkingjigs.net (http://woodworkingjigs.net).

Thanks again, Chris

[ChristineCobb]

A few thoughts:

1. Instead of sending people who click on the link in the blog directly over to Amazon, how about creating a page on your site with a review of that book? Do a little pre-selling first.

2. Also, you will eventually want to start capturing email addresses so you can continue communicating with your blog visitors and get them to know, like and trust you. You may want to give a free jigs report in exchange for them signing up.

3. Research the keywords that people type into Google when they want to buy products in this niche instead of looking for information. Then optimize some of your blogs for those keywords. For example maybe a particular jig. (sorry I don't know anything about your subject)

[David Jackson]

I have recieved ample traffic but with moderate clicks on my ad and only one conversion. I determined my chosen niche was a bunch of people looking for free info or for plans but not particularly to buy.

Chris, if your prospects aren't buying, it's not their fault, it's yours. For whatever reason, your advertising isn't connecting. There could be several reasons for this:

1. Your ad could be poorly written.

2. Your prospects aren't properly targeted. All traffic is not created equal.

3. You haven't received enough clicks to convert prospects into buyers.

4. Your sales page isn't compelling enough.

5. Your product isn't being properly presented.

6. Your pricing is wrong.

I can't tell you exactly what the problem is. But instead of giving up on your website altogether, why not try to figure out what the problem is and fix it?

David Jackson

[Chris Norman]

Thanks everybody for your input! I will take a look and think about all your suggestions, much appreciated.

David Jackson, lighten up, I wasn't laying blame anywhere, just trying to figure out an approach! (I do appreciate your input as well.)

Chris

[StephenT]

Chris, I see some things that are just small stuff, like taking uncategorized off your categories and maybe taking the meta widget off, but this is small stuff. Like I said elsewhere, I'm new.

[pamb10]

Hi Chris,

You've got some great suggestions so far. I just wanted to complement you on your blog. I love the look and theme. To me, it all works together and looks great. Definitely look into some other affiliate programs. Maybe offer some free projects guides and/or ideas. You can use this to build a list. Depending on whats available, you can offer a project a month type offer too. Also, keyword research. Its the most important thing you can do.

Dont give up. You have a lot of potential here.

Pam

[David Jackson]

The problem is my niche is a bunch of looky loo's!

Chris, I interpreted that statement as pointing your finger at your prospects for your conversion difficulties. I wasn't scolding you. I was merely trying to point out that if you're not converting your traffic into sales, the problem is on your end - not your prospects.

I've also had occasions where my traffic wasn't converting as well as I thought it should. But it wasn't because of my prospects. It was because of something I did wrong.

I simply figured out what the problem was, made the necessary adjustments and remedied the situation. That's all I'm suggesting to you.

David Jackson

[Chris Norman]

Much appreciated David! Your points are well taken. Thank you everyone for your encouragement, I will get after all suggestions.

Take care, Chris

[David Jackson]

Much appreciated David! Your points are well taken. Thank you everyone for your encouragement, I will get after all suggestions.

Anytime, my friend. Best of luck at whatever you decide to do! :)

David Jackson

[Lynn Terry]

Welcome Chris :)

You mentioned lots of traffic but few clicks and one conversion.

I'd love to hear more specific numbers & details. Can you share the exact number of unique visitors. Also tell us how long your blog has been up, and give us the unique visitor numbers for each full month.

I'm interested to also see the top 10 keyword phrases people use to find your site. You should also find those in your stats.

I think you're on to something here so let's brainstorm some details!

[Chris Norman]

Wow! You guys are amazing! I am encouraged to keep going for sure. Lynn, I will get those stats for you ASAP, thank you so much for your time.

Chris Norman

[Chris Norman]

Lynn and company,

Here are the stats you asked for:

1. The blog has been up since August 13 of this year. Just shy of two months.

2. Number of unique visitors: 2033
August: 170, September: 1757 and October: 106

3. Top 10 Keyword phrases: woodworking jigs, wood working jigs, homemade woodworking jigs, woodworking router jigs, easy woodworking jigs, woodworking jig systems, shop jigs, wood router jigs.

Thank you so much for your desire to help here, look forward to your replies.

Take care, Chris

[Chris Norman]

Oh, and a big thank you for the welcome!

[Lynn Terry]

That's very nice traffic for your first full month - Congrats!

You mentioned making one sale. What did you sell, and do you know which page/post they clicked & purchased from?

[KathleenGageSpeaker]

I would recommend moving the opt in box for the catalog higher on the page. Also, why not have a giveaway report. Something like, 7 things you must know to be a successful woodworker.

or

How to avoid injury while woodworking

I don't know enough about your industry to know if those titles would work but you get the idea.

Get visitors into your opt in list in order to have control of how you market to them.

[Chris Norman]

Thank you all again, Lynn the sale was a small how to book after arriving at Amazon from my ad in sidebar. They did not purchase the item I had for sale but browsed amazon I believe. That's a good idea Kathleen, I will pursue that as well!

Have a great day all! Chris

[Lynn Terry]

I agree with Kathleen - definitely get that going.

If you need help with the report idea, see http://www.clicknewz.com/writereports.htm (best $7 I ever spent online!).

I'm going to take a good look at your blog and your individual posts to study your call-to-action and specific promotions...

[Chris Norman]

Thank you ladies for your input. (Thank you gents as well!) I am amazed and thankful that you are willing to take a look at my blog Lynn. Greatly appreciated. I am a bit embarrassed :o as I have not posted in a while as I thought I was selling the darn thing. You guys have encouraged me to keep at it. Thanks so much as I love doing IM. I am so new to this whole thing that sometimes I don't know what you guys are talking about in your suggestions but I am learning! :)

David Jacksons post today about "moving the ball" was great. That is all I ask of myself, that I do not quit and keep moving forward. With the help from you great people in this forum, I will do that!

Chris Norman

[Lynn Terry]

If you ever have a questions, just let us know. Always happy to explain terms or concepts - sometimes they just come out as everyday language and we don't realize not everyone 'gets it' ;)

Taking a look at your blog now, and I'll just toss out some general suggestions. First, in this post I love your use of a great picture:

http://www.woodworkingjigs.net/woodworking-jigs/the-joys-of-woodworking-jigs

BUT - you really need to break up the text into easy-to-read paragraphs. And IF I happen to read the entire post anyway :) and get to the very end of the post... what do you want me (the reader) to do next?

You do end it by saying "in my next post..." so be sure to link to that next post there when you get it published.

I love the YouTube video in this post:
http://www.woodworkingjigs.net/woodworking-jigs/the-slot-mortiser-in-action

Again - what do you want the visitor to do after they watch the video? You might list the products used in the video, or make a "next click" recommendation below the video.

This post: http://www.woodworkingjigs.net/uncategorized/woodworking-jigs is uncategorized? At the end you recommend they "check out this article..." It's not clear if you are referring to the Squidoo link just above that, or forgot to give the article link.

Just some quick observations. I like what you have here!

[Chris Norman]

Lynn,

Thanks for your critique. With your experience you could have torn me apart but you went easy on me. I will certainly get after your great suggestions. Your help is beyond appreciated. I look forward to when I can offer the same to others.

Take good care, Chris

[Lynn Terry]

Have you seen this yet?: http://www.clicknewz.com/1993/how-to-write-a-blog-post/

It's my checklist for the 7 elements I include in every blog post. You might find it helpful. I think you're doing great - keep blogging! Not many people make their first sale in the first couple of months ;)

[Chris Norman]

Lynn, thank you for the link and I did find it helpful for sure.One more time, thank you for your "giving" attitude. Your desire to help is commendable. I think I am gonna stick around!

Chris Norman

[Lynn Terry]

Good - glad to hear that, Chris!

Keep the great threads coming ;)