Conversion Rate Low; What To Change?

[tomstark]

I'm doing OK, but should be doing better. I've made a couple bucks, but need/would like to tweak things to make higher percentages. I'm using Amazon affiliate (for the reviews) and google adsense (info articles) for generating profits. I'm getting a few hundred clicks/month for Amazon, but only about 1% conversion. As for adsense, the CTR is below 1%.... I realize every site is different for these things, and I know I need to experiment more. I just don't really know where to start. This is for motocrosshideout.com

[Lynn Terry]

Hi Tom,

First, how is the pop-up converting for you? I would change the copy slightly. The red text is too bright and hard to read on my screen, by the way. I might also put a delay on the pop up so that they get to see your site & content first. But I would change it to:

Download our brand new guide free: "10 Things to do to Keep Your Dirt Bike Running" and receive cool Motocross tips & updates:

I don't know if "cool" is a word your market will respond to - you know their language better than I do. Definitely test your opt-in copy, and delay times. I'm curious if the pop up coming up too fast causes people to hit the back button - causing affiliate/adsense impressions, and lowering your CTR and conversion rate.

[Lynn Terry]

I'm looking at this page on your site as an affiliate example:

http://motocrosshideout.com/camelbak-mule-nv-100-best-hydration-pack-system-review/

Excellent review. I love your use of sub-headlines with questions, negatives/objections, etc. Very well laid out. I do think you should raise your text font so it's easier to read. Maybe Arial 12 would be a good match.

Make your sub-headlines Black (instead of grey) so they stand out more, and change your hyperlinks to "link blue" so that they are super obvious. Other than that, everything looks great as far as format and layout goes. Nice work!

[Lynn Terry]

I'm looking at this page on your site as an Adsense example:

http://motocrosshideout.com/top-5-motocross-bikes-of-the-decade/

You have three instances of Adsense. Two link bars and one image/block ad at the top left. Good placement, by the way. They are showing an image ad for a jewelry company for me at the moment... I might block that. It's "Gemvara".

Are you tracking each of the three ads with separate ad code? You can place up to 3 per page, but the first block serves the highest paying ads. If you are getting a higher CTR on the 3rd ad block, you'd earn more by removing the first two and keeping the placement of the 3rd. Make sense?

[KatCapps]

Hi Tom,

I'm new at this - so take what I say with a grain of salt.

Your review is very informative and interesting. Perhaps you are getting regular readers of your site who read the article, then click over to amazon to look at it, but they aren't buying at that time. When they do buy, they then go directly to Amazon and you lose the click through buy.

Is that a way that you can position your review so it come up when people are looking to buy - for example don't review any one item. Instead, do a comparison or top three so that you page will come up when people are searching for reviews of that product prior to purchase.


Can you use catagories - for example - "best hydration backpacks". Do a companion article for each catagory contrasting the pros and cons of the various items, with links to both your reviews and products (affiliate link).

Lynn Terry (or anyone) - If I'm way off base here, let me know. I'm still learning the ins and outs of affiliate marketing.

Kat

[cindybidar]

Hi Tom,

Just to add to what Lynn said above, check out this article from Aweber regarding popup timing: http://www.aweber.com/blog/case-studies/when-should-a-popover-form-appear.htm

Also, I would try changing your free report around so it has a bit more urgency, like "10 Reasons Your Bike Isn't Running Right" or "10 Maintenance Mistakes That Can Shorten Your Ride".

[Lynn Terry]

Good points Kat. He is targeting the product name, which is a commercial keyword phrase. When someone types in the exact product name, they already know what they're interested in and they are are looking for help with their buying decision. Comparisons and Reviews are great for conversions, of course.

[tomstark]

Thanks for the great tips so far. I'm trying to change web forms for the newsletter, but I'm not seeing where to alter the delay time. I also tried changing the link color to blue, but it doesn't look like it did anything.....

My subscription rate is only about .5%. I'm not tracking for all three adsense ads separately, but will start that. Also, is there a way to make the image ad be related to bikes?

[Bob White]

Lynn:

Not to hijack this thread, but I've listened to you for years. I've downloaded about every guest blog you've done, and follow clicknewz regularly. But this is the first time I've visited the forum. Your advice in this thread is outstanding!

I've been a part of Ed Dale's stuff in the past, but it is way too impersonal for me. The fact that you took time out of your day to check out Tom's site and comment on it as many times as you have tells me why you are such a success.

Is this the type of stuff I can expect in the Elite forum? If so, I'm in.


Bob

[angienewton]

Lynn:

Not to hijack this thread, but I've listened to you for years. I've downloaded about every guest blog you've done, and follow clicknewz regularly. But this is the first time I've visited the forum. Your advice in this thread is outstanding!

I've been a part of Ed Dale's stuff in the past, but it is way too impersonal for me. The fact that you took time out of your day to check out Tom's site and comment on it as many times as you have tells me why you are such a success.

Is this the type of stuff I can expect in the Elite forum? If so, I'm in.


Bob

Bob, this is Angie, Lynn's assistant. She's traveling through June so I wanted to make sure to reply to you since she might not be able to get to the main forum.

Thank you for your kind words about Lynn. She truly is top notch!

As for elite group, YES she is much more involved with her members there. She digs in on a much deeper scale in the elite group when it comes to our businesses. There are free live webinars, free products from Lynn and her elite members and much more. Would be great to see you on the 'inside'

[tomstark]

Ok, I put a delay of 15 seconds on the newsletter pop-up forms, and to show up only every 10 days. For the three adsense ads, I'm using adsense optimizer as a plug-in, and am trying to figure out how to put different codes for all three so I can track them separately. Anyone have experience on that?

Also, I'm getting a bunch of "Other Clicks" from Amazon (about half). What are they?

[Bob White]

Ok, I put a delay of 15 seconds on the newsletter pop-up forms, and to show up only every 10 days. For the three adsense ads, I'm using adsense optimizer as a plug-in, and am trying to figure out how to put different codes for all three so I can track them separately. Anyone have experience on that?

Also, I'm getting a bunch of "Other Clicks" from Amazon (about half). What are they?

Assuming you are talking about these...
http://screencast.com/t/nZcZTkNaFcp

... the answer is here (https://affiliate-program.amazon.com/gp/associates/help/t9/a8).

[Bob White]

Hmmmm.... that last post didn't make nearly as much sense as it should have. There is supposed to be a picture in there after the "these..."

[tomstark]

So the "Other Clicks" are from people that clicked a link on my site to get to Amazon, then click on links on Amazon?

[Bob White]

I believe that if you have a product link, with an ASIN in it on your site, and someone clicks it and buys that exact item without checking out other items first, the it counts as a product link click. But if they shop around, or buy another item, those count as "Other Clicks". They don't actually need to buy anything -- just click the links.

This was a reply an Amazon representative made to a question about it on their forum:

Add-to-cart form would appear under "Direct Links" if someone clicks on the add-to-cart form and buys the item. However, if someone clicks and then buys some other items, it will appear under "Other Links".


Hope this clarifies it a bit for you.

[HubberZero]

1% is a standard CR, so don't beat yourself up. The first advice I would give you, is your LP is to crazy, you need to make it simpler and less actions, plus dump the pop-up and intergrate your lead captcher above the fold.

[tomstark]

What is "LP"? What do you mean by lead captcher above the fold??

[tomstark]

Also, is there anyone that can explain to me how to put different tracking codes on the adsense ads? I haven't figured it out yet...

[digitalmoolah]

Very nice site Tom;

You have put a lot of work into it and have a lot of content.

Other than what Lynn said about the color in the text of your pop-up, I Please consider the following changes to your pop-up text.

First, I changed the placement of the word free, because you want them to know that your newsletter won't cost them.
Next I changed receive to learn
Then, I would actually consider putting the benefits of your newsletter before your call to action.
Look at your auto responder, and take the titles of your messages to use as your bullet points.

* Learn how to keep your bike running smoothly
* Which bike is best suited for you
* What bikes get the best ratings from consumers
* How to get better times on your race
* Plus keep up with the trends and news in this industry[/B]

Just tell me where to send your first issue:

However, I believe if you are going to use a pop-up, you need to dis arm the reader who is probably thinking that this is an ad to buy something. If you haven't tried a normal opt-in box on your page, consider using that. Put it at the top of your page in the right hand corner. Hope this helps.


Sign Up for Our (FREE) Motocross Newsletter & Learn

[tomstark]

Thanks for the suggestions, I'll definitely try those out. Is there anyone that knows much about adsense? I'd like to be making a higher percentage (wouldn't we all)...

[DebraLloyd]

Bob - I see you became an Elite already, but just wanted to add that I became an Elite after attending the old free tuesday sessions and have gained so much from the Elite sessions. Lynn is indeed extremely dedicated and gives her all to 'her Elites' but the group itself is also very giving. The feedback and knowledge that is freely shared in the Private forum is also incredibly valuable, we all have different skills and skill levels so there's something for all, always good to have another voice and perspective on board.

[Bob White]

What is "LP"? What do you mean by lead captcher above the fold??

I swore I already answered this, but LP means Landing Page and putting your lead capture above the fold means it should look like this (http://screencast.com/t/nEDEwDhJy). That way you see it when you first visit the site, without having to scroll down first.

[tomstark]

Hmm, don't remember seeing that, but I guess I should've known what it meant... Ok, so you're basically saying move the form that's below the post to the top of the sidebar?

[Bob White]

Hmm, don't remember seeing that, but I guess I should've known what it meant... Ok, so you're basically saying move the form that's below the post to the top of the sidebar?

Tom:

Sorry, I didn't mean you missed it. It isn't there. Maybe it's caught in moderation land.

And yes, you want the things that are most important to show when they come to the site. Let's say you managed to get a great Motocross guy to autograph a helmet. You might want to use that as an incentive to get people to sign up for your newsletter.

Having a picture of that helmet with the guy standing next to you as he holds it might be a great reason to sign up -- assuming you are giving it away to one of the next 100 to sign up. But it would do little good if it was at the bottom of the page. Very few people might scroll down.

With a photo like that at the top of the page, along with your signup form, you'd do much better.

[tomstark]

Ok, yeah I know what you're saying. I'll put it up top and see how it goes.

[tomstark]

Well the form in the sidebar has done next to nothing. I've also tried changing one or two things at a time with adsense ads, but my CTR is still only .5-1%...... Does anyone have experience with adsense??

[Bob White]

What sort of traffic are you getting to the site? One thing I've noticed is that until you get good traffic, ratios just don't work out.

For example, I have a CTR of 25% on one of my sites for the past week. Pretty good, huh?!?
Until you see that I only have 1 click on 4 views for the month. Great "CTR". Lousy "C".

For the entire month of June, my biggest moneymaker site for AdSense had a CTR of .61%. Pretty low. But it was on 5,588 page views.

My next biggest moneymaker had a CTR of 8.49%. Pretty high. But I only had 377 page views for that site.

.61% versus 8.49%, yet I made nearly 33% more on the .61% CTR site.

[tomstark]

Last month was about 9000 visitors and 30k pageviews.

[Bob White]

That's some really nice traffic!

The next thing I'd ask is, "Is your site product based or info based?"

I'm noticing that, with my Smoothie Recipe site, I get a lot of clicks. But because it is info based, I get very few AdSense clicks, and even fewer Amazon clicks. People come to read free recipes, not to buy.

In the other hand, I have a Sun Awnings site that gets great AdSense clicks and has a super Amazon volume. But the site is built around selling products. People come there to buy.

You may need to make sure you are building well SEO'd pages around products -- "The 5 Safety Helmets for Kids", and such. People who follow those links will be in the helmet-buying mood.

[tomstark]

It is a little of both. I'd say the info-to-product based article is 3:1. Right now I'm just putting adsense ads on the info articles because I thought it may take away clicks from amazon (resulting in less sales). Do you think I should try putting adsense on the product review articles?

[sandrasims]

Hi Tom -

How have the changes helped your site?

You'd asked about improving your Adsense earnings. I recently listened to an Adsense webinar from David Risley (http://www.davidrisley.com/) and he recommends moving the sidebar with Adsesne ads to the left instead of the right. Also put your best performing ads at the top of the code. So instead of the horizontal links use one of the larger boxes which have been proven to have better clickthrough.

Pat Flynn (http://www.smartpassiveincome.com/domain-names-audience-youtube-blackboard-adsense-earnings/) recommends this Adsense plugin for wordpress (http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/advertisement-management/).

[tomstark]

Not much difference. I had a record month on amazon last month, but it's lowest it's been this month.... How do I move the sidebar over to the left side without changing themes? Boxes, as in image or text boxes? Like a 300x250?

[Bob White]

Tom:

I know how to fix that. I created a little video (http://screencast.com/t/Cap8iSR6zS6) that shows you how.

If you've never used Firebug, it is a great little add-on. Anything you do in it is just temporary, so play around. You can try changing colors, alignment, page widths, backgrounds, and more -- all safely. Once you find what you like, just go into WP and edit the theme to make the changes permanent.

[tomstark]

Wow, thanks a lot for the descriptive video! That's how I learn best. I don't know if I could have done it if you just typed it out, lol. I switched it up, so we'll see what happens. What is the result I'm going for with this? Thanks again for taking the time.

[sandrasims]

The goal would be more clickthroughs, and more money!

Google Adsense has a lot of optimization tips on their blog...
http://adsense.blogspot.com/search/label/Optimization

[tomstark]

Well ya, haha. Is it just for the adsense on the sidebar?

[sandrasims]

Not sure what ya mean. Is what just for the adsense on the sidebar?

[tomstark]

What all should changing the sidebar over do?

[Bob White]

Eye traffic studies show that, on a website, they travel from the upper left corner first. By putting your most desired items there, the click rates should climb. Usually this would be AdSense or Opt-ins.

[sandrasims]

What Bob said! ;)

Here's some examples of heat maps that show where people click. The "hotter" the color, the more people click on that area. More people click on the top left or down the left side than the right side.

http://www.squidoo.com/heat-map

[tomstark]

Hmm, interesting... well thanks for the help! We'll see how it goes.