How To Improve Conversion On Your Affiliate Site - Nr 2
Monday, Nov 24, 2008
The key to a good conversion rate is clear calls to action, content that tells your visitors exactly what they need to do, why they need to do that thing and how they need to do it. This means actions that are more payable for you as the affiliate, but it's not always enough. If you're not happy with your conversion rate, there are other strategies at your disposal.
“A little touch or two to draw the eye is okay -- turning the page into a virtual circus is not.”
This is the second article out of three on the subject of improving conversion and how to make the best of your affiliate site. Next week you'll get the third and last article. After that you're hopefully the king or queen of conversion!
Avoid Distractions
You want your website to have an engaging and interesting design, but you don't want it to be so noticeable that it detracts from your message. Try to avoid anything fancy that may make your visitors forget why they are there or want to leave as soon as possible, such as loud music, flashing colors or excessive animation.
A little touch or two to draw the eye is okay -- turning the page into a virtual circus is not. It may help to have an objective viewer look at the page to see if what you've got going is too much.
Narrow Your Focus
In the same vein, try not to pull your visitors in too many different directions. If you're promoting a particular product or service, you may wish to limit your affiliate relationships to one company, rather than having "QualityFirst Mortgage Loans" on the left side of the page and "GreatLoan Mortgages" on the right side. Although it may seem like a good idea to give your customers a choice, visitors may be confused about which one they should choose, or your merchants may not be happy about the divided business.
Stay On Target
Continuing the theme, your affiliate site should not deal with merchants that are too different, as it will be difficult for you to optimize for traffic. People who visit your website may be interested in both real estate opportunities and mortgage loans, but are less likely to be interested in, for example, both online poker and stainless steel cookware.
It's certainly possible that you will get click-throughs for very different things from the same visitor. However, why not increase your chances by including products and services along a similar theme?
