Whether you’re struggling to get your affiliate marketing site to turn a profit despite the huge traffic it’s getting or you just want to start raking in the cash to get ready for an early retirement, you will have to look towards conversion rate optimization (CRO).
When you’re ultimately about making money online, the number of visits you get are nowhere near as important as the conversions you get. If your visitors aren’t clicking on your affiliate links to buy products or signing up for your mailing list, then it’s all for naught.
1. Know Your Keywords
One of the simplest reasons why you might be getting so much traffic on your site with so little return in actual conversions is that you’re targeting the wrong keywords, and in turn, attracting the wrong kind of audience.
You need to understand who exactly your products are catering to.
Don’t get caught in the hype of competitive keywords that get a lot of searches but not necessarily a lot of conversions. Instead, look to long-tail keywords that people in the buying mindsets are using. You also want to focus on highly relevant audiences instead of going for broad appeal.
Google’s recent (not provided) update may have made it much harder to find out which keywords your visitors are using to get to your site, but there are still ways to adapt and do good keyword research.
Whether you’re struggling to get your affiliate marketing site to turn a profit despite the huge traffic it’s getting or you just want to start raking in the cash to get ready for an early retirement, you will have to look towards conversion rate optimization (CRO).
When you’re ultimately about making money online, the number of visits you get are nowhere near as important as the conversions you get. If your visitors aren’t clicking on your affiliate links to buy products or signing up for your mailing list, then it’s all for naught.
2. Make Targeted Landing Pages
It’s good to have a steady stream of traffic to your home page, but a home page mainly acts as a hub to direct visitors to other pages in your site where they can perform actions that lead to conversions. Instead of always having your visitors come through the home page, you should optimize specific pages on your site that nudge your target audience to take specific actions.
You can use existing pages such as an in-depth guide that nets a lot of visitors for a particular keyword, or you can create one from scratch that has personalized copy and an easy-to-read sign-up form which you can then apply SEO to rank high for targeted keywords.
3. Highlight Your CTAs
Part of being a successful affiliate marketer is keeping your site from going too hard with the promotion of your merchant’s products. However, you still have to make it clear for your visitors that they can avail of quality products that satisfy their needs. Provide clear calls-to-action (CTAs) that fall in line with the content they’re viewing on specific pages.
Start with your landing pages because they are where you should be getting the most conversions. Tell your visitors what they’ll be doing on your CTA and a hint of what they’ll be getting as benefits as a sort of tease that will persuade them to click. Place them were they are easily visible such as at the header or at the sidebar.
You can place CTAs at the end of your content, too. By the time they’ve consumed all the information you’ve provided, they should be convinced then to take action, so take advantage and direct them to an affiliate link or a sign-up page.
4. Distinguish Primary from Secondary Conversions
Not all conversions actually yield direct sales. Those that do are your primary conversions such as clicking on an affiliate ad and subscribing to your mailing list. Your secondary conversions are actions like downloading a white paper or sharing your post through social media.
You can’t lump both kinds as one, as that leads to deceptive conversion rate results. While secondary conversions for more engagement is good, you have to set your priorities to your primary conversions for more money.
5. Keep Testing
Optimizing your conversion rates is a never-ending process especially with how much more competitive the online business scene is getting. More sites are popping up vying for your target audience’s attention.
There also isn’t a magic formula that works for every site, as there are multiple variations to the design, the placement of your ads, the sizes of your CTA buttons, the length of your sign-up forms, etc. Don’t be afraid to test out different methods to see which one works best. Wait at least a month to see solid results, as a slight dip in a week or two can just be a transition phase that can lead to higher conversions in the next month.
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