I am in need of help here. I have successfully marketed dozens of web sites for clients over the years. I have also successfully marketed some of my own sites. However, I am at a bit of an impasse with this one. I have started a golf classified ad web site (the link is in my signature). It is driving me nuts. I'm not getting enough signups on this site. 10 in 2 months is weak to say the least. 8 of these are golfers that I know. They all think it's a good idea. I Just got through 2 weeks of paid advertising - decent traffic, but still no signups. Any suggestions? This is my first real failure. It had to be my site!!
I just took a look at your website and I see a few tweak you might be able to make to help conversions. 1. The page was blown out in my browser window. Not a big deal but makes the site look unprofessional. 2. I had a hard time finding out how to make and account or where to even go. I would recommend maybe making a banner ad or something that stands out more telling people "click here to sign up" in stead of having a link that just says "Submit Listing". When I first looked at the site and didn't click on any links there was nothing that stood out to me saying "join". This is just my 2 cents...
Good luck with it, but I think you will have an hard uphill battle. Nothing to do with SEO or site per se, simply concept.
Hi, First of all, thanks for the comments. Please keep them coming. ~snotb4ll I agree with the difficultly finding the "create account". It's funny...if I was developing this site for a client, I would have pointed that out immediately. I suck critiquing my own work. I tend to gloss over it a bit more, and not be as picky as I would be with a clients web site. I will definitely make that addition. What browser / screen res are you using? I think the site is about 1000 px wide. ~Bbau01 I agree that it will be an uphill battle. However, I like sites like this, for that reason. If you are persistent enough, and you make it up the hill it is 3 or 4X as hard for others to make it up that hill.
My idea is a lot of work but could pay off hugely if executed properly. Every golf course I have ever played on or had the privlege to visit - has a web site. Why not send an email or contact several high end courses by phone and see about a cross promotion? You offer them free/low-cost advertising space on your web site and they put links on their web site promoting yours? People always say that the biggest business deals in history started on a Golf Course. Take that to a different level and get golf courses to help promote your site. Being a Canadian site, you may want to stick with Canadian courses to start with. I'm sure a lot of Golfers have tons of used stuff to sell just as tons of people wanting to get into Golf for fun can't afford a brand new set of clubs. Your site puts those two people together but you are also competing with every other classifieds site (ie: Craigslist, Kijiji, etc) Just my two cents.
Good luck. Golf is hands down one of the toughest industries to succeed in. Add that to the fact that you're basically competing with ebay and it will be hard.
GOLF!!!!!!! Maybe make the site more visually appealing, try adding some graphics, or how about making the site more interactive. a chat script or a rss feed from top golf news. BTW - did you see Anthony Kim's errant approach at 18 today.. HA! It flew the green and and went into the stands. It totally looked like he used 4 clubs to much. It was classic, I heard him say "Well I'm not playing for second place" to his caddie right before he hit it. That's why he didn't finish second. LMAO! He should of focused on second....
How much traffic are you getting in order to generate 10 user registrations? My sites (see signature) get about 1000 unique visits per day (each) and that usually results in 2-3 ads posted and 5-6 user registrations per day. Are you getting a similar ratio?
Target your audience which is golfers. Aim at the golf magazines, print up some business cards and give out to country clubs and golf courses. Think about where your target is!
to: cbstogner Thanks, I think it is a good idea too! I look forward to your account being created. to: MTBuckler My ratio is somewhere in that range. I'd have to check but I think I am getting around 1000 uniques per month, with 10 signups in 6 weeks is pretty similar i think. to: tiger325 Thanks for the suggestion. I have already started doing that, it's starting to pay dividends. Membership on these things tends to grow exponentially. Unfortunately in the beginning, even expoinential growth can be painfully slow!
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