Hi guys, I never thought I would post this kind of thread but I thought I might just ask for an advice before scrapping my Amazon ads. Site 1 October Impressions 1147 - CTR 0.16% - Clicks 2 - Items ordered 0 Site 2 October 7183 - 0.06% - 4 - 0 This is my first ever take on Affiliate marketing but still, I'm thinking 0.06% is a bit extreme if we consider that my content ads usually make more than 3% (more than 10% in some cases) CTR I'm using pre-fab Amazon widgets like Favourites and self optimizing links. Just like my competitors... Very confused... I would be very thankful for any input.
you are using amazon feeds? i guess your visitors don't want to buy.. amazon affiliate program is good for websites with people that want to buy products.
wounded, no, I don't use feeds. One of the sites in question is niche gadget reviews and news. I was reckoning that people reading gadget reviews would at least bother clicking to view the item, wish-list it or something...
I'm not sure that people who read news or product reviews are potential buyers. Perhaps they see the ad to purchase the item or further look into it, and they tell themselves they are not interested since the ad of the product indicates of a purchase procedure, hence the low CTR. From the other hand, the high CTR you mentioned that can be produced from displaying other type of ads can be achieved by ads that perhaps doesn't indicate clearly of a purchase procedure. Furthermore, news readers or people who read reviews are not potential buyers, else they would raised your CTR dramatically. Those people are the ones that encounter the product for the first time or even people who are just in a comparison procedure and didn't decided yet which product they want. I think you will get higher results if you try to target "buy" keywords on google. perhaps "buy XYZ" VS people who search "review XYZ" which will most likely encounter your site. Also, if you want to raise your click thru on the ads, you may want to target the "review XYZ" keywords too, if you didn't do so yet and if most of your visitors are coming from unrelated sites.
That's a pretty terrible conversion rate. Can you post one of the sites tankard? Maybe we can give you some helpful advice.
These are some great thoughts! Thank you very much. Thanks but I cannot do that. Still have to maintain my reputation. However, I can PM the links if someone wants a case-study of how not to do affiliate marketing
Ok, my personal opinion after looking at just the first site you listed: 1) The three column thing isn't working for you the way it is laid out, especially since the images on the two right side ones don't line up at all, just looks like a mess of pictures over there on the right. I'd suggest putting your site navigation in the one column on the outside and all the ads on the one in the inside. That way you draw your readers eyes across the ads to see the content navigation lists. 2) Lose the image text and price Amazon ads and just go with the plain image ones. You want people to click on your links more than anything else. Make them think it might take them to another story on your site. The text makes it distracting. Those types of Amazon links are good at the end of a glowing review about a product, since you want the user to know this is where they should go to buy that item. As sidebar items they just look way too busy. Put some text over each link to draw the reader in, like "Click Here for More Info On ProductX" or whatever. 3) Put something colorful to draw the readers eyes over to your amazon ads. An American flag before and a UK flag in the right spots would be a good idea. 4) Mix some content into your ad side bar. If it's all ads, no one will look over at it, much less click. Like put a "The Product I'm Using Today" section in between the two lists, or "Most Searched For" or something. Fix those and I bet your click through goes way up. You still may not get conversions on the products you are promoting, but the Amazon Affiliate game is to get your affiliate cookie on the users computer however possible (legally that is, no cookie stuffing or anything)
So you are saying its best to just have the picture link to the product rather than the one with the amazon prices and buy now button? Interesting thread. Did business pick up?