I get a fair number of clicks from IE users on my Firefox and google toolbar referral but absolutely no downloads. Is there anything I can do that will increase my chances of having a user download it? Also what exactly qualifies as a referral, does the user just need to download Firefox and run it once?
The user must have never installed firefox before, they must download from your referral, install and RUN firefox after it's installed. You should only expect about a 15% - 30% conversion rate.. Trust me.. i know.. There are two ways to increase your FF conversions: 1) "Endorse" the product - let your visitors know why they NEED to use firefox. For a good example of how to endorse FF, see this page in the Adsense support pages for an idea how (scroll down about halfway to see the FF endorsement) 2) Get more traffic.. The more traffic you get, the more clicks you'll get - the more clicks, the more conversions. Also keep in mind what your visitors are coming to your site to see. If your site is about banannas or gas-prices, dont expect them to be interested in installing Firefox.. If your site is tech-related, you'll have a better chance of getting conversions - unless it's TOO tech related, in which they will probably already have Firefox..
You have to give them a reason to. Think about what your visitor is thinking when there on your site and try to endorse it someway that will make them click on it... for example if a visitor is on a myspace resource site looking at glitters and they see "browse securely with firefox". Do you think they will click on it? Probably not. and why would they care about browsing securely? But if you put these glitters look better in firefox, get firefox, that most certainly would have more conversions.