Why won't this convert? #1 Google traffic + numerous related offers (link inside)

[MonopolyMan]

OK so normally I wouldn't give out a site on an IM forum but it's not exactly a top secret niche and this just isn't working for me - and I don't know why.

(link removed)

It's getting a few hundred uniques a day from organic searches - mostly US traffic. It's what I would consider a desperate niche - I've had a puppy and I know what it's like trying to train them.

The traffic is good and ppc ads do run for the keywords at about $0.70 cpc. I've tried pre-selling in blog posts, I've tried list building (pop ups, unders, sidebars, exit pages, iframes all had very poor opt-in rates with multiple incentives), I've tried Amazon, several CPA banners, Adsense blocks and I've even tried iframing over a bunch of sales pages 100% related to the niche and all for a few bucks a month.

A friend in a similar niche sent me a few banners which worked for him so I'm running them but it's not been any better. I've tried a bunch of themes and at least this one seems to get a better CTR on the ads.

I'm running out of ideas for this site, with the traffic it's getting and the ppc campaigns that have been running for ages I must be doing something very very wrong to not be able to profit from this.

Any advice would be very much appreciated. I don't know where I'm going wrong, I figured this would be an easy niche to sell to but apparently my SEO is better than my marketing. I doubt I can even flip the site without some decent earnings proof.

If you have a monetization WSO which has something I'm missing then feel welcome to send the link my way.

[Alexa Smith]

Originally Posted by MonopolyMan

this just isn't working for me - and I don't know why.

I don't, either.

But the two things most immediately noticeable about it, to me, are ...

(i) All I can see above the fold, really, is one huge ad which links directly to a sales page (I wouldn't expect that to get very far), and ...

(ii) You're not building a list. I would put a prominently incentivised opt-in at the top of the page. (I do this on the front page of 8 different niche sites and build 8 lists that way.)

Originally Posted by MonopolyMan

I've tried list building (pop ups, unders, sidebars, exit pages, iframes all had very poor opt-in rates with multiple incentives)

In my opinion, those are all really "second-best" ways (to put it mildly) of building a list for this sort of non-IM, non-MMO niche.

I would just put a prominently incentivised opt-in at the top of the home page. No pop-ups; no pop-unders; no exit pages ... just build a list, without the gimmicks that put so many people off and discourage them from returning to the site.

[MonopolyMan]

The huge ad above the fold was a last ditch attempt I made over the last few days. It's increased CTR but that's not going anywhere.

Thanks for the advice, I'll swap the big banner for a list build and try working on the auto responder a bit more.