Am I Right to Assume This ...?

aaallday2010 · 01-26-2012, 10:47 AM

I have a website with about 100 or so articles on a particular health topic. I also have a sales letter on this same website that converts at about 1.5% to 2%. (The sales letter promotes my very own remedy on the health topic.)

However, I have this very same sales letter (literally nothing has changed) on a stand alone site. This sales letter gets close to a 5% closing ratio.

Why?

They're the same EXACT sales letter promoting the same exact product. So why does the sales letter on my website not convert as well as the one on the single site?

My only logical conclusion to this would be that the visitors on my larger website are too easily distracted with the amount of information on there that they probably read my sales letter and then go back to the site to try and gather more "free" information from the articles.

Essentially, I'm LOSING sales due to my website!?!?

Whereas the stand alone site is just a sales letter therefore there are no other pages they can visit. It's either buy the product or leave the site.

I know content is king (otherwise I wouldn't have nearly as many visitors), but I believe having your sales letter on a page within your authority site is a BIG mistake in my opinion.

The stand alone sales letter gets all of its traffic from smaller 10 to 15 page mini-sites that have banner ads (and other contextual links) that link to the sales letter.

I also removed all links (and the navigation bar at the top) from the sales letter on my larger site to try and keep them focused on the sales letter. Still, it hasn't worked.

And I don't think the visitors to either site are very different from one another. They all have a particular medical condition that they would like healed. So I doubt if one site is getting a different group of visitors than the other site is.

Could someone chime in and help a brotha out? Am I right to assume that a sales letter on a multipage authority site does not convert as well as a sales letter on a stand alone site?

BarryADensa · 01-26-2012, 01:37 PM

If you're receiving traffic from the same sources for both pages -- and you removed all links other than the "buy" button on your website sales letter, there's no reason why it shouldn't convert as well as the stand alone landing page.

So, if it's worth the effort and expense, you need to hire a mechanic who can go under the hood and see why the timing belt is making weird noises.

Ken_Caudill · 01-26-2012, 11:17 PM

Stand alone sales pages have always converted better for me. I'm not going to pretend there's some highbrow scientific explanation for it. My best guess is that it has to do with undivided attention.

Nochek · 01-27-2012, 05:33 PM

Yeah, people go to content pages for content, people go to sales pages for sales. If you want a content-generated page to help with SEO, make a lead-offer on every page (without having to click off it) or just use it as supplemental leads to your single sales pages.

ephame · 01-27-2012, 05:51 PM

Perhaps people are in a different mentality when they are reading your single page vs being on your content site. For instance they read your article and think more of it when that's all they have access to.

CoffeeWithRyan · 01-27-2012, 06:14 PM

Well, it's true that closing rates are often higher on standalone pages. What I normally suggest is to pre-sell them on your webpage instead, or capture your prospects in an Auto responder sequence of up to 5-7 emails.

Do it with an ethical bribe. Bribe them with a video, a webinar, an interview, a mini-course. Not an ebook, of course.

The reason for that is pretty simple - you follow-up your prospects and repetitively pre-sell them with information which you make sure points them in the direction of your product.... until the end of the "mini-launch" where you hit them with a sales pitch.

I'm not going to pretend I know what's going on in your visitors' mind when they click away from your website. However, what I know is that if you leave them on your sales page without even getting their contacts, you're leaving an open leak in your sales pipe.

I'm going to guess that the level of expectation to be hit with a presented solution is different in both cases. Try doing a AR sequence.

Calskinator · 01-27-2012, 06:20 PM

It's possible that your website with the sales page is turning people off to being sold. Maybe they come to the site expecting it to be information and then they see the salesletter... but they were in "information research" mode...

I run a health website, too, and my sales conversions are higher off-site. Yet the content changes peoples lives... but the same sales letter on the website itself doesn't sell like the plain salespage that stands alone...

01-26-2012, 10:47 AM	#1
aaallday2010 HyperActive Warrior War Room Member Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: Here and there Posts: 264 Thanks: 90 Thanked 26 Times in 23 Posts	Am I Right to Assume This ...? I have a website with about 100 or so articles on a particular health topic. I also have a sales letter on this same website that converts at about 1.5% to 2%. (The sales letter promotes my very own remedy on the health topic.) However, I have this very same sales letter (literally nothing has changed) on a stand alone site. This sales letter gets close to a 5% closing ratio. Why? They're the same EXACT sales letter promoting the same exact product. So why does the sales letter on my website not convert as well as the one on the single site? My only logical conclusion to this would be that the visitors on my larger website are too easily distracted with the amount of information on there that they probably read my sales letter and then go back to the site to try and gather more "free" information from the articles. Essentially, I'm LOSING sales due to my website!?!? Whereas the stand alone site is just a sales letter therefore there are no other pages they can visit. It's either buy the product or leave the site. I know content is king (otherwise I wouldn't have nearly as many visitors), but I believe having your sales letter on a page within your authority site is a BIG mistake in my opinion. The stand alone sales letter gets all of its traffic from smaller 10 to 15 page mini-sites that have banner ads (and other contextual links) that link to the sales letter. I also removed all links (and the navigation bar at the top) from the sales letter on my larger site to try and keep them focused on the sales letter. Still, it hasn't worked. And I don't think the visitors to either site are very different from one another. They all have a particular medical condition that they would like healed. So I doubt if one site is getting a different group of visitors than the other site is. Could someone chime in and help a brotha out? Am I right to assume that a sales letter on a multipage authority site does not convert as well as a sales letter on a stand alone site?

01-26-2012, 01:37 PM	#2
BarryADensa Sales Writer Join Date: Jul 2011 Location: California Posts: 78 Thanks: 14 Thanked 40 Times in 20 Posts	Re: Am I Right to Assume This ...? If you're receiving traffic from the same sources for both pages -- and you removed all links other than the "buy" button on your website sales letter, there's no reason why it shouldn't convert as well as the stand alone landing page. So, if it's worth the effort and expense, you need to hire a mechanic who can go under the hood and see why the timing belt is making weird noises.
	Barry A Densa - Freelance Marketing & Sales Copywriter - WritingWithPersonality.com Download a FREE copy of my new eBook, containing 21 of my most outrageous rants, when you visit my blog: Marketing Wit & Wisdom

01-26-2012, 11:17 PM	#3
Ken_Caudill Here for the Beer War Room Member Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Chicago burbs Posts: 2,053 Blog Entries: 1 Thanks: 800 Thanked 1,280 Times in 795 Posts Social Networking Contact Info	Re: Am I Right to Assume This ...? Stand alone sales pages have always converted better for me. I'm not going to pretend there's some highbrow scientific explanation for it. My best guess is that it has to do with undivided attention.
	Sales Copy That Converts *Miracle Sales Copy Cures Cancer*

01-27-2012, 05:33 PM	#4
Nochek HyperActive Warrior War Room Member Join Date: Jan 2012 Posts: 150 Thanks: 0 Thanked 46 Times in 33 Posts	Re: Am I Right to Assume This ...? Yeah, people go to content pages for content, people go to sales pages for sales. If you want a content-generated page to help with SEO, make a lead-offer on every page (without having to click off it) or just use it as supplemental leads to your single sales pages.
	Nochek Solutions Presents: The Hydrurga WSO - Solve that Pesky Penguin Problem

01-27-2012, 05:51 PM	#5
ephame ephame.com War Room Member Join Date: Apr 2011 Location: Australia Posts: 228 Thanks: 21 Thanked 20 Times in 19 Posts Social Networking	Re: Am I Right to Assume This ...? Perhaps people are in a different mentality when they are reading your single page vs being on your content site. For instance they read your article and think more of it when that's all they have access to.
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01-27-2012, 06:14 PM	#6
CoffeeWithRyan vortex of copy Join Date: Jan 2012 Posts: 12 Thanks: 2 Thanked 6 Times in 4 Posts	Re: Am I Right to Assume This ...? Well, it's true that closing rates are often higher on standalone pages. What I normally suggest is to pre-sell them on your webpage instead, or capture your prospects in an Auto responder sequence of up to 5-7 emails. Do it with an ethical bribe. Bribe them with a video, a webinar, an interview, a mini-course. Not an ebook, of course. The reason for that is pretty simple - you follow-up your prospects and repetitively pre-sell them with information which you make sure points them in the direction of your product.... until the end of the "mini-launch" where you hit them with a sales pitch. I'm not going to pretend I know what's going on in your visitors' mind when they click away from your website. However, what I know is that if you leave them on your sales page without even getting their contacts, you're leaving an open leak in your sales pipe. I'm going to guess that the level of expectation to be hit with a presented solution is different in both cases. Try doing a AR sequence.

01-27-2012, 06:20 PM	#7
Calskinator Quality SEO Guru Join Date: Jan 2012 Location: San Jose, CA Posts: 23 Thanks: 0 Thanked 2 Times in 2 Posts Social Networking Contact Info	Re: Am I Right to Assume This ...? It's possible that your website with the sales page is turning people off to being sold. Maybe they come to the site expecting it to be information and then they see the salesletter... but they were in "information research" mode... I run a health website, too, and my sales conversions are higher off-site. Yet the content changes peoples lives... but the same sales letter on the website itself doesn't sell like the plain salespage that stands alone...