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Tips For Increase CTR For Ezinearticles?

by sc21287
18 replies
Hey guys, I have been posting about 3 articles a day to ezinearticles as well as 8 other directories by hand. Each one with a call to action in the resource box with 2 anchor text links. My CTR is only 5%. Is this considered low?

Here is an example of my call to action:

Click here now to see how to get a free copy of my "name of manual in anchor text" and learn how to "blah blah blah in anchor text" forever.

Just wondering what your other strategies were, etc.

My articles are averaging 300-500 words.

Thanks.
#ctr #ezinearticles #increase #tips
  • Profile picture of the author Michael Oksa
    Without seeing your articles, I would suggest you don't give too much information away.

    There is a fine line between demonstrating your knowledge and building trust and rapport with your audience, and not giving them any substance whatsoever. If you tell them too much, then there is no reason for them to click your link to learn more...no matter how good your resource box is.

    Hope that helps.

    All the best,
    Michael
    Signature

    "Ich bin en fuego!"
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    • Profile picture of the author sc21287
      Hmmm. I see what your saying. It seems it might be a little tricky at first but easy enough to do as I keep at it.

      Maybe at the end of each article I can say something along the lines of "this is not everything on this topic as I don't have time to go over everything. There is more in my manual."

      Something like that I guess.
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  • Profile picture of the author Justin Jordan
    Well, you drop the see part - too passive.

    But anyhow, you want the actual article to end in the resource box, and you want the article to be useful but incomplete. You tell the what, you sell them the how. So if your article is about, I dunno, how deify plums, you could list them the general ways to deify plums, but what you want to keep back is the specific details. If they want to know that, they have to click.

    Of course, you've lit the Alexa signal and she'll be along at any moment how clickthrough is not the end all and ber all, and she;s entirely correct.
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    • Profile picture of the author sc21287
      Originally Posted by Justin Jordan View Post

      Well, you drop the see part - too passive.

      But anyhow, you want the actual article to end in the resource box, and you want the article to be useful but incomplete. You tell the what, you sell them the how. So if your article is about, I dunno, how deify plums, you could list them the general ways to deify plums, but what you want to keep back is the specific details. If they want to know that, they have to click.

      Of course, you've lit the Alexa signal and she'll be along at any moment how clickthrough is not the end all and ber all, and she;s entirely correct.
      Ok. I see where your going. I figured that you would want to give a good amount of information to show you know what your talking about.

      And how would you suggest I be more aggressive with the "see" part of the resource box?
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      • Profile picture of the author Justin Jordan
        Originally Posted by sc21287 View Post

        Ok. I see where your going. I figured that you would want to give a good amount of information to show you know what your talking about.

        And how would you suggest I be more aggressive with the "see" part of the resource box?
        Click here to see how to get more information is a kind of wishy wahsy way of saying it, and it drains power out of your call to action.

        "Click here to learn how to INSERT BENEFIT" is better

        "Click here to INSERT BENEFIT" may be better still.

        Click here to lose weight now.

        No, this isn't literally true, but people understand that. But you have to test about works for your niche.

        As for content, useful but incomplete is a good guideline, but in general it's so much how much reveal, so long as you let them know there is more to learn and that they have click to get it.

        This is different than an article designed to create authority, where you may want to spell everything out about a certain subject.
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  • Profile picture of the author Geoff101
    1. The reader should know that the article did not had all the secrets, just one or two.They must click to get the full story
    2. You're resource box must not feel like another part. It must flow with article.
    3. Putting a picture and then writing the resource box in such a way that link is closer to your pictures helps CTRs
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    • Profile picture of the author sc21287
      Originally Posted by Geoff101 View Post

      1. The reader should know that the article did not had all the secrets, just one or two.They must click to get the full story
      2. You're resource box must not feel like another part. It must flow with article.
      3. Putting a picture and then writing the resource box in such a way that link is closer to your pictures helps CTRs
      Ok. My resource boxes def feel like another part and not flowing from the article. I also think I give too much away as well.

      You think shorter articles in the 250 to 300 range increase CTR since the resource box is above the fold somewhat?

      I believe I saw this somewhere. Not sure though.
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      • Profile picture of the author Michael Oksa
        Originally Posted by sc21287 View Post

        Ok. My resource boxes def feel like another part and not flowing from the article. I also think I give too much away as well.

        You think shorter articles in the 250 to 300 range increase CTR since the resource box is above the fold somewhat?

        I believe I saw this somewhere. Not sure though.
        There are other variables, such as writing style, and the expectations of readers in your niche. The only way to know for sure is to test different article lengths and see which ones work best for your CTR.

        ~Michael
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        "Ich bin en fuego!"
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  • Profile picture of the author Adriana Copaceanu
    If appropriate, link to your site by saying "to see an example....". Of course this doesn't wok in all niches: you need to adapt your resource box to your niche.
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    This is the best investment I have seen in ages - For just $1.00 you can get 4 coaching sessions - And the coaching is from internet marketing legend Chris Record.

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  • Profile picture of the author Michael Oksa
    Originally Posted by sc21287 View Post

    Hey guys, I have been posting about 3 articles a day to ezinearticles as well as 8 other directories by hand. Each one with a call to action in the resource box with 2 anchor text links. My CTR is only 5%. Is this considered low?

    Here is an example of my call to action:

    Click here now to see how to get a free copy of my "name of manual in anchor text" and learn how to "blah blah blah in anchor text" forever.

    Just wondering what your other strategies were, etc.

    My articles are averaging 300-500 words.

    Thanks.
    Another tip that may work is to put the benefit first. Using your wording, it would look like this...

    Learn how you can "blah blah blah in anchor text" forever. Grab your free copy of "name of manual in anchor text" now.

    I agree on taking out the "see how to" part. I don't want to have to click to see how to do something, I just want the danged guide.

    Took out the word "my" because it is implied and puts the focus on you, instead of the reader.

    Replaced "how to" with "how you can" for the same reason. I added the word "grab" because I like people to feel it in their hands.

    All the best,
    Michael
    Signature

    "Ich bin en fuego!"
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  • Profile picture of the author Geoff101
    Yes you should write like 250 to 300 word article. People get bored reading long articles.

    Also DON'T market yourself in the resource box. People don't want to know who you are or what you are, they want to see the solution to the problem they have.

    You're resource box should point them to that solution.
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    • Profile picture of the author Justin Jordan
      Originally Posted by Geoff101 View Post

      Yes you should write like 250 to 300 word article. People get bored reading long articles.
      It depends. While in my experience it does indeed increase clickthrough, it's less to do with people no wanting to read so much as that some people simply go straight for the click.

      That said, it's important to realize that while clickthrough matter, conversion on the other end matters more. While my longer articles have slightly less clickthroughs, they have somewhat higher conversions, probably due to a combination of pre selling and a more involved potential customer.

      You need to track both clickthroughs and conversions, and make sure that the techniques used to get more clicks aren't killing your profits.
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      • Profile picture of the author Alexa Smith
        Banned
        Originally Posted by Justin Jordan View Post

        It depends. While in my experience it does indeed increase clickthrough, it's less to do with people no wanting to read so much as that some people simply go straight for the click.
        This.

        Originally Posted by Justin Jordan View Post

        That said, it's important to realize that while clickthrough matter, conversion on the other end matters more. While my longer articles have slightly less clickthroughs, they have somewhat higher conversions, probably due to a combination of pre selling and a more involved potential customer.
        And this.

        Originally Posted by Justin Jordan View Post

        You need to track both clickthroughs and conversions, and make sure that the techniques used to get more clicks aren't killing your profits.
        And especially this.

        I've said this here in nearly every thread with "CTR" in the subject line for the last 3 - 6 months, but if people will excuse all my repetition, I'll say it again, here.

        18 months ago, I wrote 300 - 400 word articles and had a CTR of nearly 40%. Now I write 900 - 1,200 word articles (though not nearly so many of them, of course!), have a CTR of about 17% and earn between two and three times as much from the same "total word-count output". And so do many other Warriors who have commented in many other threads on this same subject, and related ones.

        I urge you not to listen to people telling you that you should write 250-300 word articles (and especially not at EZA!), "because people get bored with longer ones" (the few who are going to be your paying customers don't get bored with them, they get attracted to them; the many others get bored with them, whom you don't need anyway!) nor to people advising you on ways to increase your CTR which may actually reduce your conversions. (But please don't anyone imagine that I include Michael Oksa's wise comments above within that description!).

        On this subject, perhaps more than on any other, there's a huge amount of misinformation about, from people some of whom are partially ill-informed or even plain uninformed themselves, and have extremely limited conceptions of "article marketing".

        I agree that 5% is a low CTR and it's not one I'd be happy with, myself.

        But this is your cue to re-appraise what article marketing is, and why and how you're doing it in the first place, and not just to interpret your problem as "I must find a way to increase my CTR", because you may end up missing the Big Questions that way (and the money with them!). It's far too limited an approach. I'm just saying - and apologies for the intrusion if these comments were unwelcome.
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        • Profile picture of the author Justin Jordan
          Heh, I knew you'd be around.

          Yeah, CTR is one of the big misunderstood things, and beyond what been already said, I can only say this: experiment.

          Alexa clearly did, and made more money. You need to be aware of what you want to accomplish, be very aware of what the numbers are, and test to optimize.

          This is standard advice for PPC and copy, and it applies to article marketing as well. It's basic business 101.
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        • Profile picture of the author sc21287
          Originally Posted by Alexa Smith View Post

          This.



          And this.



          And especially this.

          I've said this here in nearly every thread with "CTR" in the subject line for the last 3 - 6 months, but if people will excuse all my repetition, I'll say it again, here.

          18 months ago, I wrote 300 - 400 word articles and had a CTR of nearly 40%. Now I write 900 - 1,200 word articles (though not nearly so many of them, of course!), have a CTR of about 17% and earn between two and three times as much from the same "total word-count output". And so do many other Warriors who have commented in many other threads on this same subject, and related ones.

          I urge you not to listen to people telling you that you should write 250-300 word articles (and especially not at EZA!), "because people get bored with longer ones" (the few who are going to be your paying customers don't get bored with them, they get attracted to them; the many others get bored with them, whom you don't need anyway!) nor to people advising you on ways to increase your CTR which may actually reduce your conversions. (But please don't anyone imagine that I include Michael Oksa's wise comments above within that description!).

          On this subject, perhaps more than on any other, there's a huge amount of misinformation about, from people some of whom are partially ill-informed or even plain uninformed themselves, and have extremely limited conceptions of "article marketing".

          I agree that 5% is a low CTR and it's not one I'd be happy with, myself.

          But this is your cue to re-appraise what article marketing is, and why and how you're doing it in the first place, and not just to interpret your problem as "I must find a way to increase my CTR", because you may end up missing the Big Questions that way (and the money with them!). It's far too limited an approach. I'm just saying - and apologies for the intrusion if these comments were unwelcome.
          I totally understand the principle. It all comes down to making money and which one makes more money. A high CTR is great, but if its not targeted than whats the point? The main reason I am doing article marketing is to build up backlinks and drive traffic, but the amount of opt ins is not much. I do drive them to a squeeze page on my blog and there is an opt in on the side as well so they have two places to opt in.

          My mind is always thinking and the reason I posted this was really to get different ideas if HOW I can change it. Basically different ways to just do it. The more ideas the better obviously.

          Those 900 - 1200 word articles, are those for product reviews or just information regarding a topic/problem?
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          • Profile picture of the author sc21287
            I just realized, maybe I should incorporate AIDA into each article then leave them wanting more in the end so they want to click through.
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          • Profile picture of the author Alexa Smith
            Banned
            Originally Posted by sc21287 View Post

            Those 900 - 1200 word articles, are those for product reviews or just information regarding a topic/problem?
            Just information regarding a topic/problem - and designed for the maximum possible syndication (by others) from article directories, so that I get other people doing some of my off-page SEO for me, and future targeted backlinks, traffic, opt-ins and sales coming from authority sites which I can conveniently reach by using article directories (and especially EZA) as a stepping-stone. This is where the real money is, in article marketing - and it's far more significant than the CTR of the EZA copy.
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    • Profile picture of the author sc21287
      Originally Posted by Geoff101 View Post

      Yes you should write like 250 to 300 word article. People get bored reading long articles.

      Also DON'T market yourself in the resource box. People don't want to know who you are or what you are, they want to see the solution to the problem they have.

      You're resource box should point them to that solution.
      I was doing this first because I saw the other "gurus" doing this.

      All of this is for the fat loss niche.
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