How To Make More Money From Your Website..

15 replies
I'll hazard a guess that only a very small number of
people pay any attention to the really important
numbers within their business.

For example: Do you know:
  • Your subscriber opt-in rate for each of your ezines?
  • The sales conversion rate for each site?
  • The refund rate for each of your products?
  • Your shopping cart abandonment rate?
  • The lifetime value of each customer?
Improving any one of the above figures will add to
your bottom line profits at little or no cost.

Whatever your advertising cost, measured in hard
cash or hours of time spent, you can get a better
return on your ad spend if you improve what happens
on your website.

I used a similar example earlier today..

Lets assume you make 30 sales of a $27 product
every month and 12% of the people who get as
far as the shopping cart bail out.

Let's say you add an exit survey to discover the
main cause of that shopping cart abandonment.

You discover that most people are worried about
the security of their personal information. You then
add extra text on your order page explaining the
payment process step-by-step and you reassure
them that their data will only be seen by a very
reputable payment processor.

OK, that tweak might halve the number of people who
abandondon the cart.

That will generate an extra 22 sales every year and
add $594 to your annual sales revenue. For what..
a couple of hours of your time?

John
#make #money #sales conversion #testing #tracking #website
  • Profile picture of the author Mike McBride
    John,

    I've been wondering when you'd start sharing some of your testing and tracking wisdom again. Thanks for the timely reminder.
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  • Profile picture of the author John Taylor
    Mike,

    This thread is actually a test in itself. I intend
    to monitor the data in term of views and
    responses; and then determine how the results
    will impact how I spend my time.

    John
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    • Profile picture of the author Andyhenry
      Originally Posted by John Taylor View Post

      Mike,

      This thread is actually a test in itself. I intend
      to monitor the data in term of views and
      responses; and then determine how the results
      will impact how I spend my time.

      John
      Does that mean we have to say something clever in response or you won't bother again?

      Bugger.....
      Signature

      nothing to see here.

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      • Profile picture of the author John Taylor
        Originally Posted by Andyhenry View Post

        Does that mean we have to say something clever in response or you won't bother again?

        Bugger.....
        What are you saying Andy?

        You don't want me to bother again? :p

        John
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  • Profile picture of the author dogisland
    I would add that it's worth tracking conversion based on referrer. i.e. I know for 1 of my products that visitors from a particular niche site convert well, so my marketing efforts are best spent there.
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    • Profile picture of the author John Taylor
      Originally Posted by dogisland View Post

      I would add that it's worth tracking conversion based on referrer. i.e. I know for 1 of my products that visitors from a particular niche site convert well, so my marketing efforts are best spent there.
      That's a great example of why it's important
      to track your sales processes.

      The data helps to make informed decisions
      about where to focus your efforts.

      John
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  • Profile picture of the author 2ndAccount
    thanks for the advice here, very useful.

    do you know how i track my sales conversions using google analytics goals? i have pasted my target url as the clickbank buy page (this is my product, not affiliate)

    however i notice that when someone clicks my order now link the clickbank secure payment page url changes every time, which explains why my goal is not being reached. any idea how i set this up?
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    • Profile picture of the author John Taylor
      Originally Posted by 2ndAccount View Post

      thanks for the advice here, very useful.

      do you know how i track my sales conversions using google analytics goals? i have pasted my target url as the clickbank buy page (this is my product, not affiliate)
      I don't use Google Analytics, I have my own system.

      However, I'd suggest that you place tracking code
      on your squeeze page, sales page, order page (if you
      have one) and the download page.

      You can then calculate the conversion rate from each
      stage in the process.

      John
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      • Profile picture of the author SunCraft
        Originally Posted by John Taylor View Post

        I don't use Google Analytics, I have my own system.

        However, I'd suggest that you place tracking code
        on your squeeze page, sales page, order page (if you
        have one) and the download page.

        You can then calculate the conversion rate from each
        stage in the process.

        John
        John can you elaborate a little why don't you use Google Analytics? How does your system better?
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        • Profile picture of the author Robert43
          Thanks, John
          At what point would a site's statistics become relevant?
          If you were studying the numbers for a new site, struggling for traffic, for example, you could come to some false conclusions unless there were enough visitors. Right?
          Or am I over-thinking it?
          Sorry, couldn't think of anything clever to say ...
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          • Profile picture of the author John Taylor
            Originally Posted by Robert43 View Post

            Thanks, John
            At what point would a site's statistics become relevant?
            If you were studying the numbers for a new site, struggling for traffic, for example, you could come to some false conclusions unless there were enough visitors. Right?
            Or am I over-thinking it?
            Sorry, couldn't think of anything clever to say ...
            It really depends on what you are measuring, the
            accepted rule of thumb is that you need at least
            40 desired actions to achieve a reasonable level
            of reliability.

            So, if your sales copy converts at 2% then 40 sales
            would require 2,000 unique visitors.

            My approach would be to use PPC as my initial traffic
            source for testing. But that means having a budget
            for the traffic.


            John
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            • Profile picture of the author Neil Morgan
              Hi John

              Great thread - I'm a numbers geek myself and I'd say that learning your numbers is one of the most important things a site owner should be doing.

              For example, with various sources of income on my main site, I also closely track visitor value because it also includes price, upsell and cross-sell as well as visitors, cost per visitor and conversion rate.

              If you focus on increasing visitor value, then you're covering all the bases.

              Cheers,

              Neil
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              Easy email marketing automation without moving your lists.

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        • Profile picture of the author John Taylor
          Originally Posted by SunCraft View Post

          John can you elaborate a little why don't you use Google Analytics? How does your system better?
          I've developed my own system over many years
          at a cost in excess of $25,000.

          I don't rely on a third party so I control everything
          including who has access to my test results.

          John
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  • Profile picture of the author vbkid
    Your shopping cart abandonment rate --- so Important!!
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  • Profile picture of the author lgibbon
    Banned
    Originally Posted by John Taylor View Post




    Let's say you add an exit survey to discover the
    main cause of that shopping cart abandonment.
    Hi John,
    I think you need to take into account how many potential customers
    are likely to be new or regular buyers.

    If I'm half interested in buying something, the first thing I want to know
    is the price.
    Then I click the order link to see how long it's going to take me
    to fill in the form before I can make the purchase.
    A lot of shopping carts require so much irrelevent info that it tends to put me off.
    An exit survey would certainly put me off returning.
    And I wouldn't fill it in anyway.
    As a regular buyer I'd rather just hit a paypal button.
    I know I'm lazy.
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