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Anyone having problems with Amazon widgets & CTR?

by Bisturi
6 replies
Hello Warriors!

Quick question: does anyone else experience problems with the Amazon widget on their self-hosted Wordpress blog?

I've been getting some good sells via Amazon's links and banners, so I decided to also make Amazon widgets with my recommended products. However, I've registered no increases in sales, despite I'm getting a lot of targeted traffic to the pages where the widgets are.

According to Amazon's link-type report, the widgets are getting a lot of impressions, but a minimal CTR (0.6%), and no sales. On the other hand, my CTR for my Amazon links is almost 10%!

Something is going on. I'm selling the same products on both links and widgets and I would have thought that a widget would look more attractive to the visitor, thus I'd register a high CTR akin to the link's CTR.

One important thing though, I'm having problems with the code of the widgets. For some reason, when I insert the code on the HTML editor, it doesn't appear on the visual editor as I type the post. I've also noticed that sometimes, 1 or 2 widgets won't load in the published post despite the code being active in the post.

I'm starting to think it could be an issue with the widget itself, and not with the possibility that customers are simply not clicking through the banners and prefer links instead.

Have you experienced any problems with Amazon widgets? What do you think could be going on? Is such a disparity in CTRs between links and widgets common?

Thanks!
#amazon #ctr #problems #widgets
  • Profile picture of the author Bisturi
    Anyone please?
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  • Profile picture of the author Kezz
    Hey Bisturi,

    In my experience, Amazon's widgets are notoriously bad at generating results. I haven't used them in years for that reason.

    It's speculation as to why, but I suspect a couple of main issues.

    One, they are slow loading, so by the time they show content the visitor is already looking at something else.

    Two, they scream "I am an affiliate and I want your money!!".

    Yes, we do have to "sell" people, but at the same time we have to do it in a way that isn't too gaudy or people get defensive right from the start. Ideally you communicate with people first and then they won't mind at all when you show them a "buy" button.

    If you're finding your links are so much more effective, you should just follow the numbers. I say drop the widgets and focus on what is working for you.
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    • Profile picture of the author lotsofsnow
      Originally Posted by Kezz View Post

      If you're finding your links are so much more effective, you should just follow the numbers. I say drop the widgets and focus on what is working for you.
      That is exactly right. If your links work so much better just use them.
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  • Profile picture of the author Lloyd Buchinski
    I quit using widgets because their click through rate was so low. There have been comments like that all over the forum. They agree with Kezz, and with your experience.

    Originally Posted by Bisturi View Post

    For some reason, when I insert the code on the HTML editor, it doesn't appear on the visual editor as I type the post.
    The widgets wouldn't appear when I was working on sites on the computer. They would when they were loaded up to a live site. It might be something similar happening in your editor. Create a test page or post and see if that changes the behavior.
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  • Profile picture of the author ratracegrad
    Widgets are not worth using. You will get much better results with text links.
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    Amazon Affiliate Bible - an insiders guide to increasing conversions and earnings as an Amazon Affiliate
    RatraceGrad - my blog showing how I earn $100/day
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    • Profile picture of the author Bisturi
      Thank you all for the reply. I apologize for not replying in the same day as I haven't had internet access this last week.

      Makes sense what you've all said. Interestingly, the widgets keep not loading up correctly, and they exhibit some bizarre behavior. For example, if I try to add another widget to the page, all the widgets disappear despite the code still being in the HTML editor!!

      I chose widgets because I thought having images was more attractive to the reader. My site is not spammy at all (it's a fun/hobby blog) and I only put products to sell because people were asking for them to me. Can I ask then, how do you place your product links with text? Do you use the amazon shortener to make the links and have them nofollow? How about the Pretty Link plugin?
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