Huge Amazon Affiliate Conversion Decrease - Please Help!

by webmonopoly

Posted: 8 years ago 18 replies

INTERNET MARKETING

I have an Amazon affiliate site bringing about 250 unique visits a day, it made $180 last month.

This month I changed the amazon links in my comparison charts. I changed them from making the title of the product a link to a red button that says "check price".

My clicks skyrocketed by almost 40%! But very weirdly they are not converting at all! I've actually made much less this month with many more clicks than last month.

I only changed the links about 1.5 weeks ago. Should I wait out the entire month to see if the conversion comes back to normal?

Is there a problem with the Amazon affiliate program this month?

I was under the impression that the more clicks you send to Amazon the more sales, and this has proven true for me until this situation.

#affiliate #amazon #conversion #decrease #huge

Sid Hale 8 years ago

Amazon Commission rates changed drastically beginning 1 March 2017

Depending on what category of products you are promoting, the impact on YOU could be very dramatic.

Hope this helps.
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- webmonopoly 8 years ago
  
  Thanks for the help Sid. Yes im already aware of this, but it's my conversion rate that is having a bit of an issue. I can't really see this affecting conversion rate at all...
  
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Jesus Perez

8 years ago

So the buttons say "Check Price" now, right? What did they say before? Your CTA will always affect conversions.

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webmonopoly

8 years ago

Interesting. Before it was just the title of the product as an active link inside the comparison table. For example: Sony Superlens 123BB

So since the change I've since a large increase in click count but a large decrease in conversions. I'm actually getting less sales with more clicks!

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Jesus Perez

8 years ago

When you add clickbait to your link, that will always increase clickthroughs. But it doesn't mean they'll convert. More clicks does not always mean more sales. It just means you triggered a click. Are you sure this isn't a seasonal drop in sales? Have you been running it long enough to chart sales data?

It's very possible you're in a slow period of the year and you just happened to boost clicks for people that weren't planning to buy anyways.

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webmonopoly

8 years ago

It's very possible that it's just a seasonal drop, which I'm kind of hoping for. Its only been live with the buttons for about 1.5 weeks, so I think I will test them at least until the end of the month.

I actually got the idea from a case study where the guy replaced his generic title links to "check price" buttons, very similar to my situation. He boosted his sales by almost 50%.

But I understand it can vary from niche to niche for sure.

Seeing the click increase was very promising for me as I would usually see sales go up with a click increase, from my last 3 years of experience at least with other sites.

Is it possible that the CTA "check price" is too click bait sounding, and its filtering out serious buyers?

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Sid Hale

8 years ago

This is very important to understand (and I think is probably key in your current situation).

Originally Posted by Jesus Perez

When you add clickbait to your link, that will always increase clickthroughs. But it doesn't mean they'll convert. More clicks does not always mean more sales. It just means you triggered a click.

Originally Posted by webmonopoly

I actually got the idea from a case study where the guy replaced his generic title links to "check price" buttons, very similar to my situation. He boosted his sales by almost 50%.

You have to be verrrrrry careful with "case studies". If/When you try to replicate the result of someone else's case study, make sure that you both understand and agree with the cause...but also that the effect presented is also the most logical/probable effect.

Unless you understand what other (if any) test cases were run before publishing the results, you need to make sure you understand that the cause presented may have been incidental - and not the actual cause (although the author may genuinely believe it to be).

Originally Posted by webmonopoly

Is it possible that the CTA "check price" is too click bait sounding, and its filtering out serious buyers?

This particular CTA (IMHO) should definitely attract more clicks because it creates curiosity while still being very "non-threatening".

Unfortunately, by creating this very specific reason to click... you've also changed the intended purpose (your purpose, at any rate), in that the reader's curiosity is immediately satisfied after the click - so they are totally done (they accomplished their purpose) without being drawn in any further.

Your CTA has been satisfied.

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treka 8 years ago

Interesting. Maybe the types of people looking to check prices are bargin seekers and end up not purchasing on amazon? I'd personally leave it a little longer. A good test though.
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jan roos 8 years ago

This has happened to me a few times over the years.

I usually just wait it out until they return to normal.
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- webmonopoly 8 years ago
  
  It's almost like a little bad luck conversion streak isn't it?!
  
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  jan roos 8 years ago
  
  No I think it's more than that.
  
  There were a few times when it lasted for around 2 weeks.
  
  That's not some bad luck conversion streak. Don't know what it is.
  
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  myob 8 years ago
  
  I have found it best to never even hint about price in the preselling stage. Let Amazon handle that - they are past masters in conversions.
  
  The idea here is to drive prospects who have been massaged enough with benefit-laden content and authoritative positioning to buy within 24 hours of seeing the price.
  
  Most likely, the majority of your prospects are buying; just not from you. Build up value before bringing up anything about price.
  
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solarbaba

8 years ago

I just started with an affiliate site and so far I've generated 43 clicks. But zero in revenue. I'm starting to wonder if this is normal or not. What are typical conversion rates?

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solarbaba 8 years ago

Today I'm up to 76 clicks. Does Amazon lag behind on reporting affiliate fees? It's still showing zero. I would have expected at least one person to buy something on amazon within 24 hours of clicking my referral link. Sid Hale is your conversion rate back up?
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- solarbaba 8 years ago
  
  Sorry meant to ask webmonopoly.
  
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Sid Hale

8 years ago

Originally Posted by solarbaba

I just started with an affiliate site and so far I've generated 43 clicks. But zero in revenue. I'm starting to wonder if this is normal or not. What are typical conversion rates?

On 43 clicks???

ZERO

If it were that easy, there would be no purpose for this forum. Everyone would be too busy generating clicks in multiples of 43.

While generating traffic (and therefore clicks) is a necessary starting point, clicks do NOT equal sales. There is a lot more to getting affiliate sales than just getting a small number of visitors to click on your link.

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judaculla 8 years ago

I took a pretty big hit (~43%) with the latest change to the Amazon commission fee structuring, so I've been paying really close attention this month to my data. Typically speaking, I have pretty well-qualified traffic and see average monthly conversion rates of 15-20% for traffic sent to Amazon.

This has been consistent and hasn't varied for months. During Amazon's shift in commission fees, I had an entire week where my conversion rate dropped to ~8-10%. I suspected that was probably some adjusting they were doing in their system, and just took it as a cost of doing business with Amazon.

Maybe that drop in tracking/whatev could explain your issue as well?

How have your numbers been since?

It's been my experience that more traffic to Amazon is always the better option, even if it's less focused or qualified beforehand. I mean, people buy sh*t from Amazon regardless.
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mrdeflation 8 years ago

yes... down 40% revenue here from Amazon's nonsense...

My CTR and Conversions are the same %..

Total Sales are the same...

Commission ROI is getting hammered now...

SUCKS
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Huge Amazon Affiliate Conversion Decrease - Please Help!

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