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Made massive improvements, but resulted in much less sales...what's going on here??

by Bkelly301
12 replies
I've been listening to the people that have bought off me very closely, and one very common problem that people were having with my website was the navigation.

So I spent a full month doing a massive update to the site. Most of the people who have already paid for a lifetime membership seem to be VERY happy with the upgrade. However, I have noticed that sales have dropped pretty significantly.

It's tough to tell specifically why this is though.

The way I had the site setup before was that people would sign up as a "free member", and then they would get access to hundreds of free, in-depth lessons. As they were browsing around this amazing free resource, they would have the option to "upgrade" for a one-time fee. Most people made the upgrade...because "why not?" The free stuff was so great, why not just pay for the full browsing experience?

That model led to a lot of sales, but also a lot of people who were unhappy with the navigation of the site (after buying).

Now, I have the site much more structured and organized. There are videos everywhere explaining exactly how the new site works. However the "model" is a bit different now. I'm giving away less for free. It has to be this way though in order to accommodate the improved navigation.

The site is like 1000 times better now, but for some reason I feel that it is missing that "special sauce" that was causing a ton of people to buy before.

- The "product" is now WAY better all around
- The price is the same
- People don't seem to be interested anymore

Has anyone experienced this before?
#improvements #made #massive #resulted #saleswhat
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  • Profile picture of the author Mr_Lauri
    Would it be possible to rotate between two website versions and then see what type of results would bring? is that a wordpress site?
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    Traffic and Conversions.
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    • Profile picture of the author praetserge
      This is actually a clever idea to compare the performance.
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  • Profile picture of the author cheese1688
    Interesting situation. It seems that a simple structure and a simple website is more appealing to visitors.
    It's like few years ago I have built a very simple squeeze page, it was even funny how ugly what page was, BUT the conversion was about 60%. Later I built another squeeze page, it looked much better, nice graphics, colors and so on and this page conversion was about 10%.

    Please tell if already existing customers told you that this new version of your site is much better or only you thinking it's much better?
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    • Profile picture of the author Bkelly301
      Originally Posted by cheese1688 View Post

      Interesting situation. It seems that a simple structure and a simple website is more appealing to visitors.
      It's like few years ago I have built a very simple squeeze page, it was even funny how ugly what page was, BUT the conversion was about 60%. Later I built another squeeze page, it looked much better, nice graphics, colors and so on and this page conversion was about 10%.

      Please tell if already existing customers told you that this new version of your site is much better or only you thinking it's much better?
      Yes, everyone who uses the site says its WAY better.

      It's very difficult trying to A/B test this site because it is contains over 3000 pages, with structured course paths and stuff. Plus, all of my self-promotion over the last 4 years of YouTube videos has been pointing to this domain name.

      My audience is 100% organic too, so I can't think of an accurate way of A/B testing except for maybe the sales page.
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      • Profile picture of the author savidge4
        Originally Posted by Bkelly301 View Post

        Yes, everyone who uses the site says its WAY better.

        It's very difficult trying to A/B test this site because it is contains over 3000 pages, with structured course paths and stuff. Plus, all of my self-promotion over the last 4 years of YouTube videos has been pointing to this domain name.

        My audience is 100% organic too, so I can't think of an accurate way of A/B testing except for maybe the sales page.
        You can test the home page - you can do it in Google Analytics:

        https://www.wpbeginner.com/wp-tutori...gle-analytics/

        For a better overall education on the process and WHY:

        https://devrix.com/tutorial/ab-testi...initive-guide/
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        Success is an ACT not an idea
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        • Profile picture of the author Bkelly301
          Originally Posted by savidge4 View Post

          You can test the home page - you can do it in Google Analytics:

          https://www.wpbeginner.com/wp-tutori...gle-analytics/

          For a better overall education on the process and WHY:

          https://devrix.com/tutorial/ab-testi...initive-guide/
          The home page seems to be doing fine. I'm still getting the same amount of email signups.

          Its the "model" that I'm concerned with.

          Before, I had the site structured with a bunch of free stuff (way too much IMO), with a ton of "full access" stuff mixed in.

          People looked at it like, "for only $60, I can use the site with all the extra bells and whistles".

          However that was causing the navigation to really be difficult for site users. That was made the upgrade look appealing, but people ended up being unhappy with the overall functionality of the site.

          Now, the site is setup as you get a little sampling, but you have to pay the $60 for the full thing. Once they get the full thing, the navigation and functionality is top notch. However it doesn't have that "upgrade for all the extra bells n whistles" type of vibe to it now.

          I'm *thinking* that the price may actually be a turn off since it seems too LOW in comparison to the perceived value that. People may think that they are getting themselves into some sort of an "upsell trap"...although I try to make it very clear that is not the case.

          Definitely tricky trying to A/B a model such as this one.
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          • Profile picture of the author DABK
            You can gain certainty about one thing: raise the price and see what happens.


            Seems like you shortened the time they have before they have to make a decision. Seems like that might be a reason, if not the reason.


            People come with little movies in their heads about how things are going to go... Before, their movie and your script for your site were a match...



            The shortened time might make them feel pressure, and they're fighting that...



            Or, it was simply, you had more things for them to sample to convince themselves that they were making a smart decision.


            Can you keep the same structure and add more samples?


            Originally Posted by Bkelly301 View Post

            The home page seems to be doing fine. I'm still getting the same amount of email signups.

            Its the "model" that I'm concerned with.

            Before, I had the site structured with a bunch of free stuff (way too much IMO), with a ton of "full access" stuff mixed in.

            People looked at it like, "for only $60, I can use the site with all the extra bells and whistles".

            However that was causing the navigation to really be difficult for site users. That was made the upgrade look appealing, but people ended up being unhappy with the overall functionality of the site.

            Now, the site is setup as you get a little sampling, but you have to pay the $60 for the full thing. Once they get the full thing, the navigation and functionality is top notch. However it doesn't have that "upgrade for all the extra bells n whistles" type of vibe to it now.

            I'm *thinking* that the price may actually be a turn off since it seems too LOW in comparison to the perceived value that. People may think that they are getting themselves into some sort of an "upsell trap"...although I try to make it very clear that is not the case.

            Definitely tricky trying to A/B a model such as this one.
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            • Profile picture of the author savidge4
              Originally Posted by DABK View Post

              You can gain certainty about one thing: raise the price and see what happens.
              And this very well could be the key... you may have created a better "System" now and the value you have ( price tag ) is far less than perceived - which may lead to "To Good To Be True"

              RIGHT NOW... with a ton of time on peoples hands.. there is NO BETTER TIME to learn an instrument - or at least hone your skills.

              That being said, you should be crushing it right now - with the right messaging Whoa is me the sky is falling - OR - NOW, because I have time I will come out of this better at... < insert skill here >
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  • Profile picture of the author thejessecarr
    Possibly you may need to work on your copywriting. Maybe your site in general looks good but how you word everything and sell your product is not convincing or persuasive enough. Try split testing the site with different copywriting.

    If people aren't convinced they need your product they won't buy, no matter how good your product is or your site is.
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    • Profile picture of the author Bkelly301
      Originally Posted by thejessecarr View Post

      Possibly you may need to work on your copywriting. Maybe your site in general looks good but how you word everything and sell your product is not convincing or persuasive enough. Try split testing the site with different copywriting.

      If people aren't convinced they need your product they won't buy, no matter how good your product is or your site is.
      True...I was making $5K per month minimum with zero paid traffic before though, so people do like my product. Something changed after I made these improvements though. I'm just not sure exactly what it was...

      I don't expect to get the answer to my specific situation here. I was just kinda seeing if anyone had similar experiences. I feel that the way I do things isn't really the "norm" though.
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  • Profile picture of the author TobiMDD
    hmm maybe before they thought: When I pay $60 I get a better experience and a better looking site and now they already have a good looking free site and think why paying $60 now haha
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  • Profile picture of the author Bkelly301
    These are some great insights!

    My sales page has said $59 (regularly $149), and has had a "this offer ends at (end of month)" announcement at the top for over a year now. Maybe the "sale" could actually end for once!
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