Would my site convert you, and if not, why?

Well, i am no expert, but here is one thing that bothers me. I was always taught to choose only 1 - maximum 2 - products to promote. In your case, you gave 4 autoresponders a 5 star rating.

How are people supposed to make a decision if all 4 are great?

Well there are 10 total, just top 5 on that front page... I mean, think about if I was comparing cars. Is there only "one five star car" out there or multiple that would be considered just as good? How do other people feel about that?

you are going to get a lot of people just browsing and looking for information in that niche.

i would hide all my content and make people optin to receive my free report.

use a headline like "dont buy an autresponder service until you read this exclusive report"

you need "lookers" to feel as if they will be seriously missing out on some information they cant find anywhere else. and in order to get they info, they must give you their email address.

then you get to followup with them several times.

your conversion rate is going to be low in that niche no matter how targeted your traffic.

You only have a few seconds to catch a visitor's attention. There really isn't any compelling reason to stay on your site. Sorry, it's true. You need a big fat headline that screams out the main benefit you're offering.

I actually read the first paragraph and still don't know what you do. Get to the point already. This page needs a major overhaul as it's wallowing in mediocrity now. Not trying to be insulting, just telling it like I see it.

Hey Ross,

Looks great to me and if I was looking for email marketing solutions it would definitely earn my attention after the initial few seconds of opening the page up.

I actually have a client interested in email marketing solutions, I have been recommending AWeber but I might flick him through to your site to compare the top solutions.

How are you driving traffic to your site? You say you have the best SEO guy on the Warrior forum, but you don't have me so I am not sure how correct that is



Are you driving traffic through any other means or is it just SEO? If it is SEO are you confident you have winning keywords that will attract people who are uniquely looking for reviews on each of these products?

Buyer-keywords will work very well here.

Cheers,
Dave

Also, just looking at your onpage SEO and it is quite messy. - ie; meta details mismatching what is actually written onpage, etc. - I'd get your SEO guy to tighten the onpage setup right away.

Other than that, the actual potential of the page looks excellent in regards to conversions.

Thank you Nathan, David, Travlin! Travlin - I'll definitely work on that paragraph, changing from informative to more why they should be there. Fluffy, same thing for your answer - sounds like that beginning paragraph, since you bought brought it up, needs a change!

Thanks Dadamson! As for the SEO of the site, I have it outsourced... the off-page part. On-page I am just doing myself.

The keywords I'm targeting I believe are oriented towards buyers -- reviews, ratings, "best of", "top of", that sort of stuff.

Hey Jake,

Thank you! That's the problem, though. The newest review goes to the top first. I want to be able to put whichever ones I want at the top too. The reviews aren't posts, they're actually reviews.. Wordpress has this thing now where you can make posts, pages, and reviews. Or at least that's how my theme made it work. Have any idea for a plugin, HTML, etc?

What I did to do that, temporary fix, was to make the review ratings suit how I want them. Basically I planned the post submissions correctly. The top one is the "best", second to top one is "second best", etc. But the rankings on the right side reflect the star rating. Since there were multiple 5 stars, it was taking A before B before C, etc, alphabetical ordering. So, I had to make only one 5 stars, one 4.5, one 4... and it looks "right" now... but certainly not a perfect fix.

As for the theme, it's paid, but the owner of it sold the site/theme on Flippa.

This is just my personal opinion.

When I see that theme, I personally leave the site instantly. I've seen it abused way too often and usually those that use it don't even care about the end user.

But these are just my opinions As for a regular person scrolling the internet (which you aren't targeting), they would likely think it was pretty cool, but I just feel it's overused and really doesn't have any uniqueness apart from each other, forcing me to think that all of the sites are related.

I would prefer FlexSqueeze as you can change the theme into anything you want and it's rare you'll notice someone is even using it if they know what they are doing.

As for the site itself, every single review is above 3-4 stars, which isn't a bad thing, but it would drive me away because I'd feel the entire aspect of the site was for the owners benefit and not my own.

It would be nice if you could review a few that weren't so great, that way you weren't saying that everything out there was great

Good luck on your venture!

Better than a generic review site...

Explain who you are, your testing criteria, and give a reason why you decided to reveiw autoresponder deliver service. Moreover... simplify your conclusions. Help your readers make a decision. Be their expert guide.

For instance, "I recommend this service for those who help local businesses with their marketing because of their ability to import email addresses without opting in again. This is important because., etc..."

Thank you Justin and Hans! As for only having reviews of the best ones, that was kind of my goal... for example, there are probably over 100 different options out there and my goal was to pick out the best 10. That's why it's hard to give a differentiated star rating scale to them because even #10 is a great option so to give it for example a 1 or 2 star would make it seem bad... but in reality it would just be considered "more bad" than the #1 or #2 spot, you know?

Start with 1 sentence in <h1> tags (bold and fat) that screams an important statistic from a credible source, ie

According to CNN "Email Marketing converts more customers into buyers, then Facebook, Blog, and Amazon combined!" How many sales did you miss today because you did not get your visitor's email?

Now obviously I made that up, but it has to be true and that powerful... I'd be pissed that I missed sales just because I didn't get a customer's email... ten just go in and say there's a bunch of Email subscriber services that exist but these are our top three based on these 5 reasons. [Then spell them out.] Have a link after like [Indepth Review] that redirects them to a page that has pictures of your 5 reasons, proving you are saying the truth. End with (on both pages) Obviously, iContact is the best because of {again splee out your 5 reasons, but now as benefits to the customer (ie:it's easier signup process means that fewer of your visitors will abandon half way through which means you will convert more of your visitors into your customers)} and end with a very compelling Action statement (ie:What are you waiting for? Go to iContact{this is the link} right now before you miss out on any more sales!)

This is a very rough draft. You could a few other things like creating a problem/solution bit, or telling a compelling story of a customer who almost lost their mom to cancer but thankfully they found your site and added your product which allowed them to raise enough money to save their mom (I know that is extreme, but something like that)

I agree with the other comments like John's as well.

It "looks" like an affiliate site. It's "nicer" than some, but it still "looks" like a site.

Plus, I read what you wrote, and it is *not* a review. It looks like a re-hash of the sales material from their website.

The best way to review it is to actually review it, I.e., get an account with all of those providers, and give your honest opinion. Then it will come across as a review site, and you may get sales from it.

As for actual sales -- if I *did* happen to stumble upon it -- and I was a 'new' user, you might get a sale (not because the review was any good) -- but simply because I might click on one of the buttons out of curiosity, and it looks like you've cloaked the links. (If I 'knew' it was an affiliate link, I would probably not use that because it would look 'scammy', i.e., not a real review, just someone trying to make a quick buck).

John

Looks good, however I would work on the header, looks too generic. Maybe add a happy face on it, usually people are attracted to other people, and are more likely to stay on the page.

Good comparisons on those services, looks like this will be good. However after recommending these services you use ContactMe, so this kinda makes it not as credible if you are recommending 3 autoresponders and are using a different one. Just my 2 cents.

In my opinion, you should offer some cons to each service and not just the pros. I personally like sites that also throw in the bad with the good. I am more inclined to trust that type of site because it seems more genuine. If all the reviews are honky-dory, then it will delay my decision to buy... Occasionally, I need someone to help me make a decision by pointing out the (sometimes) finite differences between each product/service and tell me why I should choose one over the other. I'm not getting this from your site.

hey resellcells, i just want to stop by and give you a word of encouragement more than anything.

i can tell you put a lot into this project for the folks here to be offering you some very critical advice. i commend you for taking it well and remaining focused on the task at hand...getting a site up and running that gives you a shot at success.

keep working at it buddy, you will get there.

Thanks David. Encouragement is always appreciated Yeah, definitely spent a good amount of time on the site... but not this site specifically, per say, as I built along with this 12 other sites that look just like it, but different niches... different banner, review, blog posts, etc... same concept, though. Everyone says stick with 1 thing... I know... just felt like throwing a bunch of balls up in the air to see what happens. Or 13 balls.

What a clean and organized site! Doesnt look spamish at all, but however, it looks kinda new cause:

1) not enough content in the blog section (u got only 2 articles - should at least start with 5+ and update 1/day)

2) Boring title - doesnt excite me. You need a flashier title on what or how it can benefit the reader-> me.

here's a link to help you out bro:
9 Proven Headline Formulas That Sell Like Crazy | Copyblogger


John P.

I like the site. I thought it would look over the top and spammy too , but was pleasantly surprised. well done

When I am testing ad copy or landing page copy, the first thing I always do is test the headline. You need to have a strong headline (not just a header). The headline needs to pre-frame the tone of the page. I have found that testing headlines makes the biggest impact on conversions.

Also, take into consideration who your visitors are. If they are reading a review for autoresponders, then they probably know what email marketing is already. You can use that top content box to position yourself as an expert when it comes to autoresponders with a strong headline and sub-headline.

For example you could say: "I have tried 373 different autoresponders and after 3 years of testing and thousands of dollars spent, I am revealing my top 5 most recommended autoresponders."

Obviously, I am exaggerating here, but you get my point. A captivating headline enables you to take the visitor through the pre-sells process (Attention, Interest, Desire and Action).

The headline should get their attention and create an interest in what you are recommending. Position the reviews so they desire one over the others, and make sure you have a call-to-action (like "Click Here"), so there is no mistaking what they need to do next.

You have to make sure you let your visitors know exactly what they need to do, or they won't do it.

You also may want to try to make the header more captivating. Just using the words 'Email Marketing' in your header doesn't trigger any subconscious emotional response. Using trigger words like Best, Quality, #1, or something like that will make them take your site and your reviews more seriously.

Looks like I have a lot of work to do Again, appreciated, & can't thank you guys & gals enough!

I would also suggest that you create a privacy policy / terms of use page , I know you have indicated that you might be affiliated with some products at the footer but

1) From what I heard that Google looks for the privacy / terms of use on affiliated websites and would give them more credit if they have it ( this is a myth but hey why not include it

2) I noticed that my customers always go to the privacy and terms before they decide if they want to buy anything from my website or opt in

Privacy policy page - got it. Have one on some of my sites, forgot to put it on all of them. Thank you!

I agree with the others on the first paragraph. After reading over it a few times, I get what you're trying to say (it's wordy and kind of "circles" around the point, instead of driving it home). Unfortunately, your visitors aren't going to read it a few times. Instead, they're going to gloss over it, not really sure how your site benefits them, and move on. If I were you, I'd make it longer and separate things into short paragraphs or even a bullet list if I could. That way, everything will make sense to the "skimmers" who are just looking for a quick answer.

I would change the headline, too. "Email Marketing" can mean about 1,000 different things. Again, I know what you're trying to say, so I get it, but alot of people will be confused. Are you teaching people how to do email marketing? Are you offering to sell them a list? Are you a PR firm that specializes in email marketing?

I would also get rid of the little banners that say "Best Option", "Top Rated", and "Popular". If I'm in the market for one of these products, shouldn't the best option also be the top-rated product? How can one product get the best ratings and not be the best option?

If people have to guess what you mean in your content, you run the risk of them coming to the wrong conclusion - and that's something that hurts both of you.

I agree with the rest. There is nothing that grabs you when you enter the page. It's a lot of "stuff". You only have three seconds for a visitor to understand what is on the page and either read or click something. Your site takes more than three seconds to figure out what it is and why I am there.

It's good that you asked and it's good that you are getting honest advice. Nobody wins when you get a lot of undeserved attaboy feedback.

Aren't you building a list?

The same question you asked your visitors?

Where is your optin form?
What is your freebie?

If you build your list with your top recommended autoresponder service, that can instantly boost your credibility.

I have a suggestion for a freebie for your site

"Top 10 Deadly List Building Mistakes to Avoid"

Make a short report and give it for free. Inside the report, you can again recommand these affiliate programs.

In this way you are accomplishing 2 things

1) Proving that "you practice what you preach"
2) You have a good understanding about the topioc

Hope it helps.