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How can I get more eyes on my books? Only 2% of visitors look at them

by hockmasm
9 replies
For years, I've used the standard blog format for my website -top 10 posts on the left, sidebar with adsense, newsletter sign up and popular posts on the right.

My website serves three purposes:
  1. Provide free how-to tutorials
  2. Sell books I've written
  3. Generate Adsense and Amazon revenue
My old way of thinking was that people would find my website through the free content, click on some Adsense or Amazon links or eventually stumble across my books and buy them. 3 ways to make money.



However, I'm struggling with how to get more eyes on my books (the big money maker). I have a heads up bar that rotates between the titles with a catchy tagline (could be improved?) I've tested other products in the sidebar with graphics and didn't get high click through rates.



So far this month I've had 7,500 unique visitors, but only 166 unique views to my four book pages. That equals 2% of visitors looking at my book sales pages.


Can you share with me some ideas on how I can get more people looking at my books? They sell very well on Amazon, so I know if the people see them they will want to buy them.



One thought I had was to redesign my homepage layout so that it forces users into 2 paths... Read the Free Content or Check out Our Books.
#books #eyes #visitors
  • Profile picture of the author sanhal
    Have you tried Pinterest?

    It does depend on your niche but if you get creative with your images you can drive traffic to your book pages on your blog.

    Sandy
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  • Profile picture of the author Stefan Pylarinos
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    • Profile picture of the author hockmasm
      Originally Posted by Stefan Pylarinos View Post

      I have a blog where I promote my book in my sidebar and everything also. I'd try promoting your book to your newsletter (have it in your autoresponder), and also YouTube if you have a channel of followers there, same goes with Facebook/Twitter.

      For your blogs conversions - is the book relevant to what the readers are looking for and want? Is the book title/cover good enough to convert them? What about having a discount on your book and having a headline that says (Get 50% off!). There's a lot you can do to test conversions.
      two tricks I used a few months ago were this...

      i sent a newsletter out saying if you bought one of my books, I would give you two more for free. then i did another promo where if you bought two books i'd give you all four.

      i made a lot of sales that way. but now they've dried up through my website. on amazon kindle they sell every day, but i can't offer them for sale on my website or they will take them down. so i push people to amazon to buy.

      how well does your sidebar ad work? i tried to sell a few other products and rotated the ads, but people seemed to ignore them. My guess was they were ad blind.
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  • Profile picture of the author ThorBorwick
    Originally Posted by hockmasm View Post

    For years, I've used the standard blog format for my website -top 10 posts on the left, sidebar with adsense, newsletter sign up and popular posts on the right.

    My website serves three purposes:
    1. Provide free how-to tutorials
    2. Sell books I've written
    3. Generate Adsense and Amazon revenue
    My old way of thinking was that people would find my website through the free content, click on some Adsense or Amazon links or eventually stumble across my books and buy them. 3 ways to make money.



    However, I'm struggling with how to get more eyes on my books (the big money maker). I have a heads up bar that rotates between the titles with a catchy tagline (could be improved?) I've tested other products in the sidebar with graphics and didn't get high click through rates.



    So far this month I've had 7,500 unique visitors, but only 166 unique views to my four book pages. That equals 2% of visitors looking at my book sales pages.


    Can you share with me some ideas on how I can get more people looking at my books? They sell very well on Amazon, so I know if the people see them they will want to buy them.



    One thought I had was to redesign my homepage layout so that it forces users into 2 paths... Read the Free Content or Check out Our Books.
    Have you tried building a list?

    If you have a decent amount of traffic,why don`t you write a free e-book as a giveaway.Or maybe a oto? One time offers are great,as you know you get buyers to your list.
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    • Profile picture of the author hockmasm
      I'm currently trying to build a list. i have email pop up opt-in and sidebar.

      today, i just added a plugin that puts html at end of each post. i put this:

      -----

      <image of book on right>

      Like what you read?

      Then join 5,000+ other people who have downloaded our best-selling XXX Book Series on Amazon.com

      Each book is jam packed with tips and tricks that'll teach you how to become a better XXX, fast. With hundreds of positive reviews already from people just like yourself, you'll find it to be a great resource. Just click the button below to find out more about it.

      Red Learn More Button
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      • Profile picture of the author LilBlackDress
        You could consider enrolling one in KDP Select and doing free promos on it to introduce readers to your brand. It can be extremely effective at helping you gain new readers.
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        • Profile picture of the author hockmasm
          Originally Posted by LilBlackDress View Post

          You could consider enrolling one in KDP Select and doing free promos on it to introduce readers to your brand. It can be extremely effective at helping you gain new readers.

          i've done that already for all of them.
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  • Profile picture of the author Alex Blades
    Would be nice to see your book cover, a great eye catching cover could go a long way toward getting more eyes on your book.
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  • Profile picture of the author BinaryQwest
    Organic visitors from Google that are only looking for free information could bring conversions way down. Someone searching for "free how-to info on .." is much harder to convert. Take a look at your analytics and see how they are finding your site.
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  • Profile picture of the author AndrewCavanagh
    Originally Posted by hockmasm View Post

    My old way of thinking was that people would find my website through the free content, click on some Adsense or Amazon links or eventually stumble across my books and buy them. 3 ways to make money.



    However, I'm struggling with how to get more eyes on my books (the big money maker). I have a heads up bar that rotates between the titles with a catchy tagline (could be improved?)



    So far this month I've had 7,500 unique visitors, but only 166 unique views to my four book pages. That equals 2% of visitors looking at my book sales pages.


    Can you share with me some ideas on how I can get more people looking at my books?

    One thought I had was to redesign my homepage layout so that it forces users into 2 paths... Read the Free Content or Check out Our Books.

    This is definitely a conversion issue.

    Your content is related to the topic of your books so you know a good
    percentage of your traffic should be somewhat interested.

    "One thought I had was to redesign my homepage layout so that it forces users into 2 paths... Read the Free Content or Check out Our Books."

    I think you're on the right track there.

    I'd be thinking along the lines of
    ANY time they read any of your content they should be exposed to
    a catchy headline promoting at least one of your books.

    That can be as simple as putting a hyperlink under every content
    post with a headline they can click on.

    So if your post is about dobermans your headline below the post
    might be:
    Discover the 7 secrets to feeding Dobermans and cattle dogs
    in this full 144 page book.


    It will take you some work to create a headline for each post
    but that will get you a lot of people clicking through to your
    books.

    Basically you have to get in the mind of your prospect.

    They came to your site because of content on a very specific
    topic.

    You need to help them make the connection between that topic
    and the topic your book covers so they can see the value in it
    for them.

    Kindest regards,
    Andrew Cavanagh

    P.S. You really can't afford to let people "stumble upon your books."

    If the information in those books is of genuine value to your visitors
    then you're doing them a disservice if you don't engineer ways to
    get visitors from your content to the point where they're read to
    buy your books.

    It really can be as simple as thinking through who is arriving and
    reading each post and what information they need to take the next
    step to buying your book.

    You just need to build some bridges from one to the other.
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