Eric Nagel

Eric Nagel

CTO, PHP Programmer, Affiliate Marketer & IT Consultant

How to Quadruple Revenue Using Existing Traffic

I have been, or can be if you click on a link and make a purchase, compensated via a cash payment, gift, or something else of value for writing this post. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.

Timothy Kerber (CEO of MemberGate Solutions), moderated a panel at Affiliate Summit West 2012 consisting of Mike Allen, (Shopping-Bargains.com), Tim Ash (SiteTuners and author of Landing Page Optimization: The Definitive Guide to Testing and Tuning for Conversions) and Jennifer Myers Ward (ebove & beyond) on How to Quadruple Revenue Using Existing Traffic.

Tim, Jennifer & Mike talk about increasing revenue
Tim, Jennifer & Mike talk about increasing revenue

While the target audience was listed as affiliates / publishers, I personally think merchants who attended got more out of the content, as affiliates can pre-sell then direct the user where to buy, but it’s the merchant who can really increase revenue via cross-sells, upsells and a simple checkout process.

Here are my notes from the session, slightly cleaned up and important parts highlighted

  • Split-testing
  • Common problems
    • Affiliates give good traffic to back merchant (advertiser)
    • Lengthy content / hard to read content
    • Don’t require a login for guests to buy
    • Don’t keep secrets (show return policy and shipping charges clearly)
    • Keep it simple
    • Navigation is a roadmap, not a puzzle
    • Quick read show content as an outline, not an essay
    • Continue to sell to your customers
    • Leverage cross sells & upsells
      • If selling a suit, recommend a tie. If buying a tie, don’t recommend a suit!
      • See: GoDaddy
      • Be intelligent
      • Put 1 upsell on the thank-you page
    • Have a strong offer give them something they can’t get anywhere else
  • Split testing effects on SEO
    • Google is OK with testing, but permanently put winning version live
    • Don’t cloak, bait & switch
  • Affiliates: 7 Ways to make more money
    • Be the expert
      • Become an authority
      • Embrace tough questions
      • Find solutions
      • Establish trust
    • Leverage your Advantage
      • Build partner relationships
      • Offer something exclusive
        • data / wisdom / analysis
        • coupons
        • access
        • you!
    • Provide Better Content
      • Be unique
      • Give something away
      • provide real answers
      • demonstrate trust
    • Help People Decide
      • Honest comparisons
        • Reviews & ratings
      • If you have side by side options, show the most expensive one first.
        • Quality Imagery
      • Photos, screenshots
      • Provide details
      • Gently lead
        • Don’t force the sale
    • Increase Touch Points
      • Not everyone buys the first time
      • Social media
      • Newsletters
    • Build Lasting Relationships
      • Customer service
      • Say Thank You
      • Help your users succeed
    • Monitor Behavior (analytics)
      • Survey your users
    • Continual Innovation is key
      • Focus on goals
      • Seek advice from others
      • Make adjustments as necessary
      • Wash, rinse, repeat
  • 5 tips to skyrocket conversion
    • Make your call to action clear
      • Declutter
    • Ask for less info
      • Absolutely necessary
      • Current transaction
    • Cut Down on your text
      • People don’t read on the web
        • They scan, look for places to click, look at photos
    • Keep your promises
      • Best Digital Cameras consumers reports example
  • Make your trust visible
    • As seen on media logos
    • Over 200 satisfied clients
    • Download statistics (social proof)
    • AttentionWizard.com
      • Upload screenshot, get predictions
Comments
  • James Seligman
    Posted January 15, 2012 5:20 pm 0Likes

    Some great little nuggets in there. Looks like my whiteboard just got a little more crowded.

    *Seems like whenever I take notes, I can never read them when I get back home.

  • James Martell
    Posted January 15, 2012 8:18 pm 0Likes

    It sounds like it was a great session. I am sorry to have missed it.

  • Mike Allen
    Posted January 19, 2012 6:32 pm 0Likes

    Nice post, Eric. Thanks for sharing.

    One comment I wanted to add during our presentation but couldn’t remember at the time when asked about alternatives to Google Analytics . . . is Performancing Metrics (PMetrics) – http://pmetrics.performancing.com/. They have a nice free version and some very inexpensive pro options. Very easy to use and some really good data!

    • Eric Nagel
      Posted January 19, 2012 7:28 pm 0Likes

      I’ve been meaning to check out http://piwik.org/ – since I tag each visitor with an ID, and pass that as a subID, I could then take network revenue figures and push them back into the analytics. I don’t think I can push figures back into GA at a later time

  • Mike Allen
    Posted January 24, 2012 1:08 pm 0Likes

    AffiliateReporting.com has some great tools (premium) for subID tracking via affiliate networks.

  • Trackback: Top Testing Tips to Optimize Your Site with Justin Rondeau
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