Chris, a new consulting client, asked me to help him increase sales on his affiliate marketing site.
As he was describing his site and the problem, I thought, "This is going to be a quick fix."
How wrong I was!
His site was excellent. Other than a few minor points, it followed all my basic rules for a successful affiliate marketing site.
The site was focused around a single theme in a profitable niche, with an excellent selection of high-priced, high-commission products.
Chris had gone the extra mile to have his site professionally designed, and it was simple, elegant and user-friendly, employing consistent navigation and a nifty database-driven search results system.
He was working directly with his merchant partners to create ad copy that offered his visitors the best possible deals.
And he was advertising in the pay-per-click search engines to drive tons of targeted traffic, and using hundreds of keyword listings with brilliantly worded titles and descriptions.
So, why on earth were his sales so low?
I knew I was picking at straws, but during our first session, I made a host of recommendations for improvement, which included:
- a domain name change
- a background color change
- reformatting the page table size
- rephrasing offers more positively
- adding relevant graphics and photos
- dropping poor performing merchants
- adding a newsletter
- adding new products
- redirecting non-buyers to additional offers
Chris implemented all my suggestions as well as a few of his own. After giving the new version a few weeks to prove itself, we scheduled our second teleconsulting session. I was anxious to hear how well the site was now performing.
You can appreciate my dismay when Chris told me that his sales had actually dropped!
Aargh!
I reviewed his site again, and it suddenly struck me... he should try blue links!
Why?
Because web design convention suggests that links should be blue, visited links purple and active links red. Although nothing written in stone about link color, I believe that those conventional colors should used whenever they compliment site design.
I'd changed my own site links, Sage-Hearts.com, from maroon to blue sometime before and noticed a nice conversion rate increase.
Sure enough, that WAS the answer to Chris' site problems...
His conversions increased 1100% almost overnight JUST by changing his link color to blue.
In addition to being underlined, people expect links to be blue, and in some cases visitors may have problems with sites that don't conform to their expectations.
With the average site visit lasting only about 8 seconds, we don't have time to waste confusing our visitors with basic site navigation. Use blue links if possible to keep your navigation instantly recognizable, unambiguous and consistent.
© Copyright Rosalind Gardner, All Rights Reserved.
Article by Rosalind Gardner, author of the best-selling "Super Affiliate Handbook: How I Made $436,797 in One Year Selling Other People's Stuff Online". To learn how you too can suceed in Internet and affiliate marketing, go to: http://NetProfitsToday.com
**How Colors are Used in web design:**Demarcates screen elements into... Read More
Everyday we hear that another company goes out of business.When... Read More
7. Create high quality content - make clear points with... Read More
In my last article entitled, Maximizing The True Value Of... Read More
See, works every time. Seriously now, for some reason people... Read More
I've written about META tags in the past, and I... Read More
What are websites? Are they sales tools for vendors and... Read More
Ever wonder how HTML color codes are put together? For... Read More
Geometric designs come in all shapes and sizes? and lines.... Read More
This article is the result of a conversation I had... Read More
Last Thursday afternoon I was working on a garage door... Read More
Choosing the right typeface for your website copy is important,... Read More
There is no doubt that reprint articles can serve lots... Read More
Now that you have decided that it is time to... Read More
I taught myself HTML back in the mid-nineties and was... Read More
Many websites make the mistake of being all flash and... Read More
When designing your website, remember to avoid useless and confusing... Read More
Clutter: Too much noise, too much text, and too little... Read More
Design sells. It's something that all of us know, but... Read More
Before you start worrying about marketing your website on the... Read More
There are several very good reasons why you should consider... Read More
There are more than billions of Web Sites, running Online... Read More
I have written before about long sales copy on the... Read More
One of the simplest things you can do to give... Read More
As a webmaster, you want to keep your visitors content... Read More
Before I discovered the concept of Web site templates, I... Read More
Studies done by Jakob Nielson the man touted as the,... Read More
Drop Capitals are frequently used in many newspapers, books and... Read More
The importance of choosing your website keywords carefully is very... Read More
Over the years, the internet has grown into a marvelous... Read More
1. Lack of overall strategy and clear definition of success:Most... Read More
So how do you know when your graphic designer costs... Read More
Learning how to convert visitors to your web site into... Read More
What dollar amount does your web site contribute to this... Read More
In today's world, a web site is virtually mandatory for... Read More
You have created your custom error page so now all... Read More
Squeeze pages are a very hot topic in the internet... Read More
When designing elements for your webpage, you will often be... Read More
In the early years of the internet the actual design... Read More
As my occupation is that of a proofreader, one of... Read More
The great debate: how much copy you should have on... Read More
A "template" is simply a design format which you can... Read More
Are you in a dilemma whether to create a mini... Read More
Wether you design your business brochures, flyers, web page, or... Read More
There are many ways to add fancy bells and whistles... Read More
If you are one of those who wonder how people... Read More
Yes, in a world that is obsessed with makeover madness,... Read More
If you are anything like me, your website is a... Read More
Do know your audienceIt's important to know your audience. If... Read More
Last Thursday afternoon I was working on a garage door... Read More
Does your website make a good first impression? Is the... Read More
To create your own great banner, you only need five... Read More
The time it takes to load your site can make... Read More
I hate to imagine that in your web development project... Read More
I often wonder how serious people are when it comes... Read More
Even after you've managed to bring traffic to your site... Read More
Building a website that is exactly what you want and... Read More
I do site reviews. Needless to say, I see a... Read More
Due to the large number of people offering website design... Read More
What's happening to good web site design? Somehow we creative... Read More
FACT: 30 to 60% of visitors tend to drop off... Read More
Your web site is like your car. Both are significant... Read More
Just because you are a small business with an even... Read More
There are more than billions of Web Sites, running Online... Read More
Setting up a survey on your site is extremely simple... Read More
If you have a web site to which people pay... Read More
Web Design |