Conversion Rates

From: Steve Harrison <merlin_at_worthlink.net>
Date: Tue 20 Feb 2001 06:32:13 -0600

As a commercial web site marketer and SEO
whiz-bang since Mosaic was the hot new browser
(1994), I came to realize long ago that the most often
encountered problem, or hurdle to overcome, is not
with the volume of traffic they are receiving. It's
with the efficiency of the web site itself to make
the sale once the visitor gets there. Their site's
Conversion Rate (CR).

With the advent of more "targeted" and "qualified
prospect" traffic from Pay-Per Click (PPC) venues,
one would expect the conversion rate to spike
upward. Some client sites have done just that,
while others seem to be rather indifferent to
the better "quality" of visitor coming from PPCs.
Why?

Presuming most on this list have devised ways and
means to plot traffic coming from the PPCs, banner
ads, etc., in order to calculate a ROI for that
particular advertising expense, it may be informative
to all to know what CRs others are experiencing.
Especially, for my own particular interest,
regarding CRs that are attributable to traffic
delivered by PPCs.

The upshot of it all is to help determine if sales
can be increased by a focus on traffic delivery,
or if attention should be focused on the
functionality/efficiency of the web site itself.
I've always attempted to work with a client to
enhance their bottom line, not simply to spin their
hit counter. All too often, even after their site
traffic is vaulted a hundred-fold, a client's sales
graph has only blipped-up to a still-too-low
plateau. Something's wrong.

That "something" is nearly always only marginally
related to site traffic volume. We've all seen them.
Beautiful, bleeding-edge e-commerce web sites
-- and they're breaking every cardinal rule of
marketing. Some don't even address the most basic
tenet: "You've got to ask for the sale." Of course,
most e-commerce sites are designed and constructed
by excellent graphic artists and Webslingers, many
(most?) having no training, background or
experience in the business art of selling. The
web site needs speed-tuned, and not by adding some
spinning gizmos -- by some back-to-basics marketing.
But that's a different topic.

Perhaps with a broad sharing of qualified and
accurate stats for CRs we might all learn how better
to serve our site marketing clients. Is it site
traffic volume, site traffic quality, or is it the
web site itself that may be dropping the ball? In
this day of CTRs, CRs and ROIs, all related to
paid-for traffic, a percentage point fore or aft
can equate to hugely significant revenue vs
advertising expense figures.

I'll lead it off by proposing a threshold
minimum 5% monthly average CR from PPC traffic.
If above that, focus on delivering more and better
qualified traffic. If below 5%, the problem may be
closer to home page. InternetMarket
<http://www.intermarketgroup.com> Online reported
an average online CR of 2.7% back in August of '99.
(From all indications, that figure may be lower as
of this posting). Shouldn't the more targeted traffic
delivered by PPCs do better?

Selected feedback, either direct to me or,
preferrably, posted to this Online Ads newsletter,
will be incorporated -- with permission -- into my
upcoming e-book (launching in March) that addresses
the complex subject of PPC Management as well as
other marketing aspects vital to the success of a
e-commerce web site. Obviously, a site's CR, and
especially the CR and consequent ROI attributable
to purchased traffic as per PPCs, must be
considered vital.

Steve Harrison ~ Pay-Per Master
http://www.paypermaster.com (pre-launch intro page)
Email: admin_at_paypermaster.com ~ Subject: PPC CRs



Received on Tue Feb 20 2001 - 06:32:13 CST