Is getting a conversion everything?
I will agree that it probably sounds like a stupid question and maybe you are right, but for me the most important part is what happens in the lead up to that conversion, what steps did that traffic take before you made a conversion and what content did they consume and can I use this formula on any other part of the site to help increase my conversions elsewhere?
Sometimes you will get lucky and convert a visitor on their first visit to your site, but in truth this outcome is in the minority. Most times a visitor will need to interact with your site on a number of occasions before they finally convert and to me what leads up to the conversion is the most important part of the conversion. For me the long term success of the site is more important than short term achievements, if your only goal is to try and push someone through your conversion funnel as quickly as possible then you might be missing the true value of your traffic.
It’s no secret that the majority of your conversions will come only after your site has interacted with your traffic on a number of occasions. To do this you must build a following that is interested in what you have to say and are willing to return to your site repeatedly so they can read what you have posted. Over time this readership will begin to trust in you and what you are telling them. But the easiest way to ruin this trust is to promote a product not on the basis of how good you think it is or how your readers will benefit from owning it, but because the commissions were too tempting to pass up.
Chances are you will make you will make some quick sales because the readers who trust your advice will take your word and buy that product, ok you should earn a pretty healthy commission but you have also begun to undo all the hard work and effort you put in to build their trust.
If you give a product your seal of approval that proves to be a waste of money, do you think that your following will trust your word again? Well some might but the majority will think twice before trusting what you say again.
If your readership has been built on providing the advice and guidance to help the community you need to carry that idea through to any offers or products that you promote. You need to be sure that what you are promoting offers with real value to your readers and will live up to the billing you have given it. If you think about the countless hours that have gone into the content you have written and the questions you have answered is it really wise to undo all this hard work just because you have stopped focusing on the bigger picture and instead began to look at more immediate rewards?
I can understand more than most that we can’t work for free, if you are spending time writing for your audience the least you can expect is something in return and I agree but you also need to ensure that if you put your name behind a product it needs to live up to your words
Trust is built over time and the trust your readers have in you can be worth more than making some quick conversions. It’s wise to understand this but it is wiser still if you can use this to your advantage and make the most of this opportunity that has been afforded to you.
This is a guest post by Neil Jones who is head of marketing for eMobileScan who are one of the Uk’s leading mobile computer specialists with one of the widest ranges in the Uk including the Datalogic Memor