Are You Making This Landing Page Mistake?

When it comes to landing – or pre-sell – pages, many new, and even experienced, affiliate marketers make this one big mistake. 

Everyone knows a proper pre-sell page can make or break a campaign. Landing pages convince your customers to take action. Your average affiliate marketer will split-test headlines, images, and the sales copy to improve his or her pages. All that activity isn’t useful, however, if you can’t judge which one’s the real winner.

I was talking to a friend of mine who has been in the industry for years. He was asking me for tips on how to improve his landing page click-through rate (LP CTR). I told him that the metric doesn’t really matter. I’ve seen countless forum posts talking about LP CTR when evaluating a landing page, and yet affiliates rarely get it right. 

Let me explain what the LP CTR is. 

People see your ad and land on your pre-sell page (landing page). A percentage of them will click through to the offer page from your landing page.

Here is how you can calculate the number.

Take the number of clicks your traffic source shows. Let’s say it was 500. Now take the number of clicks your affiliate network shows for the offer. Let’s say you had 200 clicks. Divide network clicks by traffic sources clicks. It’s 200/500 in this case. This means 40% of the people click through on your page.

Here’s the error that most affiliate marketers make: they judge how effective a landing page is by the LP CTR, when it’s just part of the equation. I’ve heard people say, “My landing page sucks! It only has an LP CTR of 20%.”

It doesn’t matter how many people see the offer page. What matters is how many people convert. A landing page CTR of 70% is not good if it results in low conversion rates. 

An extreme example of this is those “guru” sales letters that try to sell “make money online” courses. I remember seeing them years ago and thinking to myself, “Who has time to read all this? Wouldn’t they make more money if they kept it shorter so more people could click to the offer page?” 

Well, the sales letters are long for a reason. They make more money because of the increase in conversion rates.  

The Proper Way to Measure the Effectiveness of a Landing Page 

What is the proper way to judge a landing page? It’s simple: split-test the landing page to see which version brings more revenue. The total revenue will account for the LP CTR and the conversion rate. 

Here is an example.

Screenshot 2014-08-18 14.07.07

Landing Page A has a much higher click-through rate than Landing Page B. It would be a mistake, however, to conclude it was a winner because, as you can see, Landing Page B makes more money. 

Landing Page A might have a better LP CTR because it’s simple. It has a picture of the product and a “click here” button. People may click through it because it’s an easy path, but your pre-sell page gave them no compelling reasons to convert. 

Landing page B has a lower landing page click-through rate but higher conversions. It could have a lot text on it, pictures and testimonials. All these could cause the LP CTR to lower, but you’ve made the users who do click through more interested in buying. 

Instead of balancing LP CTR vs Conversion Rate, just look at the total revenue each page produces. It’s really that simple. 

Split-testing headlines? See which landing page makes more money.

Split-testing images? See which landing page make more money.

I still look at the LP CTR more as a tripwire that something’s wrong. 

A niche I’m in typically has an LP CTR of 35%. I tested out a new page and noticed the LP CTR was only 5%. I knew something was up with my landing page if only 5% of people were seeing the offer. 

I used SauceLabs to test the page in different browsers. Long story short, the button was OFF the page in Internet Explorer, and the audience couldn’t click through.

4 Strategies for Becoming A Super Affiliate

4 Strategies for Becoming A Super Affiliate

Affiliate marketing has become one of the most effective ways to make money online. However, with so much competition for traffic and clicks, becoming a super affiliate is an incredibly difficult task. But if becoming a super affiliate is your goal, then these tips should help get you on the right path. Here are four strategies to help you become a super affiliate.

Understand Your Audience

The first thing that you need to do is gain an in-depth understanding of your audience. You must be aware of their specific interests, expectations, language, and other important nuances. Only then will you be able to create affiliated ads that will entice them instantly and encourage them to click on it and find out further about that ad.

Find Your Niche

While creating your ads you must be clear about your niche. Adding a lot of unrelated, irrelevant stuff will render your ad useless and ultimately a waste of money for you. Don’t try to scatter your content or add meaningless things to it. Focus on producing content that’s more in demand and sought out by large groups of people.

Utilize Search Engine Marketing

You can use search engine marketing to promote your website and ads. You can also use marketing practices including Pay Per Click tools, but you should only use them when you’re sure about your work and plans, otherwise it may cause you to spend a lot of money on Google Adwords or Overture.

Look For The Change and Use It

Every online marketer knows that on the Internet, nothing remains same. New strategies, layouts, designs, etc., arrive daily and make outdated things less popular, and eventually worthless. It’s important to know about the latest affiliate marketing strategies and keep yourself up-to-date on these trends because on the Internet, the thing that worked a few months ago can be completely ineffective and worthless today. Using an outdated strategy can affect your business and marketing campaign in a profoundly negative way, so it’s always better to do your research about trending topics and current events before launching new affiliate campaigns.