What if I told you that you could double or potentially triple the income you get from existing site without adding any additional traffic? Sounds too good to be true right?
Well there is a way and it is not some new “trick of the week” strategy it’s simple Marketing 101.
It’s called cleaning house.
Technology is a wonderful thing as it allows us to work more efficiently and to turn out higher quality websites. But it can also be addictive. Techies and non-techies in particular are susceptible to going overboard with easy to add technical features on their websites simply because they can.
Unfortunately adding bells and whistles indiscriminately can detract from an affiliate marketers reason to be and that’s to sell product. Websites loaded down with fancy options often times dilute or make fuzzy the marketing message. When this happens you reduce the effectiveness of the page’s ability to convert prospects.
WordPress. Love it like you would love a third or fourth cousin.
Don’t get me wrong, I think WordPress is probably the best thing since individually wrapped sliced cheese. In fact when I first started using this amazing content management system I couldn’t get over how easy it was to create a professional looking website in such a short period of time.
And then as WordPress gained popularity there were more and more widgets and plug-ins offering tremendous features and functionality and of course I wanted it all. It is after all an amazing platform that allows a non-techie like me to add features like sidebars, archive lists, social media buttons, videos, and tag clouds simply by dragging and dropping.
But therein lies the trouble. It’s so easy to add the latest functionality why wouldn’t you? The problem is it is extremely easy to overload the site with all these neat functions which don’t really support your base mission of selling products. Worse than that, they can actually detract from converting prospects.
So WordPress is a great CMS but don’t feel obligated to add every new feature that comes out.
Refine your use of technology
As an affiliate marketer your livelihood depends on converting visitors to customers. If you’re promoting smart phones, costume jewelry, financial services software or even something off-the-wall like routers for woodworking the last thing you can afford to do is dilute your marketing message by adding so many distractions in the form of features that your visitors become confused or motivated to take actions that you don’t want them to do.
If your pages loaded down with a ton of WordPress extras, you may be defeating your own purpose. Let me tell you about an experience I had regarding my WordPress widget addiction.
Less is more
One day some time ago I decided to count the number of different things that a visitor could do on one of the pages on one of my websites. I was amazed. They could do way more than I thought they could do, to include leaving the site and that certainly isn’t good.
Not only was I providing my visitors with too many distractions, but I was cluttering up the site with photographs and graphics that really didn’t lend to converting visitors to customers. In short my site was cluttered it was time to do some spring cleaning.
I went through each feature and evaluated how it helped or hurt my overall mission of selling a product. If it was merely a distraction then I removed it from the page. When I was done with the cleaning I had an attractive page that appeared crisp and easy-to-read and more importantly my message was coming across loud and clear.
5 ideas to de-clutter your website and strengthen your message
If you think your website might be a tad on the cluttered side then take a look at these five ideas to clean it up. If you can get your webpage to clearly state your marketing message you’ll be surprised at the number of increase sales that you will experience even with the same amount traffic.
1. Have a plan for every page.
Every patient you have published on your website should have a purpose and you certainly should know just what it is. If you’re not certain why the page exists then you can’t provide an effective call to action. Plan each page we create it and have a specific “page mission” in mind.
2. Guide your prospects to the next step.
You have to take your visitors by the hand and guide them through the process. The best way to do this is to provide content in such a way that it compels the reader to do what you suggest. Your call to action should seem like the logical next step.
3. Keep your page design crisp and simple.
Sometimes the best way to get a message across is to use the minimalist approach. A simple white background with black text and an understated header can be a perfect canvas to paint your marketing message on.
4. Don’t forget to call to action.
Providing a call to action seems like an obvious step but it is sometimes overlooked and often times not very powerful. If your content is compelling then don’t be shy about telling the visitor exactly what to do in your call to action. Don’t be afraid to try different variations. Testing different calls to action will lead you to your most effective phrase.
5. Do keep some social media on the site.
I know I said I trimmed back much of the social media that I have my website page but it’s important to retain some of it. Social media sites and systems are important source of referred traffic and you simply can’t ignore it altogether just use it in moderation.
One more idea to keep in mind
People read left right in the first place are going to look when he arrived your website is the top left corner. Take a moment and think about what you have in that location right now. Ideally it should be most important piece of content that you have on the site. If what you have on this piece of real estate does not support the purpose of the page then you need to change it out.
These de-cluttering strategies can be used by any type of website from children’s car seats to men’s fashion to router table reviews or even simple information products like e-books. And it doesn’t matter what format you use the reviews or daily deals de-cluttering will help any site strengthen their message and increase their sales.
BIO
James Martell discovered the lucrative world of affiliate marketing in 1999. He is a self-taught Internet entrepreneur and a leading expert in affiliate marketing, outsourcing and SEO. James is the host of the “Affiliate Buzz”, the first and longest running affiliate marketing podcast. James is the host of the “Affiliate Marketers SUPER BootCamp”, a continually updated affiliate marketing training series well known for turning affiliate newbies into success stories. James resides in White Rock BC, a seaside suburb of Vancouver on the West Coast of Canada with Arlene and their four children.
This is a very helpful article. I particularly paid attention to “less is more” and the “call to action”. I’ve found myself trying to add just as much stuff to my site or page as I possibly could out of desperation. I’m taking a deep breath now….
Jenny Hillenburg recently posted..Preparing for Thirty-One Wait List – Ladies in Waiting
Twitter: JamesMartell
says:
Hi Jenny, I am glad you found the article helpful. I find it’s very easy to fall back into the trap of continually adding to the site. It really can kill conversion rates.
James Martell recently posted..Affiliate Buzz 206 – How Many Backlinks Do You Need To Earn a 5-Figure Income
Some great points – for some reason when people create website, they plan it but when it comes to creating a website using WordPress – this is completely ignored.
localwebhub recently posted..Why Social Media Should Be A Part Of Marketing Strategy
Twitter: JamesMartell
says:
It’s so true that many don’t plan their WordPress based websites — more than likely because it is so easy to just add features. I fall into the trap quite often.
James Martell recently posted..Google SEO Tip 128 – Will Google Give A Higher Rank to A Website Which Runs AdSense
Twitter: ditesco
says:
Thumbs up! Really good and simple Marketing 101 advice. I am putting this down my to do list, and it will get done by this weekend. Really need to eliminate all those bells and whistles that don’t provide any value. Thanks, it is always good to be remembered about this..
DiTesco recently posted..The Best Sites For Guest Posting Opportunities
Twitter: JamesMartell
says:
Hi DiTesco, thanks for the thumbs up and good luck with doing a little Spring cleaning.
James Martell recently posted..Google SEO Tip 131 – Do URL Shorteners Pass Anchor Text
Twitter: techcrates
says:
Truly awesome article…Strongly agree with all the 5 points (esp the #3 one) to de-clutter our site
Salman recently posted..Turn Off Monitor- Save Power
Hey James,
That is so true about how great wordpress is and how easy it is to go hog wild with all of the plugins. Especially now that google takes your site load time into account, it is more important than ever to really only have essential plugins going on your site at any given time. We just went through a major site redesign last week and in fact are still working out some bugs. During the process, which took several months, we really stripped out a lot of the stuff that we had learned was not really getting used on the old version of the site.
Sometimes you just have to put something up and then track it to see if anyone is actually using it. If not, then take it down.
Jon recently posted..Credit Counseling North Carolina
Twitter: JamesMartell
says:
Hi Jon, great point when you said “we really stripped out a lot of the stuff that we had learned was not really getting used on the old version of the site”. I am sure many website owners would be absolutely stunned with the number of “things” they added to the clutter of site are not being used much or at all.
James Martell recently posted..Affiliate Buzz 206 – How Many Backlinks Do You Need To Earn a 5-Figure Income
Twitter: srpatterson
says:
Great stuff James. I have 200 posts on some blogs and have been working through the older ones to improve the layout, remove old ads, and improve the SEO quality. Its a lot of work. I am hoping there’s a payoff.
Steve recently posted..The Highest Rated Food Processors From Braun
Twitter: JamesMartell
says:
I am sure the efforts you’re putting to “improve the layout, remove old ads, and improve the SEO quality” will pay you dividends. Good look with the upgrades.
James Martell recently posted..Affiliate Buzz 205 – Affiliate Summit Meetups – In Your Home Town
Twitter: Findingthehumor
says:
Great advice. I’ve been doing this with a couple of my clients’ sites as well as my own. People get distracted easily. Sometimes it helps to step back and view the site as a reader.
Melinda recently posted..Followed By Paparazzi For A Laugh
Twitter: JamesMartell
says:
Hi Melinda, the saying in my world is “affiliates are easily distracted by shiny objects”. I think this is a truism for so many of us. Thanks for your comments.
James Martell recently posted..Repeat Visits Conversions 5 Great Strategies To Keep Your Audience Coming Back
Twitter: SuperBlogga
says:
Cleaning up our sites can mean deleting or taking out things that we might not know what to do with – otherwise. Like you mentioned in the article about (social media), most blog owners have now added the infamous LIKE button and or social media buttons to Twitter, Digg, Stumble Upon etc.
My theory is that if (the button in question) doesn’t send a reader away from your site, then keep it. If it sends them away, get rid of it.
Missy recently posted..50 Fun Facts About Problogger
Twitter: JamesMartell
says:
Hi Missy, great advice “if (the button in question) doesn’t send a reader away from your site, then keep it. If it sends them away, get rid of it”. Very well said.
James Martell recently posted..Google SEO Tip 132 – Why are Some of Google’s Products Not Available Outside the US
Twitter: blogmobilepro
says:
Though I’m yet an amateur to internet marketing, I’ve always been an advocate for simplicity.. This gives me more confidence to even make things simpler.
Thanks for sharing this.
blogmobilepro recently posted..Having a Hectic day How to Use your mobile phone to keep up your blog after a long day
Twitter: JamesMartell
says:
You should do well. Good luck in your efforts.
really nice i feel that this is the first time to read about amazon earnings i was always doing an auto-blog and install wprobot and install amazon campaign but i earned almost nothing thanks a lot about this information
subzero525 recently posted..تحميل البالتوك العربي الاصدار العاشر 2011 تنزيل البالتك العربي مجانا
Very nice reminder James. Every once in awhile I come across a site that is laid out perfectly for sales and it is always simple and clean. You are completely right about wordpress sites becoming over cluttered – it is far too easy to add things that detract from the main purpose. I’ll really have to take a closer look at my sites now.
Chris recently posted..Men’s Invicta Russian Diver Collection
Twitter: JamesMartell
says:
Hi Chris, you said it “it is far too easy to add things that detract from the main purpose”. If everyone who creates a page were to ask themselves — “…what on this page could distract the visitor from taking the ONE action I would like them to take.”
I don’t think they would like their answer.
James Martell recently posted..Google SEO Tip 131 – Do URL Shorteners Pass Anchor Text
Twitter: tospider
says:
WordPress has made so many small entrepreneur looking to make money.Less is more but some search engines like bing does not like less content
Nipon recently posted..How To Make Money from Blogging
Twitter: JamesMartell
says:
Hi Nipon, I am not at all recommending to reduce the amount of content on the page, but rather to remove everything that’s distracting the visitor from consuming the content and taking the desired action.
James Martell recently posted..Affiliate Buzz 206 – How Many Backlinks Do You Need To Earn a 5-Figure Income
Twitter: TheProfitShare
says:
It is definitely a great idea to keep the site minimalistic and not give the user an abundance of options.
The more options the reader had, the less likely they are to take the action you desire them to take.
Also, great advice about including a compelling call to action to increase benefit from the visit and if possible, move your visitor along your conversion funnel.
Wayne Lambert recently posted..Best Internet Marketing Tools
Hi James
Know what you mean about WordPress and adding every plugin you can find – been there and done it. LOL
Five great ideas we should all be using, not sure which I should do first.
Think I’ll start with your extra piece of advice…
“People read left right in the first place are going to look when he arrived your website is the top left corner. Take a moment and think about what you have in that location right now.”
That’s where I’ll start.
I’m interested to see what your site looks like James.
I’ll head over and take a look.
Keith Davis recently posted..The Coolest Voice on the Internet
Twitter: rohitbatra14
says:
thanks for some really good tips James.. I will surely try to improve my site designs based on your some tips.. really each page has many options for visitors even we dont know that we have given them this much options..
Rohit Batra recently posted..How to Make SHSH Blobs of iPod Touch 4G Manually