Tracking and Testing - the ONLY Way To Attract More Visitors

by Jim Edwards

Every serious online business owner eats, sleeps and breaths targeted traffic to their website. They spend the most money and time trying to attract first-time visitors to their sites in hopes of generating new sales and subscribers. But, believe it or not, it’s easier to increase your income by simply selling more of the visitors you already get than trying to chase down more traffic.

The solution? Tracking & testing! Probably the most overlooked and underutilized, but certainly the most powerful strategy for increasing sales and opt-in subscriptions. If you spend any time or money on advertising, you must start testing and tracking. Simply put, “tracking” means you measure the effectiveness of each individual advertising source you use to promote your business.

For example, if you advertise in email newsletters, you should know how effective each newsletter ad rates compared to all the others in terms of sales and subscribers generated. This enables you to know whether an ad makes or loses money. Testing means you constantly look for ways to improve your ads in small, incremental amounts that add up over time.

The most common (and effective) tests you can run are A-B split tests, which pit two variables against each other to determine which converts more lookers into buyers. Split testing headlines, price points, and guarantee periods make, from my experience, the best places to start testing.

The reason testing and tracking can double your profits (or more) lies in the power of small, incremental improvements. Lets say, for example, you decide to do a series of split tests on a website that currently converts 1 in every 100 visitors (1% conversion). You test, headline, price, guarantee and a payment plan. If each of the 4 tests yields a .25% increase in conversion, you would not see an increase in sales to 2% (4x.25%), but actually an increase to almost 2.5% since each improvement builds on the last!

The most basic tool in testing and tracking revolves around the use of advertising link tracker software. These tools measure the number of clicks on individual advertisements (text links, banners, pay-per-click ads, etc) and then measure sales or subscriptions generated as a result.

You get two choices with link trackers: a hosted service or software you install on your own server. A hosted service offers the advantage of easy setup and use. Most of the time you just sign up for the service, enter the link you want to track, get your tracking code, and you’re off to the races.

The disadvantage of a hosted service is that, if it gets abused, using the URL of the service in your links can get your emails blocked or your pages banned by search engines. The advantage of hosting the software on your own server is that you maintain a higher degree of technical control and can avoid the banning issues. The main disadvantage of hosting it yourself involves the fact that you really don’t have anyone to call for help if something goes wrong.

One of the most popular hosted link trackers online is HyperTracker.com, though I’ve not used the service. My favorite link tracker is actually part of an integrated e-commerce system at http://www.MysiteSales.com. This service enables you to track your sales and subscriptions made through the shopping cart.

Two options for software you install on your own server are Dynatracker.com and ProAnalyzer.com. Both provide decent link tracking, though no system I’ve tested provides 100% accurate results. But, with that said, failure to test means you’re leaving money on the table by wasting visitors you could otherwise convert to buyers with basic effort at improving your sales messages.

Copyright 2006 Jim Edwards

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Jim Edwards is a syndicated newspaper columnist and the co-creator of an amazing course that will teach you step-by-step and click-by-click how to get your own money-making videos posted online... "Finally! A Quick and Easy Way For YOU To Painlessly Create, Post and PROFIT From Your Own Money-Making Online Videos... Without Being a Computer Geek or Paying Outrageous Fees To A Webmaster!" => http://www.WebsiteVideoSecrets.com

Check out this One-Stop Ads, Visitors, Clicks, Actions & Sales Conversion Tracking / Split Testing Solution

10 Ways To Grow Your Business

by Maria Gracia

Growing a business is similar to tending a vegetable garden. Knowledge, careful planning, organized systems, use of proper tools, continuous care, and dedication give you the very best chance of producing a beautiful and abundant garden that brings forth fresh veggies for years to come.

The same is true when it comes to growing your business. By following a specific sequence of steps, just like growing a garden, you can succeed. Neither can be accomplished with a haphazard approach.

Discovering how other businesses are growing, thinking through your marketing strategy, taking an organized approach, using the proper tools to get the word out and focusing on achievement will help you reach your business goals and set you on the right path towards accomplishing your greatest success.

1. Prospecting: For most services and products, it is imperative to first generate qualified prospects. Only then do you work on converting those prospects into first-time buyers, repeat customers, and finally, lifetime customers. If you’re trying to generate an immediate sale, chances are, you’re going to be disappointed with the results. You will make most of your sales by following up with your prospects repeatedly.

2. What is a prospect? A person is a prospect only if they:
a) have a genuine interest in the particular service or product you provide
and
b) have responded to one of your offers
and
c) they have provided you with contact information (name, e-mail, etc.)
and
d) they have the authority to buy your service/product and can afford it.


Everyone else is a stranger. Not a prospect.

3. Target: You can’t try to market to everybody. When you do, you’re marketing to nobody. Pick a niche market and focus on your main audience. Target them in all of your marketing materials.

4. Offers: To get people to respond to your marketing, develop an enticing offer and get it in front of as many people in your target market as you can. Perhaps, a free tips report, free e-zine or free sample. The best offers are generally the FREE offers.

5. Getting the word out: There are multitudes of ways to get the word out about your offer. You can try traditional marketing, such as direct mail, press releases, networking, ads, etc. Or, you can use the Internet, such as online networking, joining in discussion forums, submitting to search engines, link exchanges, affiliate programs and so on. Whatever you choose, schedule time each day to market your business. Write it on your calendar. When it’s written down, it is more concrete, and there is a better chance that you will do it.

6. Follow-up: Once you begin to generate prospects, it is imperative that you get their contact information (i.e., name, e-mail address, and any other pertinent information) into an organized database. Why all the work? Because follow-up is the key to successful marketing. Once you have contact information, you can continue to make enticing offers for your product and/or service (discounts, gift certificates, 2 for 1 deals, etc.)

7. One service/product: Choose ONE product or service to market at a time, or you’re liable to confuse your prospects. You can have more than one product listed on your Web site. However, when you contact your prospects, it’s best to focus on one product at a time.

8. Guarantee: Guarantee your products or services. Offer, at minimum, a 100% Money-Back Guarantee. When it is clear that you stand behind your services/products, you will have accomplished a trust-factor. This is called risk-reversal.

9. Proactive: Don’t use the Passive Marketing technique. That’s when you distribute general information, verbal and written, about your company, and then just sit around waiting for the phone to ring, or for your e-mail inbox to fill up with orders. In the real world, it doesn’t work that way. You have to be proactive.

10. Track: Track. Track. I can’t say this enough. Keeping accurate numbers will help you make good marketing decisions. If you don’t know what’s working, you’re going to waste a lot of time and money. However, if you do know exactly what’s working for you, you’re practically guaranteed to reach your goals.

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