This post is about monetization and conversion for affiliate type blogs.
Let me start by showing you some interesting stats for one of my affiliate blogs in the past month.
But before I do, some explanation.
I usually monetize a niche blog with affiliate links in two positions:
1. Links in content. That means calls to action through, and at the end of your blog content.
2. A banner, whether it’s in the sidebar, or the blog’s header, that consequently appears on every page and post of the blog.
I set up two campaigns; one that tracked the clicks and conversions of the affiliate banner that on this occasion sat in the sidebar, and one that tracked the total clicks of all the call’s to action on all the pieces of content on the blog. In other words, I tracked the performance of sidebar banners vs calls to action.
The results were interesting. The columns are from left to right: Clicks, Page Views, and Conversion Rate.
This offers a number of lessons but I think the main ones are these:
1. The title of this post is the biggest lesson. If you are forsaking one of these forms of monetization for the other (only using a sidebar banner, or only using in content links) you might be missing out on as much as half of the affiliate sales you could otherwise make. Banner advertising is not dead, banners do still get clicked, and you need to be integrating them in to your monetization strategy if you aren’t already.
2. Engaged readers = conversions. Although the sidebar banner generated more click throughs, look at the difference in conversion rate. The people who clicked on the calls to action (on this blog always at the end of the content) were MORE THAN DOUBLE as likely to make a purchase. They read through the whole article, they were engaged with your content, and so they were more motivated to buy. A call to action that fits with how the visitor found your site (If they searched “dog training ebook” and your call to action says “Click Here to find the number one dog training ebook on the market at a discounted price” then you’re on the right track) is vital to achieving this.
And there is plenty more to take from this that we’ll delve into in the coming weeks.
If your site is getting traffic from the right targeted keywords and not getting sales, these are vital matters to look at. With the right tweaks you can literally double your sales or more without getting any new traffic… and who doesn’t want that??
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Hi Andrew,
Great post, I am currently using a kinda slider ad at the bottom of my blog, to send people to a product I promote and I have found it to convert very well.
Right now my blog is a kinda journal rather than targeting specific keywords, but when I am at the stage I will remember this post and implement it.
Sally
very nice to see the number Andrew – so thanks. I’ve just set up a new blog so I’m keen to see what the best way to advertise is. I’m quite impressed with your banner performance.
Alex
Hi Andrew,
Great post. Although I’m not surprised about the result, it’s always good to see proof for something you just have a gut feeling about.
Nice work Andrew. I sadly have neglected click tracking. A post or two on how you track, the tools you use would be appreciated.
Cheers,
Anthony
I just happened to stumble across this with one of my article pages recently. The page was more of a how to answer/question page and didn’t really promote anything on it. Once I found that big G was sending tons of traffic to it, I found something that fit right in to what the page was about and Bang! a new income stream. The point is what Andrew said, you must promote something that is totally relevant to what the searcher is looking for or it won’t work like you want. I actually went through 5 different products until sales were coming in.
Good post.
I had become convinced (by others) that banners had become verboten. Maybe that was more directed towards the flashy, animated banners? I know I despise those and would not click on one if they were offering five dollar bills for a quarter!
Thanks for sharing all the testing you do with us Andrew.
It just goes to show that one can make more money from a quality blog, without having to increase the number of visitors to the site. Just making it a bit more attractive to visitors to spend some time on the blog, then click on a link on the blog, makes so much sense. The problem with common sense is that it is not so common
How true Andrew, I myself would be more likely to click on a link in a post that I found informative or intriguing than a side banner. Maybe it is because I feel that the post shows some degree authority on the subject where a banner is just an advertisement.
I enjoyed your point of view and have a look at my own blog again.
Thanks for sharing these stats Andrew. Just shows you do really need to be using both. Banners conversions are lower but clicks are higher. Wonder if taking banners out would force people to click on your in-content links and boost conversions? Maybe not….
Stuart
Definitely possible Stu – worth testing for sure.
Andrew
I know this might be a little nit-picky, but are there any stats of in content links vs. end of post links. Sometimes I wonder if it makes my post not as attractive having links in the content, as opposed to just putting a call to action at the end of the post.
Also, as another poster commented, what tools do you use to track this.
I haven’t done such a test yet but maybe I will next
Andrew
Thank you for your great post.
That is a very simple way to track/split test conversions that anyone could use on their web site. I particularly liked the information about the click through rates of engaged readers. Keep your links relevant to search terms and the reader will be more likely to click .
Hi Andrew,
I have read a couple of times on blog post/article stating that conversion is better at context links as compared to banner links.
But based on your findings, it might be worthwhile to include both to maximize the profit potential.
Thanks for sharing your results.
Andrew,
This is very interesting information so thanks for sharing. I had no idea that there could possibly be such a huge difference in results.
I think one of my major mistakes is thinking that others behave like me. Does anyone else suffer this problem too?
Thanks Andrew, really interesting as usual.
I know that when I am in ‘buying’ mode I’ll look for the big banner to click on, but when I am in ‘information’ mode I look for the text links. I thought that I was just weird, but obviously not that weird!
I also read in another post that people who are looking for stuff online only use 30% of their brains, they subconsciously look for the big ‘click here’ and miss the subtle in-text links. ….
Andrew:
I really like that conversion rate of the content links. You are right, that if the reader makes it to the end of your post and they like what they read, they are more likely to click on the call to action. I am going to have to give this a try because I definitely want more sales.
Thanks,
- Rick