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How To Use Webinars For Successful Online Promotion
Chances are you have heard about webinars. You have probably even attended a few. That's because webinars are extremely popular right now. All of the big name gurus are using them to take their businesses to new levels.
But, what exactly is a webinar and how can someone like you or I use it to promote our products and services online?
What Is A Webinar?
Let's start by defining what a webinar is. A webinar is simply a web based seminar where you can share valuable information with a target audience. Notice the word target, this is one of the most important benefits of webinars.
Since the audience has to register to attend a webinar they are already pre-sold on the topics that will be discussed and so they are highly targeted and convert better than other types of traffic.
Now as you can imagine, there are a lot of different ways you can use webinars to serve business needs, here are three of the most important ones.
#1 – Build Brand Awareness
One of the best ways to build brand awareness online is by offering a webinar to your prospective clients and customers. The webinar can be either free or paid, this really depends on the goals that you wish to achieve.
The main goal of the webinar should be to provide value. You want people to leave the webinar thinking you are an expert and the one they should seek out when they need help.
The more webinars you have the more brand awareness you will be able to build and the more you will become the “go to” brand in your niche.
#2 – To Promote A New Product
The reason that webinars are so useful for product launches is because the Webinar platform offers various media that can be used to present ideas, media that is much more powerful than a simple text sales page.
There are videos, images, desktop sharing, PowerPoint slides and a lot more. For this reason, product launches and webinars seem to go hand and hand these days. This is because webinars are a sure way to increase sales and reduce refund rates.
If you have a new product coming out people will want to know what it’s about before they invest in it. A webinar allows you to educate your audience and actually show them how your product can help them and solve their problems. Along with the great media options there is also the power of your voice that can be used to sway and convert those in the audience who maybe on the fence.
During the webinar be sure to allow for a live question and answer session. This gives potential customers the opportunity to have their questions immediately answered.
You can also offer the product at a special discounted price for all who stayed until the end of the webinar. This is a great way to get sales coming in quickly.
As you are just starting out as a beginner, you may wish to promote an expert's webinar to get started, that way they take care of all the arrangements to record the webinar and deal with the customer queries and you just focus on getting people to listen to the webinar and collect the commissions when they sign up or upgrade.
#3 – To Sell Affiliate Products
Not only can you sell your own products with a webinar, but, you can also make money by promoting affiliate products as well.
Another way to promote affiliate products through webinars is show them in action, such as the case with a software or service that can be demonstrated within the webinar.
Be sure to add your affiliate link to the buy now button so you will get paid for every sale.
Archives
Place archives for all the webinars you have done on your website so they may continue to serve your goals for an unlimited amount of time by engaging new traffic and leads.
5 Common Affiliate Marketing Pitfalls
Affiliate marketing is one of the most rewarding and lucrative ways to make money online.
As an affiliate marketer you will market and promote someone else's product for a commission. Earning on this commission based model of making money online has unlimited potential and has made some into dotcom millionaires.
And while affiliate marketing is one of the best ways to make money online it’s not simple by any means. It takes a lot of skill, knowledge and commitment to be successful. If you are looking for overnight riches this is not the way to go. However, if you are looking to build a solid business that can make you money on complete autopilot for many years to come, affiliate marketing is most definitely a great option.
If you choose to go this route there are a few pitfalls I want you to be aware of. These are the most common pitfalls that newbie affiliate marketers run into.
Pitfall #1 – Not Building A List
One of the things I see a lot of affiliate marketers doing, especially the new ones, is sending traffic directly to the sales page. This is not the best method.
Your first line of business should be to build an email marketing list.
- If you send traffic directly to the sales page you will get a one off commission and that's all.
- If you build an email marketing list first you will be able to make multiple commissions off of one customer.
- You will be able to build long lasting and on-going relationships with a targeted audience.
- When you have a list you can market to them over and over for as long as they stay subscribed.
So please, start building a list from day one. Find out here how to start building your list.
Pitfall #2 – Promoting Products Based On Commission Only
If you promote crappy products just to make a quick commission you will be out of business before you know it. You want to promote legit products you know your list and site visitors will appreciate. If you promote products that are irrelevant and don't produce results you will end up with a lot of refund requests and subscribers who do not find your messages credible.
Pitfall #3 – Signing Up For Too Many Affiliate Programs
Just because there are a thousand great products with affiliate programs doesn't mean you need to sign up for all of them.
Sign up for 3-5 if you are just starting out. Get those products set up in your funnel first and then add more as you become well versed in the business and start seeing success. If you sign up for a ton of affiliate programs you will overwhelm yourself and end up doing nothing.
Pitfall #4 – Promoting Low Converting Products
Just because a product has an affiliate program doesn't mean you should promote it. Conversion rates are extremely important when it comes to the products you promote. If you promote low converting products you won't make very much money.
Pitfall #5 – Having Unrealistic Expectations
A lot of newbie affiliate marketers expect overnight riches when they get involved with affiliate marketing. It doesn't work that way. You have to put in the time and effort if you want to be successful.
6 Blog Design Tips To Please Visitors And Lower Bounce Rates
It is a fact that in 2022 the main ingredient in the online success recipe is originality, and this also applies to blog design and layout.
But, no matter your approach, there are several elements to be aware of when designing your site that are universal must haves, read on to learn more about the most important elements to consider in blog design.
Elements to Consider When Designing Your Blog
1. Pleasing Colours - The very first impression that a visitor has of your blog is visual, and a dynamic presence online should start with a nice, comforting blend of colours. You should maintain a balance, so do not go for the extremes, too light or too dark. Select a colour palette that well represents your niche.
If you are using a banner image for your header, then use complimentary colours for the rest of the site. When used properly the right colour combinations can really bring your blog to life.
One of the worst colour ideas is to use black background with white or yellow font. While this may be ideal for a gaming site, it is very hard to read. It's usually best to make text background white or a light colour, and use dark font colours, like black or very dark blue.
2. Simple Site Navigation - Web visitors do not like to, nor will they stick around long to search too long for what they are looking for on your site. Navigation should be simple and easy to find, this includes the use of sidebar menus and top navigation menus. Simple to use site category widgets are always a good idea.
Also, besides listing a Recent Posts widget on your blog, consider adding an archives or visitor sitemap page, such as that provided by the Dagon Design Sitemap Generator plugin. This will allow visitors to reach all the pages of your site and if they are intrigued keep them on your site longer, consequently, reducing bounce rates.
Another thing to keep in mind is your calls to action and exactly what you want your visitors to do on your site, those calls to action should be easily accessible from all angles of the site.
3. Provide Related Posts After Content - Make sure to provide related posts within each piece of content on the blog, this keeps visitors around longer and lowers bounce rates.
4. Threaded Comments - When comments are threaded and each comment has a separate reply button, visitors are often more inclined to join the discussions or share a viewpoint than when they have to browse comments and provide names in their replies to provide their viewpoints.
5. Mobile Ready - Less and less individuals surf the web with their computers and even notebooks. Many think it is much easier to access the internet from their smartphones or tablet computers. When your blog loads fast and it’s optimized for mobile, visitors will find it easy to browse, read and comment and they will definitely return.
6. Make Links Look Like Links - This is really important because if you want visitors to click on your links, for example, affiliate links, then they should stand out within the text font colour.
You should be flexible and open to innovation, to handle a broader array of internet users and to design your blog to be user friendly, welcoming and accessible by all types of computing devices.
When your site visitors like what they see and the content they read they will undoubtedly return and tell their friends. Don't be afraid to experiment and test to find what makes your blog pages convert the best.
As previously mentioned, it’s important to various elements to see how users react and how they affect conversions on your calls to action, it is only by collecting and analysing data can you really zero in on problems and create fixes.
Best Methods For Monetizing Viral Traffic
Making money from viral traffic differs than that earned from other types of traffic. The fact is that viral traffic lands on your page without looking for something specific, as is the case with everyday traffic like that from the search engines or from a specific link on the web.
Because they come to see the content that went viral, the bounce rate of viral
traffic tends to be higher and conversions much lower.
Viral Versus Regular Traffic Scenario
On the other hand, another user comes to your site because you created a video that went viral because it demonstrates how to make iced vanilla ice cream latte, that user is not likely to be interested in buying a coffee maker. Likely, they already have one and that is why they want the recipe, or they are just curious.
But, there are different ways to make money from viral traffic, read on to learn more.
Grow Email Lists
Make sure to have an opt-in in place and a great subscriber gift so you can get them on your list for email marketing purposes. This is a much more effective tactic than trying to convert them directly, and then you can market to them on an on-going basis via email.
In the coffee example, you can offer an eBook of coffee drink recipes that will engage that traffic to sing up.
Engage Them To Subscribe To Blog Updates
Since viral traffic came to see a particular type of content, it’s best to offer them the same with a blog subscription form prominently placed near the target content they came to see. It is likely they will be interested in getting more of the same type of content in the future.
Prominently display the RSS feed button or the email blog update form, and then cater to them and keep them engaged with more great content. As they keep getting more interesting content, the likelihood of them buying something increases significantly.
CPC Ads)
Google Adsense and other CPC ads see high conversion rates because they are so highly targeted to the specific user that comes to a site. Typically ads are based on recent searches that user has done online and so when a site has a great deal of traffic those click rates and the revenue they bring can be substantial.
Advertising
One of the best ways to monetize high traffic sites that enjoy viral traffic is to offer advertising space.
Advertising revenue increases significantly on sites that have a lot of traffic and it can be one of the best earning potentials for viral traffic surges.
You can use various advertising platforms to connect with advertisers looking to buy ad space, such as, Buy Sell Ads, or engage in direct deals. Make sure to advertise your ad space on site and have an “Advertise With Us” page to provide all the necessary information to engage those looking to buy space.
Get Paid for Leads
When viral traffic won’t convert into sales, a good method of monetization is with CPA (Cost Per Action) affiliate programs. These programs pay anywhere from $2 to $40 or more per lead in specific industries. Netflix pays publishers $25 for every successful free trial sign up on their site. That type of payout can really be lucrative.
The key to converting CPA offers is to make sure and choose highly relevant offers to the content on your site. For example, if your content is about cars and you create a video showing classic car restoration and it goes viral, relevant CPA ads can be placed that refers traffic to insurance companies. The fact that they don’t have to pay anything, just supply their contact information can lead to much higher conversions than other offers.
Testing
The above methods, like any other online marketing tactics require testing to see what works best on your site and within your niche.
Test different methods, different ads and placements, and always make sure to have either a blog update sign up or email marketing list opt-in form with a great offers, as these two methods facilitate the ability to capture their contact information and cater to them on a long term basis.
How To Lower Website Bounce Rate
You have built a great site, added stellar content, performed the requisite on site and off site SEO and now you are getting organic search traffic coming at a steady pace.
You can now sit back and toast your efforts because you’re work is done right?
Wrong!
There is still much more work to be done, and one of the most important jobs is to analyse site’s traffic behaviour and bounce rate.
What is Bounce Rate?
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| Image by OpenClipart-Vectors from Pixabay |
Bounce rate is a metric that is used to gage how long visitors stay on your site once they land there.
This metric can tell you a lot about what is wrong and right with the site. Also, it is a fact that Google uses bounce rate as a ranking signal in their algorithm.
Usually if visitors leave the site soon after they arrive it is a sign that something is wrong with the site, or they are not getting their needs met. This is how Google sees it.
Exceptions To This Rule
Consider this for a moment:
If a user that comes to a website finds exactly what they were searching for, why should they stay even a second longer, or browse the site further?
If the landing page has some type of exit link that takes them away from the site quickly, such as, as an email marketing opt in, or affiliate links that are converting in optimal numbers, or their question was answered quickly and accurately, then likely that site’s goals are being reached. Though, the search engines, such as, Google, won’t see this as a good thing, the site owner won’t care much.
But, if that is not the case, and you expect visitors to stick around, or offers are not converting then you will need to find out what is wrong with those landing pages that have such low bounce rates.
There is no one-size-fits-all answer regarding what is an acceptable standard of bounce rate. It is important to consider the intent of the site to determine what % is acceptable.
Tips To Improve Bounce Rates
Content Quality Versus Quantity
While some site owners focus on having a lot of site pages and constantly updating, they fail in providing high quality content. This can result in a high bounce rate, especially when the site is focused on informational content that web traffic is not responding well to.
This does not mean that you should post once every three weeks, this means that there should be regularly scheduled content added, but, such that is high in quality and will engage visitors to maintain a low bounce rate. If you can’t swing the balance of quality and quantity you can always outsource.
Also, it’s important that the content be properly formatted for the web. What works best is short paragraphs, bullets, appropriate paragraph headers and an overall easy to read layout, as opposed to, long blocks or text and long paragraphs.
Of course, content that is interesting, and portrays the personal voice of the writer who presents it, is usually more engaging than some generic write up that is dull and has no personality.
Site Design
The theme used on blogs and sites can also lower bounce rate. If the colors are not pleasing and easy to look at, people will leave.
Clean themes are usually best, they are classy and look good, and they allow you to show off your most important content, without it being drowned out by a loud design.
Here Are Some Considerations
- Is it easy to find pages on your site?
- Is the content buried and hard to locate?
- Is it clear where users should click?
- Will a quick scan of the page show users a clear picture of what they can expect to find?
Navigation
Navigation is another element of utmost importance in determining bounce rate. If, for example, the person that landed on a page likes what they read and wants to browse your site more, there needs to be easily accessible navigation of the entire site.
Top menu bars and sidebar menus are ideal to display your most important pages to web traffic.
Placing related content after a piece of content will entice users to stay on and read more.
Too Many Ads
Are there ads, like Google Adsense, in between every 3 lines of your site’s content pages? This is annoying and can be a major culprit in high bounce rates.
Ads should complement the content, not be an eye sore that annoys and distracts from what the visitor came to see.
Pop ups can be especially annoying, particularly those that keep popping up continuously as someone is trying to focus on reading, watching a video or navigating through a site.
Users cannot be expected to navigate through a sea of ads to zero in on the content they were promised when they came to the page.
Sidebar
There is a thin line between an over populated and an under used sidebar. A sidebar has numerous possibilities, and when used correctly it can have major benefits for keeping visitors on the site and also for displaying your most important calls to action.
Just as with the main content section of the site, too many ads in the sidebar is not always effective. Consider displaying your most popular content, such as, that that has the most comments.
An email marketing opt-in can have a great home at the sidebar, and your social media follow links as well.
Internal Links
If you have a reasonable quantity of content on the site then interlinking with relevant relevant keyword terms can also lower bounce rate.
Each page on your site should have at least one or two links to another page with a relevant relevant keyword anchor.
This will engage readers to browse other pages on your site, and can help to lower the bounce rate. Coincidentally, interlinking also helps with on-site SEO as well.
Final Thoughts
Typically, a lower bounce rate shows that you are doing something right. But, unless your site is making good money or visitors are performing the requisite calls to actions on a regular basis, a bounce rate that is higher than 60% means that there are issues on the site that need to be addressed.
How To Optimize Landing Pages For Better Conversions
As an Internet marketer, having loads of website traffic is not enough to make your online business a successful and profitable one. The truth is, generating massive website traffic is just the first step of the whole conversion or selling process.
In Internet marketing, the amount of traffic your site gets won’t be as vital as the amount of consumers who are taking action on your landing page, whether it is by enrolling to your newsletter subscriptions or buying a product. Keep in mind that in internet marketing, conversion is everything. Hence, to be successful in internet marketing, you need to spend more time in landing page optimization.
Landing page optimization plays a crucial role in determining whether your online business will fail or succeed. By optimizing your landing page, you get to increase your conversion rates, attain more qualified leads, promote multiple products, receive more backlinks and increase the effectiveness of your online ads.
On top of that, landing page optimization will help you identify which layouts, keywords, colour schemes and other aspects of your page have the best conversion rates.
If you want to know how to optimize your landing page effectively, check out these tips and pointers:
Analyse The Data
One of the most crucial aspects of landing page optimization is data analysis. As the name implies, data analysis is a process that allows you to analyse all the data on your site and landing page.
There are a lot of ways to analyse the data on your landing page.
In this case, you can use split testing (A/B Testing), traffic analysis, and data metric tools, like Optimizely, Conversion Voodoo, Concept Feedback, Google Analytics, Visual Website Optimizer and many more.
Evaluate The Problem And Apply Appropriate Fixes
With the data you have gathered about your landing page, you will be able to determine what aspects on your page are working and which are not. In addition, the data accumulated will help you know what elements on your landing page and site are in dire need of upgrades and improvements.
After evaluating the gathered data, you have to find the right solutions to the problem, and implement them as soon as possible.
Changes in your landing page do not have to be drastic or monumental. In fact, a few changes in the words used in your call to action may have a massive positive impact to your site’s conversions.
Keep Tweaking
Keep repeating the whole process for as long your online business exists. The key to having a successful online business is to adapt to changes in trends and behavioural patterns of the consumers.
Additional Tips For Landing Page Optimization
Give your visitor a good reason to buy your product or sign up to your newsletters. You can lure your visitors into subscribing by giving away free eBooks or discount coupons.
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