When you talk about conversions and wonder why people don't click through your banners or buy the products you recommend, it may not be the design or the lack of a phone number, etc... It could simply be the way you speak to your readers and the language on the landing pages or merchant sites.
Think about the type of site you have, what its goal or purpose is -- and if you speak correctly to sell a product.
Here are a few key things to think about when trying to increase your conversion rates based on how you talk to your readers.
- Blogging
- Slang
- Pre-selling
Blogging
When you blog, are you speaking from your own voice or the voice of the persona you take on?
Many of the most successful blogs are successful because the authors write from their own voice or their persona's voice and write like they would talk on the phone to a friend. By speaking to them in a way that is conversational, engaging and sometimes entertaining, you can try to connect with your readers and build trust and loyalty.
If reading your blog feels like having a friend they can visit and enjoy speaking with, you build their trust and if you recommend products that you honestly enjoy and believe in, they are more likely to buy from a friend and your conversions can increase.
If you write your blog cold, lonely and non engaging, you may optimize for SEO, but you conversion rates can suffer because people don't feel like they have connected with a real person.
Slang
Do you know who your audience is, where they are from, their age group and how they speak?
Regardless of what type of site you have, using slang and different language variations to appeal and brand your site can help to connect with your readers and make them think the products you are promoting are even more for them. By "speaking their language" whether it's using slang form the 50's for baby boomers or urban hip hop terms for a younger generation, you can relate to your visitors and they can relate to the products.
Even if it is just sales copy, the slang helps to excite, entertain and create an urge to want the product which may also help to increase your conversion rates.
Pre-selling
Optimizing for a term in the search engines is only a small part of making sales as an Affiliate. Learning how to pre-sell your Merchants and their products is next.
Pre-selling is more than listing the colors it comes in and the product specs. Pre-selling is talking about real life uses, other ways to use the products and complimentary things that go with it. It is about building trust for the Merchant site and it is about getting the visitor to want to shop.
You basically need to learn how to engage your readers, build their trust and get them excited to increase your conversion rates with language. There are other language tricks like changing the words on buttons or making things sound like more or less of a process, but think about the on site copy and how you can better connect with your visitors and get them excited to shop. If you ever run out of ideas, contact the Affiliate Manager for the program or the Affiliate Management Company and have them help you figure out unique ways to sell and promote their clients products. Keep in mind that if you succeed then they succeed and that is why they will be ready to help.