One of the biggest complaints I hear from online clients these days is the cost of attracting traffic.  Even the most successful of these businesses are spending a fortune to get hundreds of visits to their site, but still have low conversion rates.

The problem is their mindset.  Most small business owners and online start ups equate traffic with success.  We are so brainwashed these days by the hype of quantity (Page rank, followers, hits) that we often overlook quality.  And we are losing customers because of it.

Let’s just say in a perfect world your Adwords (or other CPC) campaign works like a charm.  Every impression results in a click,  and thousands of new visitors land on your site each day.

Now what?  If you are seeing high bounce rates and low conversions,  it may mean that you aren’t taking good enough care of the people that walk through your virtual door.

Seth Godin made a comparison between the online advertising and conferences which made me think about this ongoing problem in these terms:

You are a consumer interested in Product A.  Let’s say that Product A is bananas.

You have heard that bananas are great for your health, and want to find out more on how to introduce them to your diet.   You go to a local banana conference held by the Banana Production Association of America.   There, you attend a useful andentertaining presentation filled with everything you could ever want to know about bananas.  There is a funny clip show, an interesting talk about how bananas can help you burn fat, build muscle and become a better lover, a free recipe leaflet, and an invitation to join the BananaAppreciation Society and get 20% off all BPAA bananas for life!  Wow! Chances are your banana consumption is about to go through the roof.

Now let’s say that while surfing the web you had found an intriguing article about the healthful properties of bananas.  You Google for more info and see an ad for the BPAA website.  You click, and get to a homepage that contains a sales pitch and links to buy.  A flashing banner offers ambiguous ‘Great Deals,’ and a sign up box demands your email address to send you vague ‘updates’.  Are you feeling inspired to turn your life yellow?  I doubt it.

The point?  Don’t invest in clicks, invest in your customers.

Make sure your ads are tailored to direct your visitors to well crafted, quality landing pages that will offer them something.  Appreciate that they have clicked your link, and thank them by giving them value when they arrive.  Ask yourself what someone clicking on your ad really wants.  Why did they click your ad?  How can you make their experience on your site more fulfilling? Only by finding out what they are looking for will you have a better chance of getting what you want.

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