traffic conversion online shops from affiliate sites

[pardo]

We are thinking of getting a membership on some affiliate programs but wonder if we will bring in enough and good targetted traffic yet to be a serious partner. We can forward good targetted visitors towards online shops into our 'topic / theme' but I am just curious what % of visitors will actually buy at these shops. I know it depends on various things but wonder if there are some average numbers.

Guessing: from every 100 visitors there will be 15 orders...

[reborn]

My conversion rates go from 1 to 7%, depending on the item.

[Catalyst]

Pardo,

Average ecommerce conversion rates are less than 2% across the board. And that says nothing about affiliate sales. That figure is the average from direct e-tailers, whether it's a music store, shoe store or a mall. I know, pretty dismal number, but that's the stat.

[Yidaki]

>Guessing: from every 100 visitors there will be 15 orders...

ROFL, i'd marry you with such a conversion ... ;)

Unfrotunately there's really no overall solution. I run several niche directories / search engine where the traffic is 200% targeted - with about 2 mio impressions / month. I recently joined cj, tradedoubler and others. My ctr is average of <1%, the sales (so, the commisions) are 0, zero, zilch, niet, nada. It's been a quick test - hint: you can guess your sales after 2 days - no need to give it a try for longer.

I know, better ad placements, targeted product pages and a real "shopping area" that is called by it's name ("Buy now!"), could and would increase the sales. However, it really depends on sooo much factors: targeted group, aff impressions / views, how related the aff's are to the page topic, placement, graphics (book covers, product photos), product pages (with descriptions etc.) .... after laying myself the cards, i found that looking into the guidelines of the successfulls merchants (amazon!) could be a big help to find the best way to turn clicks into sales.

There's no general rule!

[europeforvisitors]

I make far more money from independent programs than I do from network (CJ) programs--even when the CJ programs are directly related to my topic. I'm not sure why that's the case, but it is. (My independent-to-CJ ratio for May is running around 60:1.)

[pardo]

europeforvisitors,

what sort of independant programmes are you talking about?

yidaki,

o.k. I am not that good at guessing :( but if I will ever reach that 15% I have to disappoint you. I am very happy with my current marriage ;)

Maybe I come over to have a drink with you...

[Essex_boy]

My conversion rate on Cj is truly dire, we refer 200 a day to sites on the link network all highly targeted and related to the site subject.

But do we get the sales? Nope.

We make if we are at all lucky is one sale a month.

Now I dread to think what the conversion rate on that is...

[jimh009]

Conversion rates can vary wildly - depending on what you're selling, who you're selling for, the time of year, the price of the product, the merchants website, how you lay things out on your site, etc..For one program on Performics, I average around 2%. Other programs, it can fall below 1% and even less. For whatever reason, my conversions at CJ are significantly less than over on Performics (where my main merchants are, happily).

[europeforvisitors]

europeforvisitors, what sort of independant programmes are you talking about?

Mostly hotels and cars, with a few specialized programs like sightseeing tours. Check the site in my profile if you're curious to see what vendors I use.