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I have done this myself for PPC traffic and other forms of paid advertising, but never have I tried it with the "free" SE traffic.
Just curious to see if anyone has any data regarding this.
Thanks!
Don't have hard stats. Do have experience, although I guess it depends on the search:
- People searching for the "history of Cheltenham" = low purchase likelihood, whatever you're selling;
- People searching for a "flat screen TV" = high purchase likelihood.
Sorry for stating the obvious!
My site is optimised for people in the latter category - ie they need help with a purchase. Typically for me, 1000 unique hosts = 40 - 50 sales = 4 - 5 % conversion.
Obviously, unique host contains some duplicates. I estimate conversion rate could be 8%, no more.
Not terribly scientific, but hope this helps!
Suggy
People who tend to be more savvy use Google.
Less intelligent people tend to use AOL.
Lazy people tend to use MSN.
Those seeking travel accomodation on the Italian Riviera would probably use Google.
Those wanting a designer Whoopie Cushion would probably use AOL.
Then there are the MSN users who want the local time and weather.
Even though we have top 10 listings in the so called other engines, there is so little traffic from them, the conversion rate is hard to track.
PPC have been a total waste of money so far for me.
Wow, that's better than most real-world retail shops do!
I notice the google conversion rate is somewhat lower than the conversion rate of direct visitors (again, depends a lot on the product category). Unfortunately, I never had time to do cross-SE conversion comparison exercise.
Anywhere from 4% to 12% depending on the offer/product.
50% conversion ... yea ... april fools ;-)
Brian
December 2002: 0.60% conversion to sale
January 2003: 0.51%
February 2003: 0.43%
The numbers are dropping because traffic from Google is rising tremendously, increasing over 50% in those three months.
That help?
What kind of industry are you in, I'm curious
Yes! I am very serious. Why would I make it up and what would I have to gain? A question was asked and I gave an answer that applies to what I do. I'm basing my conversion on leads an not actual traffic. If I were to that, then I guess it would be about 3%.
I've targeted very direct themes and phrases so that the only people coming to our site are interested in exactly what we have.
It is business to business and the fact the we have built up a solid reputation in the industry helps.
The entire sales cycle can take several weeks, so on average we are getting over 200 very qualified leads a month that of which over half result in a sale of one or more of our items.
The industry I'm in is related to high tech equipment.
So I'm thinking that maybe all the google traffic wasn't actual buyers - some hobby/interest type sites may get lots of hits from people who are just interested in their field but aren't likely to buy. It seems the adwords customers are more likely to be potential buyers than the general browsing visitor.
Some will do really well and have good conversions while others will not.
It just depends on what it is your selling.
I actually used adwords until I could get the positions I wanted. Once I got them, I dropped the adwords and my sales increased.
that was a fantastic post, made me crack up.
My main concern over this is that in some cases I feel that I am sacrificing design and marketing elements for the sake of SEO. Additionally, the whole PR issue with taking the time to set up link trades, can be time consuming. Generally, I spend about 15 hours per site surfing for link partners, sending out emails and doing all that is neccessary to get the PR machine rolling (with little success). In that amount of time I can begin to build another site. So I am wondering if this extra effort is really worth the time investment.
we discussed this extensively in anothers (can't find it for some reason)...we came up with a conversion ratio of 2%-3%.
People who tend to be more savvy use Google
And since 80% use Google that means that most of the human race is "more savvy", good for us:-)
On a more serious note, it is very hard to isolate just the search engine from the whole sale process (that include: product, price, sales letter Etc.). Anyway, as many of us here know, people who use Google are not just after free things, they will not hesitate to reach to their pockets and pay for the things they want.
it is very hard to isolate just the search engine from the whole sale process
Actually, it is not all that hard. You would just need to set up separate domains or subdomains and direct specific traffic into specific sites, all with the same design and content.
My curiosity with this is based on the time-value of doing the SEO and link exchanging. As I mentioned in a previous post, I find the extra work to be somewhat time consuming.
Generally, after I complete a site it will be live for at least 30 days before it is indexed on Google. In the interim I am purchasing PPC traffic and doing other forms of paid advertising for the site. I have yet to notice a significant upswing in sales on any of my sites once they are indexed by Google.
Hi Mykel
My rewards are something like this: 1000 visitors = £150 +/- 20% GBP commission.
Hope this helps...
Suggy
You know, you see a man walking down the street and offer to sell him your TV. Luckily, he was on his way to the TV shop because his had just blown up. He's interested. The next bloke was on his way to the pub...he's not.
People come to my site looking to solve a problem. Their search term proves that. The only way they can solve their problem is to buy something. I give them alternatives, save them lots of searching. On this basis, I won't be happy 'til I convert 20%!
It all depends what your site's about.
Suggy
Not intended.
You probably get 5 times as many visitors as me anyway!
And, goodnight...
Suggy
All visitors: 2.8%
My #1 affiliate: 10.6%
My #2 affiliate: 6.0%
Referrals from my article archive: 4.3%
non-Google search engines (excluding PPC): 3.4%
Google-driven search portals (excl. Adwords): 3.5%
Referrals from Overture (incl. affiliates): 2.1%
Referrals from Findwhat: 0.3%
Referrals from Kanoodle: 0.0%
Dan Thies
It just sucks because I worked really hard putting together a niche general interest site, loaded with free hard to find info, thinking popularity would equal profit. It isn't over yet but I have nearly a thousand unique visitors a day but can't turn a buck to save my life.
I think next time around I'll spend my time sharp-shooting for a payoff on loaded keyword pages.
the more you know....
Don't feel too sorry for yourself. I don't do doorway pages. I write article after article about the most boring subject.
I am a bit like one of those slimming mags, which has to find 15 ways to say "look, EAT LESS" every month.
Most people come in through an article and go on to the product selection - which I have to update every blinking day.
I also have a pretty neat bit of interactivity that meant learning PERL from scratch and took a month to write. And had to develop a whole XML/ .NET solution for creating hardcoded SE friendly pages out of a database.
A fast and quick buck this is not....
