The initial stages of launching a new website can be challenging, with slow traffic and minimal sales. However, it's crucial to monitor your site's statistics and sales diligently. The most significant number to consider is the value of a hit, which refers to a unique visitor or user session. This value is calculated by dividing the total sales (gross profits) by the number of hits. This includes sales of products produced by others, commissions on sales, and so forth.
The value of a hit is a crucial metric for any website owner. For instance, if your website's gross profit for a month is $200 and you've had 1000 hits, the value of a hit is $0.20 or 20 cents. If the gross profit was only $50, then the value of a hit would be 0.05 or 5 cents.
For a mature website that consistently generates hits, the value of a hit is unlikely to fluctuate significantly from month to month. However, it's beneficial to include a 3 or 4-month moving average in your results. This method helps to smooth out any apparent downtrends or uptrends, providing a more balanced view of your website's performance.
The value of a hit is fundamental to determining what you can afford to pay for advertising. Ideally, you'd want to stay slightly under this figure. If an ad campaign only produces the value per hit, it's not profitable. However, there are exceptions, such as the value of new customers subscribing to your newsletter or returning to purchase other products.
For new or small websites, it can be challenging to generate meaningful numbers due to a lack of hits or sales. However, it's essential to start tracking these metrics from the beginning. It's advisable to wait until you have a tested ad and are confident that the value of a hit will generate profits before investing in advertising.
Many website owners find advertising in ezines to be the most effective approach on the web. The key is to find ezines that target your audience, test your ad's response, and adjust accordingly. In theory, successful advertising can bring unlimited profits.
While banner advertising using the CPM model has seen a decline in success, some have reported success with the pay-per-click model. This model, used by search engines like GoTo.Com, only requires payment for clickthroughs to your site.
Submitting a listing to directories like Yahoo and LookSmart can be beneficial, despite their $199 fee. These directories can deliver a significant portion of search engine-related traffic. However, other directories like SNAP may not be worth the investment.
An advertising campaign should be launched when the value of a hit and a tested ad can generate profits. Until this point, advertising can be a waste of money. For new or sluggish websites, the focus should be on boosting the Conversion Ratio (CR) to increase the value of a hit. Once this is achieved, it's time to invest in advertising.
Never, Ever Release Any Of Your Rights To Anyone
One of the grandest scams on the Web, which goes largelyunnoticed, is for a web-based bookseller or publisher to requiresome rights to your work in exchange for the service to beprovided. Many demand the electronic rights, for example.
The Hits That Matter Most
So you know what hits mean. Unique hits or user sessions,I mean. And you know what CR means. Right? If so, you're ingreat shape, for many people don't. They think they do. But they've got it wrong.
Customer Personality Types: Does It Matter?
Marketing types are fond of classifying people intocategories. Here are four which I took from "Differentiate OrDie," by Jack Trout with Steve Rivkin. (John Wiley & Sons, NewYork, 2000, p15.) Only the first few words of each are includedhere.
