Does it pay to make your site crappy?

vj28 · 01-10-2004, 07:34 AM

Hi everyone!
I run a dating related affiliate website.

It has about 6
pages that mostly promote 1 affiliate program. It does generate small
income, but what puzzles me MOST is that I know a guy who works with
the same affiliate program on a site that same number of visits, is made
less professionally, BUT generates up to 5 times as many sales as
compared to my site!

Now I am thinking: Would it be a super smart marketing move for me to make
my site look crappier so that visitors clicking on my affiliate links
would have MORE respect for the affiliate program website I am promoting?
Is too good - too bad in this case?

I have tried every technique I could come up with, but I can't get a
clue why (with about the same traffic) my site's sales are nothing
compared to the other site although I send tons of referrers to the
affiliate homepage...

My site: http://www.hot-dating.net

The other site: http://www.eleo.com.ua

I am about to trash my computer, so please advise until its too late!
I need a fresh look and maybe a thought?....

A BIG THANKS to all that may advise!!!!!

compar · 01-10-2004, 10:33 AM

I don't agree that the other site is more crappy. But what he does have is a lot more opportunities on his page to click on a link. In fact I sort of had problems figuring out how to link off your page.

Look at the blue link bars with all the options on the top and bottom of his page. The have little tick off boxes that cry out to be used. I don't think there is any real "call to action" aspect to your page.

vj28 · 01-11-2004, 10:25 AM

Thanks for your opinion. But you see the problem is not that fewer people go from my site to the end affiliate program website (they do go there by tons!), but that once they are there they purchase fewer memberships than do his referred visitors.

In other words, the conversion rate for his referred visitors is much higher than that for mine! And I am not sure what the reason is... It's like say, we both send equal number of visitors to the end affiliate site, but his buy much more than mine. Why?????

zylog · 01-14-2004, 02:51 PM

podlyi vrazheskyi Lysik
Ya tebya udavlyu..

SVB · 01-14-2004, 03:01 PM

Yeah......

compar · 01-14-2004, 03:42 PM

Quote:

but that once they are there they purchase fewer memberships than do his referred visitors.

I'd be interested how you know that for sure. Most organizations with affiliates will never give out that type of information.

But lets suppose for a moment that it is true. The only possible explanation is that your competitors site does a better job of prequalifying the people who click through. In other words when they click through from his site they know what to expect and they click through because they want to "buy", sign up or whatever.

Whereas people who click through from your site don't understand where they are going to or what is expected of them and hence they don't "buy". It goes back to my first comment. I think your site is vague. Rather than thinking your competitors site is junk, I think he has done a better job than you in letting his visitors know what it is all about.

Just because you know what your site is supposed be about doesn't mean that the average visitor will. You need to do some surveys or focus groups. Get 20 strangers to go to your site and tell you what they think about it. Then keep an open mind. Don't call them stupid because they don't understand. Change the site so that no matter how stupid someone might be they have a chance of figuring it out.

If someone is kicking your ass it is rare that they are doing it with junk. Usually they know something you don't.

zylog · 01-15-2004, 12:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by compar

Quote:

but that once they are there they purchase fewer memberships than do his referred visitors.

I'd be interested how you know that for sure. Most organizations with affiliates will never give out that type of information.

But lets suppose for a moment that it is true. The only possible explanation is that your competitors site does a better job of prequalifying the people who click through. In other words when they click through from his site they know what to expect and they click through because they want to "buy", sign up or whatever.

Thanks for warm words.
-----
Zylog
http://eleo.com.ua
owner

vj28 · 01-15-2004, 04:32 AM

You are most welcome, Lionya :wink: I see you are getting the hang of HitLens - way to go!

http://www.hot-dating.net

**South** · 01-23-2004, 04:53 PM

I can see almost right away why he's getting more signups. Nobody goes to this type of site to hurry up and get a membership. They go there looking for pics of naked or nearly naked women or cyber sex.

The idea is to get tease them into it from the start so they're likely making the sign-up decision with anatomy other than the brain. Your competition is selling sex from page one. I agree your site has more professional appeal than his, but he has you beat on sex appeal.

I think adding some seductive images on the front page would make your numbers increase.

mylungsarempty · 02-19-2004, 09:37 AM

Yeah, your site... not fun to look at while horny.

This other guy's site? I couldn't take my eyes off.

More skin. The curvey kind.

altyfc · 02-19-2004, 09:51 AM

I would agree that your site looks more professional IMO. I don't think this means you should make your site look less professional, though. I think it might have more to do with the traffic that the two sites gets. You have higher PR but how do you compare for traffic?

If given the choice, I'd usually go for traffic ahead of presentation. Ideally, you want both though. You're halfway there so keep plugging away at getting those links...

Aaron

jwalsh · 04-10-2004, 10:18 PM

Well, as compar said, he's definetly prequalifiying his users. And hooking them first. It could also be that the visitors that come to his site initially are better targeted for the program than yours. Meaning, your visitors could be looking for free content, while his users are more interested in buying a service.

Josh

Jonathan Lee · 04-22-2004, 10:39 PM

1. The top part of the webpage is the part people tend to look at first.
You're not doing much with that area but filling it with a distracting blue
background. It distracts from the rest of your website.

2. You need to entice the users and tease them.
Maybe you can make these girls say whatever you think
your target audience: lonely guys want to hear.

3. Look at other sites that sell well and analyze why. Then you'll know.

4. There is no urgent call to action. What is the user suppose to do?
Guide them, or they will end up doing nothing at all.

Person05 · 06-02-2004, 06:38 AM

yey get some sexy blokes on there

... and girls as well i suppose :wink:

chicagowebdeveloper · 06-03-2004, 05:35 PM

From my experience when one of my customers is about to give up making any money from their site I am asking them for one thing. Let me get rid of all the fancy graphics and flash etc and let me substitute it with the whole bunch of text. TEXT my friend is what will get you the most out of web site advertisement. Your competitor has a load of text and that is the way he attracts it. The best example I have ever seen of the crappiest site with the biggest amount of visitors is......
Just go to google and type ine "DATING" the first web site u will see would be the ugliest site on the planet. Why? Because search engines do not care how good your site looks...

And yeah I saw that comment from one of the users, I see we got some russians in dating there. Privet Vsem.

Good luck making your site crappy looking.