What am I doing wrong?

[digiweb]

Lots of raffic, no revenue.
http://www.dorm-room.net

[netizen-x]

try CJ (commission junction) with various affiliate ads. Trial and run to see what works for you.

else if you wish to stick to contextual advertising, try blending the ads better.

[Dustin07]

first question... what do you consider a lot of traffic?


I would use google text links if you like use adsense. and put them way up on top, right under "Dorm Room Decor." Use a matching background color and I would try either black or red colored links.

as far as CJ, I'm not super familiar with them... I'm signed up, but not diggin it so far. You could easily pump some Amazon affiliate stuff in there.

good luck.

PS: do you have any goals in mind with this site?

[funguru]

adsense on your site is out of place.. it should be visible to the visitor, change the location and make it blend with your content.. maybe place adsense withing the content to get more clicks..

What do you mean by lot of traffic?

[digiweb]

I'm going to reply to these messages in more detail but for now here are some stats
http://www.animalimage.biz/stats.bmp

I had a yahoo campaign going for the first month or so, I did some tag and ping...

[Dustin07]

how many clicks have you had? based upon your unique visitors I wouldn't be dispointed with anything over 70-120 clicks or so (total, for the 1700 visitors.). And that's with optimum locations of your ads.

[jg_v7n]

I disagree with the above comments. Even if you replace your Adsense ads as suggested you'll still be making at most a couple of cents per hundred visitors or something equally stupid.

Your site is aimed at selling the posters yes? And making commission on each sale. So you need to focus hard on that.

Adsense is a distraction. The inclusion of Adsense makes your site say to your visitors: "Hi, I'm selling this that or the other, but I'm not really sure if you'll like it and so if not click me as a second option."

So, first of all forget Adsense for the time being - if you want revenue from Adsense then make a site specifically for Adsense (And that is a whole different world of SPAM).

So, first problem I see no posters above the fold. That is, when I visit your site I see no posters without the need to scrolling first.

Secondly you have no introduction, no call to action and the layout is weird.

"Dorm Room Decor - Dog and Puppy Posters: Woof Woof!" What does this say to you? Ok, it says the basics; A name (of sorts), a description, and what seems like a sarcastic; "Woof Woof".

1) Work on the name: Dorm Room Decor is as boring at it gets. I'm turned off by the time I've read this, and looking for a way out (not Adsense!). Add at least one exciting or unusual word, I'm no expert, but: "Sublime Surroundings", "Dynamite Dorm Decor", "Classy Canines", "Delightful Dogs", "Prestigious Pet Posters" anything is better than "Dorm Room Decor".

2) "Dog and Puppy Posters: Woof Woof!" Sorry - all wrong. Use this "strap line" to say something special, say something unique, and most importantly of all - tell the customer what to do!!! It's easy - and use the word "Buy"!!! "Buy beautiful, high quality posters of dogs and puppies at great prices, browse our comprehensive catalogue and make your room feel like home today. Just one click takes you direct to our supplier!". (Your an affiliate site yes? People will often shy away from this, they mistrust being passed from one site to another when they may not expect to. So turn this into an advantage.)

3) Lose the other text: "Doggie pics are the #1 way to stay cheerful on your own." Huh? No there not. No one believes this, and it certainly won't help you sell posters. This also: "And dog posters are the cheapest way to lighten up your dorm room" No, sorry! No one is falling for that - for a start Cat posters are just as cheap!

4) Ok, so you also have the posters in a thin line down the middle of the site, two thirds of the way down the site you are only using 1/4 of the site width. Its a waste of space and annoying to scroll all the way. Rearrange the posters so that it appears as though you have trouble fitting them all in, but just made it neatly. 22 posters - I suggest rows of four, (keep the quotes they are a nice touch) Make two rows of four, then a quote across the entire row as a divider, then two more rows of four and another quote, finally the last 6 posters as a row of 4 and a row of 2, centralize the bottom two.

5) If you want to keep the Adsense, place a banner across the bottom, if someone scrolls down this far and doesn't like anything - you give them a monetized exit.

6) Finally - organize the links on the left better, they look messy because they take up more than one line. For example shorten: "An Invaluable Lesson in Healing" to "Lessons in Healing" and "Andy Warhol's Cats and Dogs" to "Andy Warhol's Art". Get each item on one line, not only will it look better but you'll also get more information in the same amount of space.

Well - you did ask. Hope that you find some of my suggestions constructive.

Good luck with your site...

[digiweb]

jg, Wow! Major props and thank you! Thank you to everyone on this thread as well.

Great post, fabulous insights, well done!

[WillB]

Heh, don't sugar coat it jg

I would agree with it all, and if I may, add my own suggestions.

Is there really a market for this sort of thing? Oh wait.. I've just read the site a bit more. The first impression I get is that your site only sells posters of dogs, so I was confused that you had mice and cats in the pictures at the top. Perhaps your homepage should be more generic - "Animal posters" for example.

Also, I'd recommend shoving your most popular poster right in the face of anyone who drops by. It should be the first thing they see, along with the text "Have this on your wall" or "Buy this poster now" or something similar, demanding action from the user.

Lastly, jazz up the colour scheme a bit. Dull grey is not exciting. Neither is maroon. Perhaps try orange, bright green, bright blue, yellow, purple etc.

[WillB]

Oh, and you've got a hairy great Google affiliate button where your logo should be...

[jg_v7n]

Originally Posted by WillB

Heh, don't sugar coat it jg

Sugar coating never helped anybody.

The thing to remember is that even on this small scale, people rarely just "buy things" - they buy an idea, they buy into a concept. If you have a smart, well organized, good looking website, then by buying a poster from you they are buying a smart, well organized, good looking dorm room. Who would buy the same poster from a tatty, ugly website when you can buy it from a better site?

I think a good indicator of this are the real budget (cost saver) supermarkets, they sell seriously cheap goods, but the stores are often a little tatty and old looking. Why is this? I assure you that they are making a fortune, but the "concept" is money saving, efficiency and bargains, if they had lavish well designed store they would ruin the "concept"...

[Dustin07]

Hi Caroline, when I replied I was in a deep adsense hangover from taking in too much dp the night before and for some reason assumed that was your main revenue option there.

What is your current conversion, if you don't mind me asking? It's my understanding that anything above 2-4% for sales is pretty good. With affiliates I think it's a little bit harder to really grab those conversion has something happens to a visitors brain when they leave your site, IMO.

oh yeah, and if you think you stand to make more money by selling products on your site than adsense, I don't know if I would even have adsense. that pulls customers away from your site. Personally (this is just MY opinion) I only put adsense on sites where I am not selling my own products.

[digiweb]

ZERO conversions.

I added the adsense at the advice of an acquaintance who felt I should monetize the traffic.

The whole site is an experiment as I'm a web programmer by trade -- I'm dabbling and learning about affiliate marketing.

I had asked Julie if she was interested in implmementing this thread's fine suggestions but she seems to have disappeared. If anyone here is interested in a few bucks for their effort please PM me.

Thanks all and keep 'em coming !

[Vern]

Hi Caroline, have you built up your own list so far ?

You're losing a big chunk of change on the table if you're just sending your visitors to the affiliate page given to you.

[Tyler Banfield]

Your domain is dormroom.

It's not dogdormroom.

You need to consider your target demographic

[digiweb]

Originally Posted by Vern

Hi Caroline, have you built up your own list so far ?

You're losing a big chunk of change on the table if you're just sending your visitors to the affiliate page given to you.

my own list?

[digiweb]

Originally Posted by Tyler Banfield

Your domain is dormroom.

It's not dogdormroom.

You need to consider your target demographic

it's

animalimage.biz
dorm-room.net
dorm-room-decor.com

The theory is that girls going off to college need to warm up their dorm rooms.

[Tyler Banfield]

Obviously you're a little out of touch with today's "Modern College Girl"

[digiweb]

What do they need. Boys? Other girls? I'm pretty sure I can't sell those.