Tutorials for Publishers

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Publisher Strategy

Attract and Keep Your Audience

Introduction

In this tutorial you will learn how to effectively attract and keep your audience. By attracting and keeping a desirable audience you are increasing your Web site's success and revenue potential.

To effectively attract and keep your audience you will need to be able to answer these key questions:

First, who is your audience?
Second, can your audience find you?
And finally, how can you attract and keep your audience?

By learning the answers to these questions, you'll be on your way to building an attractive and loyal audience for your Web site.

Chapter 1

In order to attract your audience, you will first need to know who your audience is. So… who is your audience?

Identifying and researching the characteristics and preferences of your audience is the first step to understanding what they are looking for online. We call these characteristics "demographics" and there are many ways to identify your audience demographics. One easy method is to place a customer survey on your Web site or on an email sent to opted-in recipients. You can even implement a Web site Analytics Software solution into your Web site to collect customer data and gain a more detailed understanding of who is coming to your Web site and what they are doing once there.

No matter how you determine your Web site demographics, it is important to know what those demographics are so you can build a Web site that will be of interest to your target audience.

Chapter 2

Now that you know who your customers are, we need to make sure they can find you.

With over 80% of traffic coming from search engines, it is important to develop your Web site with content that places well in search engine listings.

Let's take a closer look at search engines to better understand how they work. Search engines determine your Web site ranking by analyzing the copy and code of your Web site for keyword relevancy. The more relevant your keywords are, the higher your ranking will be on search engines. Be careful not to use too many keywords and make sure they are relevant. You must use keywords in proper context to be effective.

James Martell, author of the popular Affiliate Marketer's Handbook, recommends that you begin building your Web site with a 200-400 word keyword list before starting any Web site construction. If you need help compiling a list, you can use a Web site like wordtracker.com or even an advertiser's Web page to compile a list of relevant words. Once you have a keyword list that you like, follow up by building a product pages optimized to each keyword. A Web site that properly optimizes for natural search placement could have up to one hundred keyword-specific pages.

To further increase conversions for the ads on your Web site, look in the CJ Account Manager™ for advertisers' detail information pages. Here, you will find a Keyword link that will list the recommended keywords for each advertiser's program. By placing these keywords in your code, Web site copy and paid search listings, you will get better search engine rankings.

You know your audience and you've optimized your site so your audience can find you in the search engines...now the question is, how else can you attract your audience to your Web site?

One of the simplest ways to start is by creating an email newsletter. With a newsletter, you can continually remind your audience of the benefits of returning to your Web site. If you already have a newsletter, make sure you are not giving too much away. What we mean is make sure your newsletter encourages your audience to visit your Web site. Think of including limited-time offers and only send out communications when you have something valuable to say or else you risk losing your customer.

Make sure all emails or newsletters have a clear call-to-action. Keep your text simple and uncluttered and make sure to avoid too many links. Consider what your hook is. Is it a seasonal trend? a best-seller? a hot offer? or even a breakthrough product? You get the picture.

As you can see, there are many ways to attract your audience to your Web site. With continual promotion of your Web site in the search engines and via email, you can keep these customers coming back!

Chapter 3

You've worked so hard to get your audience to your Web site, now you need to know how to keep them there.

Studies show that you only have eight seconds to convince your Web site visitors you have something they are interested in before they leave. So the first step is to effectively and quickly communicate the value of your Web site. Let your customers know what you want them to do. Would you like them to call a number? Sign up for a newsletter? Purchase a product? Or just read an article? Is there informative content on your site that will teach them more about a subject? Make the value clear.

Another way to communicate effectively is through usability. If you make a potential user work too hard to use your Web site or to find what they are looking for, they are less likely to return. Simply put, this means less revenue for you. Using common conventions like navigation on your left and a search box in an obvious place will make browsing more intuitive for your audience and as a result will help you attract them. The next time you are surfing the Web, do a little research and see what the most popular Web sites are doing. Ask yourself, what are their common conventions?
Now it's time to make sure you're providing the right offers on your Web site.

Look for offers that relate to your content, or offers that have the same audience demographics as your Web site. You can use the CJ Account Manager to find applicable offers for your audience. Once you've identified some relevant offers, make sure to place them in prime locations throughout your Web site to increase conversion rates. Finally, remember to test, test, test. Swap out lower performing offers and see what ad locations convert best. Optimization is an ongoing process.

By communicating clearly and effectively, by evaluating your Web site's usability, and by providing relevant offers, you will successfully keep the attention of your audience.

What's Next?

Take a few moments to explore Commission Junction's resources. We recommend that you regularly use the CJ Account Manager to run performance, transaction and commission reports and research offers that engage your target audience. And again, with regularly testing of your Web site effectiveness and overall ad placement, you can be sure you attract and keep a strong audience. We hope you see many happy "returns!"

Thank you for your time.