Web Hosting Talk : Web Hosting Main Forums : Running a Web Hosting Business : Visitor Behavior

[Heidi1972]

Is it common for around 75% of visitors to click on your home page and leave? I'm getting around 25% of visitors from advertising to actually click on my hosting services page and a few go as far as clicking on the order form and leave?

I've had around 250 unique visitors from PPC advertising and a few sales questions but no signups? Is it normal when you first get started to have problems finding your first customers?

I've been told by a few people that I have a nice design and it's easy to navigate so I don't believe the design is turning people away. Does having an awesome design bring more customers? Seems unlikely, I won't name anyone but a few people around here have bland or plain designs and tell everyone here they have hundreds or even thousands of customers.

[UH-Matt]

Who is the PCC advertising with? Maybe they are scamming you by hitting the site to increase the amount of money you are paying them.

I would say 75% is too high. If someone has clicked through they should at least move off the first page, unless its really ugly

[Heidi1972]

Originally posted by UH-Matt
Who is the PCC advertising with? Maybe they are scamming you by hitting the site to increase the amount of money you are paying them.

I would say 75% is too high. If someone has clicked through they should at least move off the first page, unless its really ugly

It's Google Adwords. I'm starting to advertise on other webmaster sites and the number of people actually browsing my pages is starting to increase. It might be competetors clicking on my ads to investigate or just cost me $$$. I'm gonna keep trying different advertising and evaluate after 1000 visitors. If I have no customers after 1000 visitors, I'm obviously doing something wrong or the market is flooded with cheap hosts online and will try local advertising.

Anyone considering starting this business today better plan on investing lots of money and time with little in return atleast in the beginning. It's definately not as simple getting customers today as it was only a few years ago. It's kinda funny reading posts about people wanting to start a hosting business and nearly everyone here says "get a reseller account" and leaves it at that but it takes SO MUCH more than that to be successful at this business.

I'm not going anywhere and will keep trying until I find what works. I'm gonna be poor when it's all over but I'm not quitting.

[UH-Matt]

1000 visitors doesnt guarantee a customer signup. Whats your niche or what is better about your service than the other 10 hosts which the potential customer has visited that day? Are you advertising anywhere other hosts arent?

[NovaW]

It's good to track these type of metrics. If the traffic is targeted (ie interested in web hosting) then if 75% only view your home page - then it's a very good sign that the usability of your home page needs a re-think.

If you are using Google adwords - then think about bringing the visitors into a page other than the home page
- Make the adwords text specific to a plan
- Put the price in the adwords text - this targets your clicks more
- Make the click go directly to the plan detail page
- Have a strong call to action (buy) message on that page

[JayC]

Originally posted by NovaW
It's good to track these type of metrics. If the traffic is targeted (ie interested in web hosting) then if 75% only view your home page - then it's a very good sign that the usability of your home page needs a re-think.

If you are using Google adwords - then think about bringing the visitors into a page other than the home page

Exactly right. Use a specific landing page for your Adwords campaign -- maybe even different landing pages tailored to specific ad groups or sets of keywords, so that each page is targeted with a sales approach well-suited to the people clicking those ads. And, it should be a sales approach! That's what you're advertising for.

You may have a great home page -- and it may have no problems in terms of usability in general. But that page is a compromise between being useful for your existing clients and selling to a wide range of new prospective visitors.

When you get a prospective customer to your site, regardless of what you're selling, it's imortant that they're no more than a click or two away from being able to buy. Each step they have to go through means you'll lose some of them.

[Heidi1972]

Yes, I read about creating a targeted entry page within the Google Adwords FAQ page but have been debating using one since I offer domain names and web design too on the home page and visitors searching for hosting have also browsed my other service offerings.

It's very interesting to observe how users browse your site, I'm learning what needs improvement just by watching how people interact within the site.

[NovaW]

Originally posted by Heidi1972
Yes, I read about creating a targeted entry page within the Google Adwords FAQ page but have been debating using one since I offer domain names and web design too on the home page and visitors searching for hosting have also browsed my other service offerings.

It's very interesting to observe how users browse your site, I'm learning what needs improvement just by watching how people interact within the site.

You are absolutely on the right track by watching what visitors do on your site - in the end this will be invaluable & will help you find the right formula to close sales.

It is tempting to try & get the most out of the price of a click & expose the visitor to as many product offerings as you can - but the more targeted the traffic - it's essential to keep the message on target.

Adwords tied to specific phrase searches are targeted - there is no question that your conversion will be greater if you keep the message on target and focus them right into buying that specific service that they have demonstrated a need for already. After the sale is complete you can always let them know about other services & even have an opportunity to create sales of those services at that time or later. By making the mouse-trap wider - then the mouse may just move on to your competitor because they didn't want to work that hard to find what your targeted ad promised.

You can also market your design and domain offerings in a very targeted way.

If your ads are not very targeted then exposing them to the wide range of your services (the home page) is the right thing to do.

[JayC]

Originally posted by Heidi1972
Yes, I read about creating a targeted entry page within the Google Adwords FAQ page but have been debating using one since I offer domain names and web design too on the home page and visitors searching for hosting have also browsed my other service offerings.

Have they purchased, or just "browsed through?" Remember that while your clickthrough rate determines what you're paying for the ads, your conversion rate is what really matters. Would half as many ads focused on hosting combined with a similar number focused on those other service offerings be more effective?

And of course it is just an entry page. It should still have links to the rest of the site, and some mention of your other offerings is appropriate. But as Michael said, the more targeted your sales copy on that page can be the better it'll do. He also mentioned another technique worth considering: present your other services after the sale -- generally there's a "Thank You" page, and that page is a missed sales opportunity on a lot of sites.

[Heidi1972]

Thanks for the advice. I'll be making some changes.

[ozzie123]

Me my self don't believe on pay-per-click method. Dude, Think Global Act Local.

[webgusto]

We haven't developed metrics for our webhosting business yet, but I bet the well-established businesses have them, and I suggest you try to develop them for yourself.

If you haven't heard of this approach, they are perhaps best illustrated by an actual example.

In a past business unrelated to web hosting, we sold only face-to-face, by appointment, so the details here are not useful, but the approach should be helpful in any business.

It cost us approximately $x worth of advertising for each buyer inquiry. (We had no way of tracking how many people actually saw the ads, as they were in newspapers.)

One out of three inquiries would result in an office appointment.

One our of two appointments would result in a followup appointment.

Of those who had followup appointments, one out of three would make a purchase.

When any ratio got out of whack over a monthly average, it was always a sign of trouble, but fairly easy to pinpoint.

If anyone here has ratios for the webhosting business, I'd love to see them!

Bill

[MaryHN]

First impression is definetly very important when a visitor clicks and visits your site. I think you need to find a way to capture their attention and forward them to the appropriate page of your site. I think entry pages should be clear cut and very precise right to the point.

I would assume that a conversion rate of 1-3 % (1-3 sales out of 100 unique visitors) would be a very good an acceptable rate for hosting businesses no matter whether advertising is done via PPC or impression based.

[Heidi1972]

I just wanted to provide an update based on the suggestion to link directly to a page related to the keyword with PPC advertising. Humans are a strange breed really, since I made this change now people are more likely to browse all of my services offered and not just hosting and that's what I was afraid they wouldn't do.

I've had two sales questions after making the changes mentioned above (100 unique visitors). Can someone tell me if people usually buy from you right away or do they usually return and purchase after awhile? Also, I wonder if people are more likely to buy hosting if you only offer hosting instead of other services such as programming and web design?

I'm still waiting for my first hosting customer.

[JayC]

Originally posted by Heidi1972
since I made this change now people are more likely to browse all of my services offered and not just hosting and that's what I was afraid they wouldn't do.

When you were bringing people directly to your home page, visitors would be faced with a lot of different information and not clearly see that you're what they're looking for. They'd move on. Now, they get a landing page that gives them just what they want... they're happy with wha they see. And they know they need other services, too, and can see that this site that's meeting their needs in one area can do so in others as well.

I've had two sales questions after making the changes mentioned above (100 unique visitors). Can someone tell me if people usually buy from you right away or do they usually return and purchase after awhile? Also, I wonder if people are more likely to buy hosting if you only offer hosting instead of other services such as programming and web design?

You'll find that most people who do sign up don't do so on their first visit to your site. Some will do it on a second visit later that day, a good number will sign up within a couple of days, and some will be back off and on for a couple of weeks.

On the last question, answers are all over the map (humans are a strange breed, remember?) -- some people like the idea of the "one-stop shop," while others think that a "professional" hosting company would do nothing else but host. So, choose your approach, whether you want to split the other services to other sites/brands or not, and tailor your sales copy to point out the strengths of your approach.