My website gets traffic & inquiries but few sales.

[bbauer]

I've had my website up for just over 3 years now and I've done a ton of promotions as well.

In 3 years I've had just over 14,000 hits and I'm not making any where near the amount of sales that I should be getting from the site.

I've done more promotional work than anyone would imagine by a long shot so should be getting lots more hits and sales than I am.

I'm all over the internet in all of the search engines and I get high up in the listings on a huge variety of search terms. Quite often I'll have 3 or more listings on the first page on just about every search engine there is and for just about any search term I want to use.

I can get a listing on most search terms in less than
24 hours most of the time. Google, MSN, Yahoo, all of them.

So I've got a very high web presence, almost greater than most by far.

Yet I'm not getting anywhere near enough salses for that kind of notriety. What could be wrong.

I've got lots of content and lots of links. Last time
I checked I had about 1800 links going and coming to my webpages.

Website (http://www.creditwrench.com) blog (http://creditwrench.blogspot.com) message board (http://pub50.ezboard.com/bcreditwrench) ceo@creditwrench.com

[fathom]

If you are not getting many "online" visitors you may be targeting to wrong querying phrase.

The visitors you are getting maybe you are not appealing to their needs, not conveying trust, or maybe losing them in the message.

If you build it they will come... was proven in 1999/2000 not to work, and

People rarely buy from websites - they buy from companies, and companies need to gain the trust of the market, or have a commodity in demand where few service providers exist to "just buy" no matter the risk!

[wenwilder]

I get over 17,000 hits a month and that's with very little promotion.

One of the things I see...well, a couple of the things I see...is well, WOW! Talk about being blinded! I didn't read anything that was written mainly because I'm looking for my sunglasses. Sorry, I'm extremely blunt.

Second...If your suspects/protential customers have to scroll for more than a page and a half they probably won't stick around to read it all. <This is something I am trying to fix within my site right now, and it's not easy to do. I like words.>

Add some graphics...and not one's that don't load like the one on the very bottom.

There is error's on the page within the coding, it's not appealing or welcoming, extremely bright, text laden and boring.

That's just the very first page. I haven't ventured to any of the other pages.

I'll apologize now, because I did take a rather blunt view point on this site, and not everyone likes that. But...all the promotion in the world is not going to get browsers to be customers if they don't want to stick around.

It sounds like you are working really hard to promote your site but I'd take a step back and look at the site itself.

Just a thought. ;)

[bbauer]

One of the things I see...well, a couple of the things I see...is well, WOW! Talk about being blinded! I didn't read anything that was written mainly because I'm looking for my sunglasses. Sorry, I'm extremely blunt. Seems like everybody I ask has a different opinion. I did have a nice neutral colored background with black text easily visible and somebody on another forum about a month ago told me I needed a better color scheme and recommended that one. I used to get a few emails and comments on other message boards about my horrible colors so I figured that person knew what he was talking about and changed to this color scheme. I haven't had any more adverse comments on the color scheme since I changed it. Now you say its horrible. Not that I want to disparage your comments in any way, but what to do when one gets so many conflicting
viewpoints?


Second...If your suspects/protential customers have to scroll for more than a page and a half they probably won't stick around to read it all. <This is something I am trying to fix within my site right now, and it's not easy to do. I like words.>
Well, I agreed with you on that one too and I even raised the point in Anthony Blake's marketing forum that if there was anything I hated was to have to scroll down through a hundred "pages" or views and
still get little or no information at all I got turned off real quick. What I got back was a lot of comments saying that if I wanted to get sales that was the way to do it. Never can get too much explanation on a site they said. Claimed those long boring pages that said absolutely nothing at all worth saying was the way to go. I'm more with you on that than I was with their comments but what a difference in opinions between professional marketers. WOW!



Add some graphics...and not one's that don't load like the one on the very bottom.
Had some nice ones on there and got chided a lot for those too.
{/quote]
There is error's on the page within the coding,[/quote]That don't surprise me much. I had a friend do the frames thing for me and I can't make heads nor tails of the frames bit. Some say frames are pure poison to the search engines but I don't know if that's true or not.
it's not appealing or welcoming, extremely bright, text laden and boring.
That may be because you aren't deeply in debt and needing help.

That's just the very first page. I haven't ventured to any of the other pages.
I'm sure you will find them even more boring. Lots of text and few if any colors or graphics.


I'll apologize now, because I did take a rather blunt view point on this site, and not everyone likes that.
I don't mind that at all.

But...all the promotion in the world is not going to get browsers to be customers if they don't want to stick around.One of the major problems I may be facing is fear. First of all, zillions of people have been ripped off by credit repair companies. I'm not a credit repair company at all but I have to live with that shadow like it or not. Another fear that is all pervasive in the minds of most is the apparent power wielded by collection agencies and the courts,
none of which I fear and teach that others shouldn't either. While there is no need to fear most judgments and even less to fear the collection agencies it is difficult to remove that inate fear and distrust in the minds of the people. Fear is a terrible thing indeed.

I have maybe 50 to 75 webpages full of the names, addresses and phone numbers, even websites and telephone numbers of many and at the top of each page I ask people to email me and tell me why they are hunting for collection agencies. I get a few people who do answer and send me emails and the horror stories they tell are almost unbelieveable. Type in the name of a collection agency and you are likely to find one or more of my webpages.


It sounds like you are working really hard to promote your site I'm like the little maggot. I'm in dead earnest. (LOL)
but I'd take a step back and look at the site itself.
I do that a lot. I just don't seem to have the perspective to do that. Maybe its because I am too close to the situation to do that objectively or correctly. I sure do appreciate your comments and I don't necessarily disagree with any of them. I sure do get a lot of conflicting reports however.


Just a thought. ;)[/quote]

[wenwilder]

I looked up Anthony Blake and in MLM he is an expert. In websites.....he lacks knowledge and experience. There is a difference between online marketing and offline marketing.

Those who are marketing the "get rich quick schemes" always use the scroll 'til you drop websites that say the same thing over and over and over and over again. I see those and pray that someday that fad will end. But for now, that's exactly what it is.

I analys websites for a living. I critique them, test them with 23 different tests, do end user and usability testing for constant feedback, plus I have 42 pages of mistakes/errors/problems that are commonly associated with websites. And more.

Some would say this makes me an expert, I just say that I've done a LOT of subject specific research for seven years. When it comes to finding out why a website isn't making money I am very good at what I do.

Just a thought. ;)

[acornwebworks]

I'm going to do the same as that other person did and apologize in advance for being blunt, but sorry, your site looks incredibly unprofessional. Worse, it acts that way.

Every time I clicked on a link on the left navigation bar from the top link down to Validation Letters, it took me to a HyperMart login page. What's with that? I didn't get any information whatsoever. Not only that, but HyperMart wouldn't let me easily back out of it either and kept trying to forward me back to them, even when I finally got back to the Creditwrench page. (I also couldn't get into your About Us or Success Stories page for the same reason.)

As mentioned by others, there's a script error on your main page.

On the main page body frame:

** Your debt magician image link is broken.
** Your first Frequently Asked Questions link is broken...the second one goes to Hypermart
** Your red text on that truly awful blue background is extremely difficult to read
** You have typos, e.g. "5. You get step by step written instructions by email showing you how to do any revamping of the letters you man need to do. 7. You get free updates forever as they become available. All you haee to do is email once in a while and ask for any updates."

Frankly I was stunned that you had put so much time into promoting your site when it looked and behaved the way it did. On the other hand, since you've done such a great job positioning it, now all you need to do is make it a professional, trustworthy looking site, and you should see sales skyrocket.

By the way, a ton of people who are going to need your service are not going to be familiar with blogs. Not only that, but the link on the main frame says "Our BLOG explodes with new information every day" but the information being provided is not going to be of use to people needing your services...but not being familiar with Blogs is going to draw them to that non-useful information...particularly since the FAQ links don't work.

So I would not only suggest completely revamping the visual appeal of the site to make it more professional and trustworthy looking - which it sure isn't now - but I would reorganize the information to make it a logical progression for people needing your help to follow to get to your call-to-action (become a student). Heck, currently your main frame even repeats itself word-for-word at the top and bottom.

People need to feel comfortable in the service you are providing. They are in financial straits and you are asking them to send you $200...a lot of money. You need to create a site...or pay to have a professional create one for you (I'd get someone other than your friend)...that evokes a feeling of confidence in you and, therefore, in the services you are asking them to pay for.

You are right in that people are skeptical of getting burned. But your site truly looks like it was created by a newbie or a 14 year old boy (sorry, guys) or something other than a professional. There is no way you are going to be successful as long as the site remains the way it is.

I hope this helps. It sounds like you provide a good service (although I never could read much about it because of that darn HyperMart stuff).

Best regards,
Kendall

[fathom]

Just wanted to add - there are lots of good points which were brought up.

So analyze where you are now - and where you have to go.

1. good ranks suggests good awareness - if ranked well on the queries that people type in for similar product/service types.

2. poor click throughs (or visitation) suggests) either your exposure is placed wrongly or the listing appeal (your site title and site description) is not the best.

-- 4 examples:

Google Search (http://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=credit+wrench)

a. Interesting Information about Bill Bauer and Credit Wrench - www ...

b. CreditMania.com Forums [CLOSED] > Credit Restoration >

c. Untitled Document
Does the credit wrench work? ... They wanted to be as sure as possible that
the CREDIT WRENCH didn't reach out and bop them a real hard one. ...
www.creditwrench.com/works1.html

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&newwindow=1&c2coff=1&q=www.creditwrench.com%2F&btnG=Google+Search

d. Creditwrench Home Page-WELCOME

People with credit problems (both payee and receiver - if looking for help - need/want a professional.

Impressions are everything - these examples would make others look elsewhere - you don't instill trust, integrity, or professionalism (not saying these are not qualities you don't possess just that they are not immdiately apparent).

3. Motivate/Desire - in most businesses "face-value" helps create the desire to take the next action, online this is even more difficult - you have no face, appearance, or voice just a projected image... if that image is not appealing no one will take the step to contact.

Interesting enough many businesses make their website about them -- not about the person that you want paying you money. If the website isn't about "Their Needs", "Their Wants", "Their Desires"... they will keep "Their Money".

4. Act - Buy, Paid, Hire, etc. Obviously this is where you want visitors to get to - but if you lose them at 1, 2, or 3... you get no sales.

You don't need any flash cool stuff - just being credible is enough to get a few clients, and then you should hire a qualified professional to help.

Cheers! ;)

[metavisia]

Hi, based on your experience, a reason could be that your site is not what your visitors expect (that was pointed by other people posters here too). You shall improve your web site contents and quality.

Another possible reason - just think what your site viistor does: he/she goes to the search engine, types some search term, 1,000 pages show up. The user clicks yours, clicks like 10 more, and starts browsing. Then, perhaps, the user will visit 10 more, then 10 more, until gets bored.
As a matter of facts, you'll be competing to 20-30 sites. That's what search engines do! They're good for the clients, not for the providers!
Imagine a big nationa TV channel, having all beers in their advertising blocks. Heineken, Becks, Budweiser, Tuborg, Guiness, etc. in all their advertising blocks. Do you think, say Becks, will get the same number of sales compared to other advertising campaigns in other TVs?

When you get compared to dozens other providers, things like "this site is red, I love red", or "this frame is curved, reminds me my old house" are critical for user's choice.

So, the only possible solution is to accept the facts and try get more visits and leads.

If you want a more effective conversion ration, you better try advertising campaigns where you don't compete with so many providers.

[steveteva]

I'm sorry to say that there are full mistake you've done on your website (mostly already said by previous post reply).

It Does'nt look professional at all.
Avoid frames, flashy colors(green background and blue text link...), multiple size and fonts type, long text, funny pictures...

To add credibility, I will also recommend you a Professional Logo (all serious website have their own logo), add titles and organize your text with paragraph, tables... Make it professional (look your competitors website design to have an idea)

When you put a phone number, add you name and first name, it will add more credibility, we don't want to speak to an answering machine or to an employee, we want to get the real person who suggest the phone call.

Remove your counter and rate your site drop box (good for personal websites only)

Page : the proof that it work, "credit collections" scanned picture seems oversize (make a thumbnail that will enlarge when click on it)....

Well there are a lot of redesigning to do...

In my opinion, the best web design for your kind of business should be "mini site", you can take a look of what it looks like on my website 1toolbar.com (not only it is design for search engine friendly (well seo done) but it converts 50% of targeted visitors to customers.

You know, what we learned in marketing is :
Even if you get huge visitors on your website but if they don't feel safe ordering anything you have even if it was targeted and cheap, you won't make any sell. So build credibility and professional looking website.

I hope my recommendation will help you make profits in future.

I will suggest you buying marketing ebooks or find it free resources on the web.

[acornwebworks]

Still looks awful. But if you click on FAQs and anything other than Home from that FAQ page, there's an attractive, professional looking website in there. Why is it hidden? Take a mighty leap of faith and change your home page to match your FAQ page. (Or did you simply forget to upload the reivsed index.html page???)

[xmx]

Still looks awful. But if you click on FAQs and anything other than Home from that FAQ page, there's an attractive, professional looking website in there. Why is it hidden? Take a mighty leap of faith and change your home page to match your FAQ page. (Or did you simply forget to upload the reivsed index.html page???)

I agree that the design of the FAQ page looks more professional and more appealing than the one of the main page.

Perhaps you have already the solution to your problems ready and you are not using it correctly.

[bhartzer]

I'm not making any where near the amount of sales that I should be getting from the site.

Find out where they're abandoning your site. There are programs out there that will help you do this, and my favorite one is ClickTracks. If you don't know where they're abandoning the site then you don't know if the problem is with the site or with your keywords.

I remember a site that I worked on a while back that had the same issue. It turned out that everyone was abandoning the site during the checkout process. I finally figured out that the problem was when the site asked for a coupon--and apparently people were leaving the site to go find a coupon and never coming back. So, when we removed the question about having a coupon the conversions skyrocketed.

If they're abandoning your site when they first come to it then it could be that the keywords you're targeting aren't keywords that buyers search for.

Find out where they're abandoning your site so you can dig a little deeper into the issue.

[Yoder]

You are trying to sell something that is very difficult to sell: information. You are competing against the big book retailers, the Internet, and your product is expensive. I have friends who are authors and they say it is almost impossible to make a living selling printed material, the same is true for musicians (I have a couple of world class musician friends who are dead broke.)

Your site also looked dated to me, and I was confused about what was going on. You also have some bad links.

But, I think your biggest obstacle is what you are trying to sell. You have to convince me why I would want to spend the money on your product instead of doing some basic research and finding it for myself. Do you have a unique product? Your color scheme was pretty hard for me to digest, and the screen just jumped out at me in a very unplesant manner.

I do not mean to be harsh, but I think you would benefit by performing a major upgrade to your site and selling your uniqueness. Emphasis on uniqueness.

[magicfitzpatrick]

You site says danger. I have no way of knowing I can trust you. You should have the (BBB) Better Business Bureau logo on your site