4 Reasons Why You Should Not Promote A Merchant"s Product
I am sure you have come across many articles telling you what you should look out for, as an affiliate marketer, when deciding whether or not to promote a particular product/service.
I am not going to talk about that in this article (as you can find this information from other articles). Rather, I am going to share with you situations where you should not promote a particular merchant's product/service.
There are 4 of them that you need to look out for, and I am going to show you what they are in the next few sections.
1. Toll-Free Number On Sales Page
I see some merchants having a toll-free number which customers can call in to find out more about the product (as well as ordering it via phone) at the top of the page.
It may seem pretty harmless initially - After all, if customers have any questions, they can just call the toll-free number and get their questions answered. That is good customer service, you may think, and in fact, it's a desirable one, isn't it?
However, the thing is this, if these people were to place their orders via the toll-free number, then you are not going to be credited for the sale - Even if the customer visits the merchant's sales page via your affiliate link.
The reason is because, the person on the other end (who is answering the customers' phone call and taking the orders) has does not know whether the customer visits the merchants' sales page directly, or through an affiliate link.
Hence, you will not be able to get the commission you deserve for the work you put in for sales that are made via phone.
2. Distractions
Look at the merchant's sales page carefully and find out, other than clickable links which potential customers can click on and place the order for the product, are there any other active links?
These active links can be in a form of clickable ads (I have seen sales letters with AdSense ads), or in a form of links to other websites (links to other websites often be found in the testimonials section, directly under each testimonial).
Another form of distraction can be in a form of links to the merchants' other websites (either a personal page, or other products or services that they have for sale).
The reason why you do not want such distractions is because, should someone clicks on these links and visits these websites, chances are they will not likely click on the "Back" button again to go back to the merchant's product sales page - And hence you will lose out on making the sale.
3. Pop Out Windows
When you first visit the merchant's product sales page, watch out for any pop outs.
Some of these merchants displays a pop up window (overshadowing the initial sales page) whenever someone visits the product sales page, with content that is totally irrelevant to the product on the sales page.
That will result in your potential customer feeling confused, and clicking on the close button to close down the site and drop the thought about buying the product (and you lose out on making a sale - and commissions for yourself again).
Therefore, you should make sure that there are no pop out windows displaying irrelevant websites on the product sales page.
4. Direct Linking To The Product
Your affiliate link should link directly to the exact product/service that you are promoting, and not to a generic page.
Let me explain this using an example - Let's say you want to promote a particular digital camera from a merchant that is selling it (along with products in other categories).
The affiliate link should link directly to the page where your potential customers can buy that exact digital camera you are promoting, and not to the merchant's home page.
The reason is because - If you want to get more sales, you should make it as easy as possible for people to buy. The more mouse-clicks that they have to make, and the more pages they have to browse, the more likely they will click on the close button on their Internet browser (and as a result you will not get any sales, and commissions).
I am not going to talk about that in this article (as you can find this information from other articles). Rather, I am going to share with you situations where you should not promote a particular merchant's product/service.
There are 4 of them that you need to look out for, and I am going to show you what they are in the next few sections.
1. Toll-Free Number On Sales Page
I see some merchants having a toll-free number which customers can call in to find out more about the product (as well as ordering it via phone) at the top of the page.
It may seem pretty harmless initially - After all, if customers have any questions, they can just call the toll-free number and get their questions answered. That is good customer service, you may think, and in fact, it's a desirable one, isn't it?
However, the thing is this, if these people were to place their orders via the toll-free number, then you are not going to be credited for the sale - Even if the customer visits the merchant's sales page via your affiliate link.
The reason is because, the person on the other end (who is answering the customers' phone call and taking the orders) has does not know whether the customer visits the merchants' sales page directly, or through an affiliate link.
Hence, you will not be able to get the commission you deserve for the work you put in for sales that are made via phone.
2. Distractions
Look at the merchant's sales page carefully and find out, other than clickable links which potential customers can click on and place the order for the product, are there any other active links?
These active links can be in a form of clickable ads (I have seen sales letters with AdSense ads), or in a form of links to other websites (links to other websites often be found in the testimonials section, directly under each testimonial).
Another form of distraction can be in a form of links to the merchants' other websites (either a personal page, or other products or services that they have for sale).
The reason why you do not want such distractions is because, should someone clicks on these links and visits these websites, chances are they will not likely click on the "Back" button again to go back to the merchant's product sales page - And hence you will lose out on making the sale.
3. Pop Out Windows
When you first visit the merchant's product sales page, watch out for any pop outs.
Some of these merchants displays a pop up window (overshadowing the initial sales page) whenever someone visits the product sales page, with content that is totally irrelevant to the product on the sales page.
That will result in your potential customer feeling confused, and clicking on the close button to close down the site and drop the thought about buying the product (and you lose out on making a sale - and commissions for yourself again).
Therefore, you should make sure that there are no pop out windows displaying irrelevant websites on the product sales page.
4. Direct Linking To The Product
Your affiliate link should link directly to the exact product/service that you are promoting, and not to a generic page.
Let me explain this using an example - Let's say you want to promote a particular digital camera from a merchant that is selling it (along with products in other categories).
The affiliate link should link directly to the page where your potential customers can buy that exact digital camera you are promoting, and not to the merchant's home page.
The reason is because - If you want to get more sales, you should make it as easy as possible for people to buy. The more mouse-clicks that they have to make, and the more pages they have to browse, the more likely they will click on the close button on their Internet browser (and as a result you will not get any sales, and commissions).
