Where to go next...

[schoeps]

Hey guys and gals,

Love this forum, so much great info. I am at a crossroads with my Internet venture and am looking for any guidance or ideas. I run the site Remorial(dot)com and have spent a ton of time creating the site and a ton of money on PPC advertising and SEO. The site is generating page views but the bounce rate is really high. The business model is to make money through paid online memorials, but is it time to consider making the site free and put ads on the site? Any ideas from you geniuses would be appreciated. I don't know where to go next!


Bri

[Nordstrom]

I believe like you said, making it free and gaining profit through ad's is the best idea. Make a questionaire for the registration whereas you find out information that could increase the ad-values. The more information you get for the companies who want to advertise, the more you can charge. E.g "What do you do on your spare time"(have a droplist for it all though) "What do you work with".

A good way for a business like yours to get valuable traffic is not to only look at SEO as just SEO, remember that it is a form of marketing as well. Try to get your word out on relevant forums.

There must be some lists on how old the average person is when he/she get a child etc. Try to use this to your advantage, where on the internet does your clientel hang-about.

[thebusinessman]

Well I honestly think that with an initiative like that that SEO and key marketing development or networking will be critical. How long has your site been up?

[russell44]

What about e commerce or another niche market.

[schoeps]

Thanks! Site has been up since August and I have spent almost $3,000 in PPC and had reasonable response. I am considering just lettitng it go free and using ads, but I dont want to interfere with the content...

Thanks again,
Any other great ideas are always appreciated!!!
Bri

[awayoflife]

You could have it free with the ads, but have a section for "donations" to keep the site running or something along those lines maybe?

[TylerBakerllc]

Yes, I would go free and have a small questionaire (not too long or people will just exit your site).

[DebtFreeMe]

Have you met with any funeral homes to see if you can get your offering added in to some of the packages they offer? Could be a real boost to your income if you could add that service line.

Enjoy,

DebtFreeMe

[greggomatic76]

Great looking site...however, it appears to be the all-too-common issue of: great looking but poorly performing.

I feel like a broken record when I say this but you've got to let the visitors know exactly what the site can do for them...and they've got to know it quick or...like you said...the bounce rate will continue to be high. I have never heard of online memorials before, and I don't think I am alone. Instantly I have questions like, "What is an online memorial? Why would I want to do this? What value does it have for me? Who will see this?". The only help I get is a paragraph of white text on a semi-dark background without a headline to tell me what it includes.

That being said, that doesn't really address you initial question. If I were you, I would, first, stop PPC ads altogether. Force yourself to find other ways of getting traffic to the site...deliver flyers door to door if you have to but learn to not be dependent on PPC. Second, optimize your main landing page (see Marketing Experiments site and webinars for more info there). For example, the one thing you want people to do when they come to your site is to create an account, yet the text that asks them to do that is the smallest on the top part of the page. Get your conversion rate up, and then, once you know your conversion rate, if you can make an profit using PPC, turn it back on.

Just my two cents. Best of luck!

[mthomas]

You know the bounce rate, so I'm guessing you are using analytics software...in that case you should look into specifically what pages are the "entrance" pages, where the user initially lands from the search engine (aka "landing page") are they leaving from this page? Or are they going further down your sites hierarchy and leaving before the desired end page? If it is the latter, maybe the "checkout" process/remorial posting process is difficult. If it is the initial landing page, test different variations (ad copy, etc).

Other than that, I would consider, like others have said: make it free, with ad support and a donation link.

[brandmantra]

SEO is a good way for get your business in valuable traffic.