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2. Are click-throughs
that important?
The obsession with click-through
rates and traffic was ignited by the very dotcoms that are now
disappearing from the face of the World Wide Web.
The problem is that click-throughs
are too often viewed as an end in themselves. Most marketers
would be surprised to know that even if their efforts generated
high click-through rates, it might not be enough to produce solid
results. First, a large number visitors will never get passed
the advertiser's home page. Before even starting, the site never
has a real chance of turning the visitor into a customer (see :: When numbers lie:
the hidden danger of web site traffic). Second, a disturbingly
large number of sites still cannot effectively sell the products
and services they feature. These sites are capable of taking
orders, but they cannot actually turn visitors into buyers.
Don't get me wrong, click-throughs
are vital in specific situations where sites have been designed
to transform prospects into customers and competition for the
prospects' attention is still relatively low, allowing for an
acceptable customer-acquisition cost. Otherwise, marketers might
be better off exploring opportunities to extend the web content
outside of their site. Several tools can give advertisers a real
edge as they start the prospect/customer transformation process
before the prospect even reaches the advertiser's site. (more)
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