Ask HN: Spend time on increasing conversion rate or increasing site visitors?

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3436879

by starter • 15 years ago

1 6 15 years ago

news.ycombinator.com

I recently built a Website Hosting Provider website that converts approximately 5% of unique visitors. I know I need 400,000 visitors at this rate to hit my income goal - should I focus on getting more hits or high conversions?

steventruong• 15 years ago

You should increase both if you have low traffic and low conversion. But once you get to a certain point, focus more on conversion. Increasing visitor count doesn't necessarily mean the ratio of sign up will stay the same. Focus on increasing the number that matters.

starter3• 15 years ago

Makes sense. I guess I'll focus on more traffic for now to see if that 5% is something I can hold. Thanks for your input!

sirwitti• 15 years ago

i guess that depends on your current traffic. 5% sounds quite good to me, but it depends on absolute numbers. if you have 1.000 unique visitors a month you propably should focus on getting more traffic. on the other hand if you have 100.000 uniques a month a/b split testing would be a great way to increase sales.

hope that helps, martin

starter3• 15 years ago

Thanks Martin! I will focus on getting more traffic for now, I think. More than 100 so maybe its not too soon for a/b split testing. Thanks for your input.

ifearthenight• 15 years ago

From my experience 5% is generally (depending on service obviously) a pretty good conversion. The real question comes down to ROI though I guess. How much do you need to spend to increase conversion and how much revenue will that generate? Likewise how much would it cost you to drive more traffic? This ROI will change over time. Sounds like (albeit with limited info to go on) that it might be cheaper for you to drive traffic at the moment but as your traffic gets higher, and keywords you need become more expensive then they focus may very well shift.

starter3• 15 years ago

Saved your answer - Thanks for your input! I thought 5% was decent myself. I like your ROI suggestion. Any recommendation on where to start? PPC to drive traffic looks like a scary way to burn capital right now. You think its my best option?

Ask HN: Spend time on increasing conversion rate or increasing site visitors?

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