How to analyze the off-site traffic sources of an ASIN

For Amazon, off-site traffic is divided into several major parts:

1.   Social media traffic ( Facebook, Twitter, Reddit , etc.).

2. Video and picture sharing websites ( YouTube, Instagram , Pinterest , Flickr , etc.).

3. Professional deal forums and discount sites (the American ones include Slickdeals, Kinja, Dealnews, Dealwiki, Techbargain, Bensbargains, the British ones include HotUKdeals , etc. ) .

4. Review websites, blogs, etc. ( CNET, TechRadar, The Verge, TechCrunch, Digital trend , etc., in no particular order ).

5. The company’s official website and independent website ( generally speaking, the independent website mainly drives traffic to the site, but based on the habits of some buyers, there will also be an Amazon shopping entrance).

6. Google Ads and Facebook Ads (This is a big pitfall, because Google Ads basically direct traffic to independent sites, and the same goes for Facebook Ads. The reasons are explained in detail below).

First: Social media traffic ( Facebook, Twitter, Reddit , etc.) --- Amazon traffic index is two stars. The cruel truth is:

1 ) The golden age of social media traffic generation has passed for several years, and it is increasingly returning to its original function, which is social networking. It is no longer the era where simply posting product discounts can attract a lot of traffic and clicks. Users still mainly use social media for social networking.

2 ) Facebook algorithm updates have taken the user experience into consideration, resulting in a serious decline in the fan reach of official accounts. Suppose you have 10,000 fans, but only a few hundred people may see your post. This is also the more insidious part of Facebook , which wants you to spend money on advertising.

3 ) I don’t know much about Twitter , but from what I have seen so far, it is obviously not very effective to promote products on Twitter . As a large forum with hundreds of millions of active users, Reddit has great potential for exploration and traffic generation, but I don’t understand how to use it either.

Strategy: It is not very reliable to direct traffic to Amazon listings through official accounts . Besides, traffic should be directed to the official website, so no commission is paid to Amazon. Unless you direct traffic to discount groups on Facebook , it is still very powerful. Facebook is suitable for brand promotion, sharing products, making friends, and socializing first before directing traffic. If you post product posts on the rooftop, you will definitely be unfollowed. The user experience is not good and the reach rate will also decrease.

Second: Video and photo sharing sites ( YouTube, Instagram , Pinterest , Flickr , etc.) --Amazon traffic index four stars

YouTube features: video carriers carry a large amount of information, many users, and very accurate traffic generation

1 ) In the era where video is king, we can see that the Chinese TikTok has become popular in Southeast Asia, India and North America. In recent years, when people are generally impetuous, the popularity of smart phones has led to everyone obtaining a large amount of information every day, and videos occupy most of our leisure time with their huge advantages, so video is definitely a way that cannot be missed.

2 ) Youtube product promotion, first official channel, second celebrity promotion. Official channel, you can put product promotion videos, product operation videos, etc. Celebrity promotion has only become popular in China in recent years. Send products for testing, put Amazon links to attract traffic. Discuss cooperation with celebrities, etc. (I am a little tired of talking about it).

3 ) What products are suitable for promotion on Youtube ? I feel that all of them can be used. The reviews are varied, ranging from daily necessities to luxury cars. How to find influencers? This is also a science. You can search the brand name and product name of your competitors directly on Youtube . This is the fastest. If you are more advanced, you can find new influencers in the upstream and downstream of the product according to the product relevance. You can also use tools such as ahrefs to search for the ASIN of your competitors and find out which influencer they use. You can also contact them. It is likely that they will test your product.

Instagram , Pinterest , Flickr : Official account + influencers. To be honest, I don’t pretend to be cool on Instagram and haven’t done much, but I feel it is more suitable for clothing and home furnishings. You can refer to the above YouTube method for finding influencers. But I’d like to add that YouTube influencers are more suitable for independent station traffic, saving Amazon commissions and not worrying that the traffic you bring to your listings will be attracted by other products.

Third: Professional deal forums, discount sites, --- Amazon traffic index five stars

Features: quick results, large traffic, can be used to clear inventory and boost rankings, no need to worry about traffic being diverted by other products (discounts). For Chinese bosses who have little patience, this is an absolute super traffic-generating tool. The largest forum-based discount website, I once had a post on slickdeals that sold 700 orders, and I have also seen 2K orders. But there is a fee, ranging from $ 5 to $ 500 , you get what you pay for.

Because my previous experience was mainly with discounts on North American sites, I will only talk about North America in detail:

1 ) Discount websites can be divided into three categories according to their types: forums, specialized discount websites, and blog discount websites. Forum representatives: Slickdeals , specialized discount website representatives: Dealnews, Techbargian, 1 sales , Dealwiki, etc. Blog representatives: Kinja

2 ) You can choose different sites according to your products: for example, Slickdeals is a comprehensive site that can post anything, Techbargain is for electronics, Bradsdeal is for clothing and home furnishings, etc. I advise you to find a reliable agent directly, let them give you some knowledge, and recommend the right site for you.

3 ) Depending on the number of feedback , reviews , and Fakespot level of your Amazon store , you will be limited to some discount websites. http://www.dealshuo.com/ Refer to dealshuo , which has a very comprehensive description, so I won’t go into details here.

Fourth: Review websites, blogs, etc. - Amazon traffic index three stars Features: Professional, authoritative & highly credible, long-term traffic (generally permanent)

Although it was mentioned earlier that video is king nowadays, professional review websites and blogs are still a big source of traffic. They are more suitable for brand promotion and can also be used for Amazon traffic diversion.

I personally feel that review blogs are more suitable for products with a value of more than $50 . CNET, TechRadar, The Verge, TechCrunch, Digital Trend, these big websites with hundreds of millions of monthly traffic, if your product is lucky enough to be featured by that editor, congratulations , it will be a hit. However, big websites still tend to do product reviews of big brands.

Of course, small brands or no brands also have a way out, such as those with tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of monthly traffic, which should not be underestimated. Some websites will give you a review if you give away the product, while some ask for money. There is no reference. The larger the traffic, the more expensive it is, which is similar to the deal site.

How to find review website blogs: Search directly on Google for product name + blog/review , or competitor product name + blog/review . Or use tools such as ahrefs to search. I recommend a free tool: https://xuggest.com/. Put the competitor's Amazon link in and it will come out.

Fifth: Company official website independent station -- Amazon traffic index three stars Features: Accurate traffic  

Generally speaking, independent website traffic is mainly used to facilitate transactions within the website, which avoids paying Amazon commissions and may even result in preferential prices. However, based on the habits of some buyers, there will also be an Amazon shopping portal. There is nothing much to say about this. Let me introduce you to a competitor's official website analysis tool: similarweb.com is completely free, of course the upgraded version is charged, and you can see the traffic size of the competitor's website, traffic sources, etc. It is free for everyone here.

Sixth: Google Ads and Facebook Ads First, let’s talk about the difference between Google Ads (keyword ads) and Facebook Ads:

Difference 1: Google ads are inbound marketing , Taiwanese call it inbound marketing, we call it inbound marketing, which means that customers actively search for keywords on Google, and your ads pop up, which means that they really have needs. The evaluation website blog mentioned above also belongs to inbound marketing. Facebook ads are outbound marketing , push marketing , which means you make an ad or video, picture, or slide show, select a group of people, and actively recommend it to the target audience , but most people will ignore you.

Difference 2: Google ads are more likely to facilitate transactions, because when users search, it means they have a need. But Facebook ads are pushed to the target audience, and most people will definitely ignore you. But professionals will have some ideas, using Facebook ads to increase exposure and let people know about this brand. When they need it and search on Google, they will see your ad and think, hey, I seem to have seen this thing somewhere, and they will most likely click on it.

Using Facebook and Google ads to direct traffic to Amazon is a big pitfall, because Google ads basically direct traffic to independent websites, and the same is true for Facebook ads. The reason is: on the one hand, traffic can easily be diverted by other companies (independent websites do not have this worry). On the other hand, it is not easy to track the effect, and inaccurate traffic diversion can easily reduce the conversion rate of the listing , affecting Amazon's allocation of traffic.

The author had just started his career and was quite bold. His boss didn’t understand much either, so he used Facebook ads to drive traffic to Amazon Listings , spending several thousand dollars. However, since there was no tracking method ( code was rarely used) and traffic was easily diverted to other companies, the effect was very poor. Later, he found out that Facebook drives traffic to independent sites and is more suitable for brand promotion.

Summary: So generally speaking, small sellers can consider doing deals first, and then try to become YouTube celebrities, Ins celebrities, etc. Large sellers should have their own brands, so they can try brand promotion and focus on evaluating website blogs, YouTube celebrities, etc.