As you may know, I run the website MTW:ED, a subscription web-service which scans expiring domains with Google PageRank and other popularity values. When it first launched (as a subscription site), it was getting around 4-5 subscriptions per month: enough to pay for hosting, and to make a little profit. When sales declined, I took some actions in attempt to regain them. It worked for a little while, but sales have continued to decline. The site seems to have a lessening presence in the search engines, and relies on mostly direct traffic: not good for getting new customers.

From this article, I hope to provoke a discussion of ways to increase sales. First off, I’ll discuss the methods I have tried:

MTW:ED doesn’t have a high presence in Google for high-quality keywords. I decided to try Google AdWords. It certainly increased sales, but cost more than what was being earned (about twice as much). My budget wasn’t big, and I didn’t have much opportunity to experiment, but I can give this advice if you are going to try AdWords:

• Be clear about what you are selling.
• Mention a price: many users have an idea of what they are willing to spend. Let them know in the ad so you don’t waste money on ‘just curious’ clicks.

I had never created a video before; certainly not for a sales pitch. However, I knew that product demonstration can mean a lot, so I put together a short video in attempt to sell the service. I put it on the homepage, but did not notice any increase in sales. I’m sure that videos demonstrating your product can only be beneficial.

My third and last attempt involved offering a free, 7 day trial. Unfortunately, people tend to take advantage of the 7 day trial, but have no need to subscribe to the service beyond that.

Well, as I said, these methods didn’t exactly go to plan. They may work for some services, but for MTW:ED they have made little difference. What I am really interested in is your ideas: please tell me how you have increased sales, and what methods could work for MTW:ED.