A while back, I was doing some research on how my articles performed. I compared page views, ezines published, and URL clicks over the course of one month. The first article received 128 views, 6 ezines published, and 4 URL clicks. The second article got 63 page views, 4 ezines published, and 14 URL clicks. Article 2 had 4 times the URL clicks while achieving just one half the page views. That means that article 2 had 8 times as many URL clicks on a per reader basis. I was surprised at the substantial difference in URL clicks, especially since article 1 contained 3 links and article 2 had just 2 links. First of all, what were the similarities?

Both Resource boxes were 4 lines long. Both contained html code (a href only) Both offered a "FREE REPORT" The last sentence in each box contained a URL link.

What were the differences in the resource Boxes that, in my opinion, led to such dramatic differences and what are the key steps to increasing URL clicks in your Resource Box ?

1) Place the first URL link in the first sentence of your Author's Resource Box. Never put it the second or third sentence. I believe that this is the primary factor that led to such a dramatic difference in URL clicks.

2) Make sure that initial URL is near the front of the sentence and appears on the first line of print in the article. After looking at both articles, I noticed that the URL in article 1 popped out at me. In article 2, when the URL was in line 2, it was sorted of hidden away.

3) Stress the benefits that the reader will receive by downloading your FREE REPORT. There is no need to mention the name of the report unless it is an easily recognizable name. Stress how the download can benefit the reader and how it can solve their problems. This can be particularly effective if the article discusses the problem your link solves.

4) More links are not necessarily better. In this case, the article with just 2 links performed much better than the one with 3 links. Placement is much more important than quantity.

Since doing this research, I follow the four key steps above and have noticed a gradual increase in the number of URL clicks achieved.

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