Introduction

If you are even slightly familiar with ClickBank, you are probably aware of the concept of Thank You pages. Basically, these are the web page(s) shown to customers after they purchase a product. Typically a Thank You page therefore contain instructions about how to download the product in question.

Most people tend to think of Thank You pages as simply being the necessary delivery system for online products. However, in this article, I hope to show you how a cleverly designed thank you page can help you increase your profits.

1. Cut Down on Piracy

It might sound obvious, but one of the best ways to increase sales is to make sure (or at least reduce the chances) of people downloading it for free.

There are people who claim that pirates would never buy anyway, and therefore fighting piracy is a waste of time and energy. I beg to differ. My own view, backed up by lots of experience of releasing products with different levels of protection, is anti-piracy efforts can make a big difference to sales.

Here is why: while it is certainly true that there are some hardcore pirates who would never buy, there are also lots of people who will pirate if given the opportunity (or temptation), especially if they feel it is something that lots of other people are doing too.

Probably the most common way that ClickBank products are pirated is through Thank You page theft. Basically what happens is one person gets hold of your Thank You page’s URL and then shares it with one, two, or several thousand of his “friends” who can then download your product for free!

Even more annoyingly, it’s possible for your Thank You page to get indexed into search engines. If this happens, people will be able to arrive at your Thank You page and access your downloadable products without even seeing your sales letter or the rest of your website. They may not even realise that they were supposed to pay!

While ClickBank does recommend using metatags to stop search engines, not all search engines obey them. Moreover, metatags won’t protect you from somebody posting a link to your Thank You page on a piracy forum – and the pages of the piracy forum will probably be indexed into search engines, and thus easily discoverable by anyone in the world.

Fortunately, there are scripts that you can use to protect your Thank You pages. Generally these are PHP or CGI scripts that you install on your own website. Of course, if you are not a technical wizard, you will want to choose a script that is easy to use and install. Additionally, what you should be look for is a script that provides each customer has their own individual page which is only accessible for a short time and by a limited number of IP addresses (IP addresses identify computers on the internet).

You should also be cautious of some of the scripts out there that don’t provide proper security. Some scripts will protect your Thank You page from unauthorised access, but will still leave your downloadable files exposed. In such cases, pirates can simply bypass the Thank You page and share the URL of the ZIP, PDF, or EXE file containing your product. So you want to look for a script that protects both your Thank You pages, and the files linked from it.

Finally, when choosing a security script, make sure you pick one that lets you customise your Thank You pages to contain whatever content and design you like (some scripts will force you to use their design). The best security scripts can even display personalised content (such as the customer’s name or receipt number) in the Thank You page, and you’ll want that to – I’ll explain in a moment why this is important.

2. Use Your Thank You Page To Reduce Refunds

Every time a customer is refunded, it’s money taken out of your pocket that you thought you had already earned. Every time a sale is charged back, you actually end up in a worse position than if you have never made the sale in the first place.

Minimising the number of refunds and charge-backs can help increase your profits, boost your affiliates’ confidence, and maintain a good working relationship with ClickBank.

Did you know your Thank You page can make a significant difference?

My own experience is that two common but easy to address causes of refunds are, firstly customers forgetting what they purchased and from whom, and secondly customers not knowing who to contact in case of concerns or problems with their purchase.

Here’s how I would address these issues:

(a) Add text to the Thank You page suggesting customers print a copy of the page for their records.

(b) Add text to the Thank You page reminding customers of what they purchased personalised with their ClickBank receipt number, and if you like, the customer’s name and date of purchase.

(c) Tell the customer that they can contact you if they have any questions or problems, and make sure the Thank You page contains your contact details – at least including your email address.

3. Email Every Customer After Their Purchase

As with the contents of your Thank You page, a one-time email to each customer after they buy your product can make a real difference to your refund and charge-back rates. In addition however, you can also use these type of emails to get valuable feedback from your customers, to help get testimonials from your customers, and to sell additional products to your customers.

Here’s what to include in your emails:

(a) Thank the Customer: This is just basic politeness, but it also serves a useful purpose in helping build a positive foundation for the rest of your email.

(b) Remind the Customer of What They Purchased: As we have already discussed, one of the main causes of refunds and charge-backs is simply customers forgetting what they purchased, so this can help cut back on them. For best results you should even include the customer’s receipt number and other details as part of your email.

(c) Remind the Customer That You Are a Real Person and Give Them Your Contact Details: This again helps cut back on refunds and charge-backs. You will also find that customers are far more forgiving of any hiccups or minor problems if you tell them from the start that you are willing to work with them to ensure that they are satisfied with their purchase,

(d) Ask for Feedback, Comments, and Suggestions: This shows customers that you care about their opinions. Additionally, you will find that this is a great way to gather testimonials (if a customer sends you a complementary email, ask them if it is okay to publish on your website). Finally, you will get a lot of ideas for additional product features that you can add to enhance your offer, and for add-on products that you could sell.

(e) Recommend Related Products: If a customer has just bought from you, the last thing you want to do is to immediately hit them over the head with something else they need to buy, so a little bit of grace and finesse is definitely needed. However, do remember that a customer who has just bought from you, not only trusted you enough to give you money, but also likely has their credit card handy and is in a buying mood. So, a careful and genuine recommendation of an additional product that you sell, or an affiliate product can be very effective in this kind of email.

4. Add an Email Subscription Form

It’s good to send new customers a one-time thank you email as described above, but it’s bad karma to add them to an email list without their consent.

Instead, put your AWeber (or other) email sign-up form on your thank you page (make it open into a new window using TARGET=”_blank”), and it’s a great way to build a list of customers. Do be sure to give your customers a great reason to join your email list – for example to get a free bonus product, or to keep informed of news and updates.

5. Exit Link Profits

ClickBank recommends that you put an exit link on your Thank You page that the customer can click on to leave the page after completing the download process. Most ClickBank vendors simply link to a search engine, or the main page of their website, but there is nothing to stop you linking to a closely related but complementary product for the customer to buy.

Even if you don’t have a second product of your own, you can still make money with this technique: simply use an affiliate link to one of the other 10,000+ vendors listed with ClickBank. Remember, ClickBank vendors (like you) can be affiliates too!

Conclusion

A lot of people think selling ends the moment that the customer gives you money. My view is that is where selling can really start! You might be amazed at how much difference it can make to your business if you really work on boosting your Thank You Page profits.