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If there is one topic that surfaces again and again on Webmaster boards throughout this industry it would have to be the one that deals with conversions ... or lack thereof.

Almost every day we see yet another webmaster complaining that a sponsor just isn't converting for them or has suddenly stopped converting for them and they just don't understand why. Well ... they may claim not to understand why but the inference is often there that the fault must lay with the sponsor.

It couldn't possibly rest with the Webmaster because they're doing absolutely everything right. That means it could only be the sponsors who has crap banners, a crap site, or perhaps has turned to the dark side and has begun to shave.

Now I can understand the need to point the finger at someone but have you noticed that when you point the finger at someone three more are pointing back in your direction? Perhaps that's just a freaky design feature that Nature included in our anatomy or perhaps there really is a lesson to be learned here.

You see, all too often it's not the sponsor who is at fault, it's the affiliate who is to blame for poor conversions. It's not the crappy banners, it's not the fact that the sponsor's site is couldn't convert a sinner on judgment day and the sponsor may be as honest as you are; it's just that the affiliate isn't doing his or her job properly.

And sadly much of what I have already said can apply to newcomers to this industry as well as to more experienced Webmasters too.

Banners
Obviously you won't often hear the more experienced Webmasters complain about the banners that sponsors provide. The more experienced people in this industry understand that relying on banners to make sales is just plain dumb.

If you are totally relying on banners to make sales for you then you are going to fail and fail miserably. Instead you need to understand that banners are just one small part of any advertising that may make sales. You need to learn that there are other marketing elements that you need to combine with banners to produce the most effective advertising.

The sponsor's site
Well if it's not banners and it's not the affiliate's fault that sales just aren't happening then it must be the sponsor's site. And sometimes it may be the sponsor's site that doesn't convert but if it is the sponsor's site that's the problem why were you trying to promote them in the first place?

Why did you choose to promote that particular site? Was it because they claimed to have great conversion ratios? Was it because they sounded like really cool guys on the message boards and you loved they way walked the walk and talked the talk?

Did you even bother going to the site and assessing it for yourself before you started promoting it? Did you stop to think that the site may look just great but doesn't really have a good fit with your traffic?

Did you do any of those things or did you just blindly rush in and start promoting a site that you really had no idea about?

Maybe the sponsor is shaving ...
... and maybe they're not. The shaving complaint is often one that you will hear coming from more experienced Webmasters. These are the guys who are looking for someone to blame because there was a time when the sponsor converted very well for them but doesn't anymore.

Of course, it couldn't possibly be the Webmaster who could be the cause of the declining ratios here. I mean, they've been promoting this sponsor for years; they've not changed anything in the way that they have been promoting that particular sponsor in all that time so it must be something dark and dastardly about the sponsor that has caused the sign ups to stop.

It's a nice theory and it's a comfortable and easy one to use because what experienced Webmaster would want to admit that they are the ones who are causing the problems and not the sponsor? Sadly the cause of the declining sign ups is usually right there in the reasoning they are using to blame the sponsor.

If you have been promoting the same sponsor for months or perhaps even years then more that likely it's time for a change. Your traffic has seen the ads over and over again and they're going to stop responding to those ads.

If you haven't changed anything in all that time then your traffic is going to lose interest in clicking through to your sponsors and when they do that of course your sales ratios will decline. Show your traffic something new or show them the old sponsor in a totally different way and you will probably see your ratios go up.

So who do you blame when sign ups aren't happening or ratios sink through the floor? Be real, be honest and blame yourself first because those three fingers that are pointing back at you when you point your finger at the sponsor are pointing at the real culprit.

Blame yourself, accept that the problem rests with you, stop whining on message boards and start looking at ways you can turn your ratios around and lift your sales figures.