In the past few years I've seen many of my competitors and other software where theres a freeware or free version, which is a cut down version of the real thing. The real thing not being free.
Up till now I've considered other factors but not the SEO factor.
There would be more traffic, downloads and people using your software.
All of which have got to be good things.
The only down side I can think of is that people using a freeware program are possibly less likely to pay money for more features. Although I guess when I search for software I don't start out just searching for freeware.
Apart from attracting extra sales, I've always considered then next biggest benefit to be, that your program gets tested more.
Has anyone else got anything to say on this subject?
by JM
I have one free product. I don't have a commercial version of the same product though. For me I did a free product because a) I thought it wouldn't take long to implement; b) I could submit it to shareware sites and get more backlinks as a result and c) due to the nature of the product, I could use it as link bait to gain further links to my site.
ReplyDeleteIn terms of offering a free product to entice people to pay for a more powerful version, I'm not so sure; you'd have to have a very clear distinction in the features and benefits of the free and paid version. If the free version is crippled in some way, would it really be any better than a trial/ time-limited version?
I don't think that's a good idea to release a free version of your software. I think people won't buy the full version if the free version has enough features to fit their needs. And if you cripple your software too much, a free version is only a phrase.
ReplyDeleteA better way is to pronlong the use time of your shareware version. What about prolonging your use time to 180 days?
I guess if I were to do a free version, it wouldn't really be a free version, it would be a marketing vehicle to sell your full version. It would be heavily crippled.
ReplyDeleteI suppose that those extra listings on freeware sites, won't make a huge difference to traffic.
Converting use of the free version into sales of the full version would probably be very difficult.