The bottom line is that if the visitor found what they were looking for quickly and easily, they are much more likely to come back to your site. Here are six additional techniques you can use to help bring visitors back to your site. They are:
1. Email Newsletters
2. Bookmark Buttons
3. Periodic Updates
4. Games
5. Contests
6. Message Boards
A newsletter is perhaps the best tool for bringing people back to your web site. To have a newsletter all you need is a simple form on your web site to collect user's email addresses and an email client. That's it! It you want to go even more low tech, just have a bit of text that says, "Email us at youremail@yourdomain.com to Join our Newsletter."
Once you have a few people to send a newsletter too, try to think of ways that you could provide useful information to potential clients. Maybe you will offer discounts to newsletter members, or perhaps send them articles on topics related to your site. Always have a link for subscribers to opt-out. And don't forget to request newsletter readers to visit your web site in every newsletter you send out.
A bookmark button reminds people visiting your site that they may want to visit your site again. When people bookmark your site, they are of course more likely to come back. Bookmark buttons can be easily created in javascript.
Periodic Updates could be a quote of the day or an image of the day or perhaps new articles every month or week. Anything that will make visitors want to come back for the next update will suffice. Once you have determined what your periodic update is, remind your visitors to come back for the update. It won't do much good if your visitors don't know about your updates.
Games in Flash or javascript can be quite simple, yet quite entertaining. Perfect examples are those Orbitz ads. If you don't know what I am talking about, Orbitz has Flash game ads that include golfing, pitching, piloting blimps and other fun things. They are really simple and are designed to get clicks more than repeat business, as the games are ads, but on a web site, similar games would get visitors come back.
Contests are great for web promotion and brining people back to web sites. People who enter the contest you may sponsor will want to come back to see if they won. Also, if it is a user submittal contest, people will want to come back to see the winning entries - especially if they have won! You may even get people sending word of your contest to their friends. Viral marketing, where friends tell friends and so on, is extremely effective.
Message boards can become a second home for some people. If you have an active board, people will come to your web site just to see what people have posted.
Regardless of your choice, just make sure you give them a reason to come back.
When you create goals for your business Web site, one of them needs to be to "tell people how to get in touch with us." It never ceases to amaze me how many Web sites omit this basic information. When you fail to include contact information on your Web site, not only are you leaving prospective customers in the dark, you're also probably missing out on a tremendous number of public relations and marketing opportunities.
For example, most companies send out media releases when something notable happens. They release a new product, host an event, or offer a new service, so they want the media to tell the world. The hope is that a reporter will write a glowing article and send customers to their doorstep.
For many years, I've been writing newsletters and product reviews that rely on press releases for information. Almost invariably, the first thing I do after reading a press release is visit the Web site. The information in the press release is incomplete, so I am forced to surf for answers. When that doesn't work, I email or call. Sometimes nothing works. So if you want to get mentioned in the press here are a few "inside" tips:
1. Return your phone calls and e-mails. If you want to reach the press, you have to let them reach you. (In my experience, giant companies with the largest PR staffs are the least responsive.)
2. Put your Web site address, contact information, and prices in the press release. Most magazines that do product reviews put the company name, address, phone, web site and pricing info at the end of the article. Don't make a writer spend ages trying to figure out how much your widget costs.
3. In your press release, use real words, not vague generalities or industry buzzwords. If you sell software, actually SAY it is software somewhere. A "solution" could be a lot of things. Maybe hardware, maybe software, maybe a garage door opener. You need to be as clear as possible about the basics.
4. Use a spell checker. A grammar checker would be nice too. Unintelligible press releases aren't picked up, no matter how wonderful the product.
A bad situation is made worse when a company Web site is also incomplete. Every business Web site should include phone, mailing address, and an email address or contact form. This contact information should be linked from the Home page or available on every page, such as in a footer. Don't make your contact information impossible to find.
Putting all your press releases online also makes it easy for writers to see what you've done in the past so they can get a better perspective on your company. If your product is interesting, bloggers and others might link to your press releases as well.
The bottom line is that if you own a business and want to be noticed, your Web site absolutely must make it easy for people to get in touch with you.
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Both Halstatt Pires & Susan Daffron are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
Halstatt Pires has sinced written about articles on various topics from Realestate Marketing, History and Ezines And Newsletters. Halstatt Pires is with MarketingTitan.com - providing services.. Halstatt Pires's top article generates over 368000 views. to your Favourites.
Susan Daffron has sinced written about articles on various topics from Ezine Articles, Computers and The Internet and Writing. Susan Daffron is the President of Logical Expressions, Inc. () and the author of books on pets, web business, computing, and veget. Susan Daffron's top article generates over 9900 views. to your Favourites.