Okay, if you are reading this, you are probably a
hard-charging, stay-up-til-all-hours-working-on-the site,
make-another-pot-of-coffee webmaster looking for ideas on how to
build return traffic.
Well, we've done very well with enticing visitors to come back,
and our secret is very simple: Offer milk.
Still with us? Good.
Every local convenience store or bodega carries milk. They don't
do it for the profit either as milk has a very low markup. They
do it because people need milk every week, sometimes twice a
week.
Milk keeps customers coming back. Quite often, after the
customer picks up the container of milk, they grab a few other
things while in the store. When this occurs, milk has served its
purpose. (Stores also situate milk in the section of the store
farthest from the entrance, thus making the customer have to
walk by and look at all the other products, but we'll save this
for another article)
Hence the question: Does your website offer milk?
Okay, enough with the "milk" metaphor.
Does your website offer content that would give visitors the
desire to return? If not, you need to get to work.
There are many types of content that can achieve this purpose.
Let's take a look at a few.
Message Boards This is probably the most effective technique.
Message boards are outstanding for drawing return traffic,
especially when hot topics are going. There has been much
written on how to promote and establish a successful message
board. A rather nice side benefit of the message board is the
fact that the content is provided free of charge from forum
members. If your forum threads get indexed by search engines,
they will help draw new traffic as well.
Teasers on Upcoming Pieces When you begin working on a new piece
or project, do you promote in on your site? How about announcing
in a highly visible area, "Coming This Monday, How to Lose 30
Pounds in 30 Days!" Give visitors something in which to look
forward.
Website Polls Okay, polls won't draw that much traffic, but some
visitors are very curious as to how poll numbers progress. Every
little bit helps.
News Headlines Updated Daily This is just another excellent
technique for bringing back traffic. If your site is about
baseball, creating a News Headlines section of baseball
headlines linking to the actual articles is a very successful
draw for return visitors. Yes, the visitors are exiting the site
via the headline link, but they came back today for the
headlines and will be back tomorrow. (Also, by designing the
link so it opens to a new page reduces the amount of traffic
that actually leaves) If your budget for outsourcing to a news
headlines service is limited, you can use Google alerts, and the
headlines will be sent to you every day. You just paste them
onto the page. Not very hard at all.
"What's New" Section A small table on your index page entitled
"What's New" is an excellent way of demonstrating that your site
is updated frequently, thus enticing visitors to return.
Email Subscription If you operate a niche site, you're probably
getting visitors who are very interested in your topic. Offer a
monthly newsletter or bulletin service where you will notify
visitors of breaking news and other large happenings in your
niche. Mailings are nice because they give you big traffic
spikes when you need them. (Don't overdo it though. Only email
when you have something to say, or recipients won't open them)
Of the Week! Create a section for a quote of the week, photo of
the week, tip of the week, etc. If you do this carefully and
with excellent content, it will draw visitors back each week.
Half Articles Let's say there is some large happening in your
niche. You can write an article on what happened and make clear
that you will post the outcome when it occurs. Simply, instead
of waiting for the whole issue to pass by, write the piece half
way through followed by a "more to come."
While it's great to put milk on a site, you also need to make
sure that you are not driving traffic away.
Here are some things that reduce return traffic:
Excessive Page Loading Times - Often caused by too many
graphics, sound, crazy effects, etc.
Poor design and site navigation Poor grammar, spelling, etc.
Writing in all capitals or fonts too large
Lack of Updated Content
Pages cluttered with too many ads
These are just a few suggestions. If you do some brainstorming,
you can come up with even more content that will work as milk on
your site.
Someone once said "the best source of new customers are you
existing customers." That is as true today as it was when it was
said.
Getting new visitors is fine, but take action to retain your
current visitors.
Category : Cardio
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