All successful websites depend on returning visitors. It’s key to keeping relationships alive between you and your prospects, clients and any other onlooker.
We all know that it is easier to sell to someone that has bought before… that is why returning visitors are easier to convert (that is if you have an goal set for each visitor to be able to measure your conversions - more on this later).
The more often people return to a site, the more trust they have in that site… then they keep coming back and post links to you from all over the place.
Here are some simple things you can do to keep people coming back to your site, time and time again:
1) Start a blog, forum, chatroom or shoutbox
When you start a forum, chatroom or shoutbox, you are providing your visitors a place to voice their opinions and interact with other visitors and your organisation. As the conversations build, a sense of community will also follow and your visitors will come back to your site almost religiously to be part of a community that they are contributing to.
2) Start a web log (blog)
Keep an online journal, publish articles and issue news stories on your blog.
People are curious in their very nature and they will keep their eyes glued to your blog if you post fresh items frequently. You will also build up your credibility, proving to them that there is also a real life person behind the website, and also trust in the fact that you know what you are talking about.
3) Publish polls or surveys
Polls and surveys are other forms of interaction that you should definitely consider adding to your site. They provide a quick way for visitors to voice their opinions and to get involved in your website. They can also be used for you to do some market research of your visitors, providing you with valuable information to improve your products and services.
Be sure to publish polls or surveys that are strongly relevant to the target market of your website to keep them interested to find out about the results are. Give deadlines to the polls and surveys, also provide a date that the results will be available.
4) Ever thought of a branded game for your site?
You and I both know that many office workers procrastinate at work every day - Facebook, Deadwhale.com, Twitter etc etc. You will be able to gauge how many people will keep visiting your site if you provide a very interesting or addicting way of entertainment. Think about keeping it relevant to your products and services, but also bang on brand too. Hold competitions to award the high score winner to keep people trying continuously to earn the prize and even arrange to meet to present the prize. Take a photo, add as a news story yo your blog.
5) Most importantly - update frequently with fresh content
Updating your site frequently with fresh content provides your visitors upon their return, something to new read on your site. This is the most widely known and most effective method of attracting returning visitors, but this is also the least carried. No one will want to browse a site that looks the same over ten years, so keep your site updated with fresh nuggets!
