It can be very easy to prevent a visitor becoming a repeat visitor whilst very difficult to ensure that even a small portion of your visitors actually come back to your website again. So, what are the essential elements of getting them to come back? Well, here is the simple 3 step plan.
Step 1 – give them something to come back for
Whether this is a special offer, the chance to read more quality content or just because they feel part of the site there must be a reason to come back to your site. Look over your site and think ‘What is there in the site for visitors?’
Have a look through your navigation and check that it is easy for your visitors to find what they are looking for. From further information to ways of signing up to your RSS feed and your newsletter. If you are blogging or publishing articles, make sue that you are highlighting your best and most popular pages so that visitors are steered quickly to them to read them and hopefully be tempted to come back
Step 2 – give them the confidence to return.
If you site looks old and tattered, takes an age to load every page and springs popups on every page, then they will not be confident that you have their best interests at heart. Make sure that your site looks professional and does indeed provide what you are saying you offer.
If your website has lots of blocks of AdSense, affiliate and paid banners everywhere and the content somewhere on the page, your visitors will assume that you are more interested in their advertising value than in providing them what they need. Advertising is fine and people accept it, especially on an informational site. But, keep it to one or two advert spots.
Step 3 – give a method to return.
Just bookmarking your page is probably not enough. Allow visitors to sign up to newsletters and RSS feeds and make sure that you are sending out the newsletters and only publishing the best writing to your RSS feed. This is what your readers will see and might encourage them back. Even go as far as offering a reward for subscribing, from a simple ebook to the low down on discount vouchers and the latest special offers.
And that is it. The secret to getting visitors to come back to your website time after time is to give them a reason to come back, don’t put them off coming back and make sure that it is easy for them to return. What could be easier?
