But wait! How many of those visitors are "return visitors"?
Many sites these days make the terrible mistake of investing all their effort into bringing new users to their site. Don't get me wrong... that's a good plan, and it's probably been paying off pretty well so far. But imagine how much better it would be if all (or at least a good percentage) of those vistors came back to your site again and again?
Your site's traffic could multiply MANY TIMES!
HOW CAN I KEEP THE BIRDIES FROM FLYING OFF?
There are a few good techniqes you can implement that will help you to both bring new visitors to your site, and keep them coming back again and again.
** Create a User Forum
Everyone loves to talk... so why not give them an opportunity to come yap 'bout the stuff they like? First you will want to give a survey through your site to find out your visitor's demographics (you know, how old are they, what are their interests, etc.) The reason for this is you want to make categories for your forum that will spike your visitor's interest and get them to post.
Then you'll need the forum itself.
If your needs are basic (or you just have a mysterious hole in your
pocket), I recommend you take a look at the free forum available
through EZboard. Go to EZboard.com
to sign up and create your own custom board! Don't like EZboard?
There are plenty of free forums out there - a simple search engine query should find you plenty.
If you need a big buff board with plenty of those options and
extras, you'll want to take a peek at the vBulletin.
Visit vBulletin.com to buy your copy - $160
vBulletin is the most powerful and robust message board software available.
** Offer Free Stuff
Everyone likes free stuff... whether it be free graphics, music, deals, tips, and just about any other thing you can imagine. Keep a decent sized arsenal of useful, unique free stuff on your site, and don't forget to occasionally update your collection to include new stuff so those "veteran visitors" don't get too bored!
** Spread The News
All too often, someone will visit your site, and even though they found it useful and even possibly bookmarked it they'll never come back. Why is this? They wanted to come back, but the "busyness" of life and perhaps the "clutteredness" of their Favorite Places folder helped them to forget!
And now that I've taken the liberty of inventing two new words for the English language... the solution is to collect the email addresses of your visitors in every way possible, and (if they consent) add them to a weekly or monthly mailing list to remind them that you still exist. I've covered this in more detail in another article: click here.
HMMM... WHAT'S NEXT?
As a continuation of this article, you might want to check out the next marketing tip, Tracking Visitors.
