Traffic Strategies: Keeping Visitors on your Web Site

To Keep visitors on your site and to Guarantee they Return, create 

Ex-Site-Ment!

• Create an impression of quality, depth of content, and ease of use.
  

• Be very clear about pricing and product information.  Confusion over prices causes people to mistrust and flee a site.  If prices vary due to shipping, model number, upgrades, etc., explain why.
  

• Update your site frequently, creating the expectation that it will always be current, fresh, and responsive to change.
  

• Your site can be a source of industry-related knowledge.  People return to information-rich sites and tend to buy from them.  Your expertise will also increase your the level of trust felt by your visitors.

• Entertain.  An occasional interesting industry anecdote or humorous story personalizes the site and keep people's attention.
  

• Place a visitor or "hit" counter on your site.  Track the ratio of visitors to purchases made.  If the numbers are low, be more aggressive with your Traffic Strategies and more creative about selling on-site.
  

• Review competitors' Web Sites for best practices.  Be proactive about updating your site in light of your Web research.  Your competitors will probably be your first visitors, so you should be visiting them.
  

• Use promotions and on-line contests.  Offer gifts and prizes.  Make your site the equivalent of an exciting, surprising, unpredictable (in the best sense) location that people enjoy returning to.
  

• Create a visually attractive site.  Just like a store, an attractive site bespeaks pride, care, and attentiveness to customers.
  

• Provide exceptional customer service.

You want customers to enjoy visiting your site.  There are no handshakes on the Net.  The Computer screen is a cold medium unless it is warmed up by the perceived presence of a real person or real company, of someone who cares about them.  If visitors leave happy, they will BOOKMARK your site and return to it frequently.