VISITOR RETENTION

Quick response when people request information, report trouble:
This one pretty much speaks for itself, but it is worth mentioning
a couple of things about this. Try, if you can, to check your email
at least 3 times a day. Many people are shut-ins or retired or
homeworkers, and they expect a quick response to their questions or
complaints. If your Internet Provider can give you access to
Auto-Responders, these are fairly successful in giving your website
visitors a quick response that says you've received their email
and will respond as soon as possible, but sometimes these
auto-responders annoy people more than they put them at ease.

Human beings always prefer to talk to human beings. This is
especially evident in the fact that people still consider voice
mail and answering machines a necessary evil. Some may see your
auto-responder as just that. Auto-responders are more effectively
used when someone wants some detailed information and wants it
immediately. If at all possible, ask for their phone number so you
can call them and give them answers live. I cannot count how many
times I have answered our corporate line, only to hear a big sigh
of relief on the other end, followed by the person saying,

"Wow, I got a live voice!"

Many people prefer not to be called on the phone, so give them a
choice when they write to you. Some are paranoid that you're going
to try to sell them something. If they email and expect email in
return, make it polite, prompt, and helpful. If you are not sure
what they're asking, don't try to create an answer from incomplete
facts from them. Ask them to clarify by return email so that you
may answer their question more effectively. Customer service,
customer service, and more customer service will make you stand
heads above your competition. Try a little experiment with some
of your competitors. See how long or in what way they respond to
a question about their site. As far as reporting trouble on your
web page operations, this was mentioned in Element 3 above. If
they are reporting trouble about a product or service you sold
them, offer them choices of restitution. Most people will not
want to return something if it can be resolved over the phone.
Give them a liberal guarantee, like 90 days or something. They'll
appreciate this more than you'll know.

There is nothing worse than going to a website that you expected to
find "content" in, only to discover it is just a bunch of garbage
sales talk or just plain trash. This is usually the case when a
company does not understand how to sell on the web or is just plain
too lazy to plan their content carefully. A website should be useful
to the target market of buyers you are aiming at.

If you are selling widgets, have a section of FREE information just
on everything you can find out about the history of widgets and all
aspects of using them. If you provide a service, have some
information that is useful background for the buyers of that
service. Sit down with a pad of paper before you ever design your
website, and make a hand-written plan of how you want it to look.
Include the elements described in this article. Giving something
free on your site, like free information that is really worth
something, will make them feel more at ease about purchasing
whatever it is you are selling. If a website only sells something
but gives nothing in return, it's just plain garbage. Many MLM
websites are like this. (no offense to MLMs!).

In contrast, one couple decided they really loved peacocks, so
they created a website based only on information about peacocks,
such as how to raise them. The website started out as just a hobby
type of site, but the end result now is that they sell more peacocks
than they can breed. They are sold out as soon as babies are born.
The other end result is that the CEO of the company wrote a
full-length book just on peacocks and sells that on his website now,
too. Another example was a man who decided he was a pretty
knowledgeable government contractor. He wrote articles on his site
about how to have the upper hand when it comes to being awarded
government contracts. His site is now selling a lot of information,
as well as providing it free. His company was recently purchased by
another company and sells books, CD-ROMs, and all sorts of other
information about this subject.

These websites, in contrast to those websites you see that just look
like sales letters, are useful. They serve a purpose that keeps
people coming back. No one wants to see a whole website dedicated to
"I love my company and this is what we do". They only care what you
do if you dedicate one page to "About Us", and the rest of the
website keeps their attention with useful information. Plan your
website around your expertise on a given subject. Eat, breathe and
sleep that subject. Learn everything you possibly can about the
subject, and write about it. Gone are the days that you can have a
website that just sells information. You've got to "give away" some
of your expertise, too, or your website hits are going to be pitiful
at best. You'll be lucky to get 10 people a day to come and look.

Enough said on this little pet peeve of mine!


It is one thing to get subscribers to your ezine or to get traffic
to your web site, but it is quite another thing to keep your
subscribers and visitors as your AUDIENCE.

You see, there is a difference between subscribers and an audience.
Just as there is a difference between an unsubscribe and a non-
interested subscriber. It is very important to keep the attention
of your subscribers or visitors. If you lose their attention, you
may lose it for good. Go back and read that sentence again. If you
lose the attention of your subscribers, you may not get it back.

You may have 10,000 subscribers or 40,000 visitors, but are they
really seeing and reading what you have to offer? What good is it
if they delete your ezine without reading it and surf right on
through your web site without "seeing" it?

The fact that you are reading this article indicates that the ezine
publisher / editor or webmaster is doing a good job of keeping you
interested (or you are bored and have nothing better to do). Now how
does he/she do that? Well, stop and analyze the ezines or newsletters
you are subscribed to. What about the bookmarks for your favorite web
sites? Do you read all of them or visit all of the web sites all of
the time? Why or why not?

Let's examine some ideas here:

1. Original Content

Does your ezine or web site provide original content or is it
regurgitated content from a compilation of other web sites? If
this is your intent, present your ezine or web site as a list
of resources. Don't try to be what you are not.

2. Relevant Content

Is your web site focused on marketing? Well, then don't fill it
with deep sea diving articles. You will confuse your readers.

3. Keep it consistent

Oh, you don't feel like writing this week? You say you are just
going to "throw together" your ezine to get it done with and
publish a fantastic one next week? Go ahead, but you run the
risk of losing your audience. One bad issue may cost you the
attention of your subscribers, though they may take six months
more to actually unsubscribe.

4. Keep It Simple & Quick

Don't try to re-write the encyclopedias in one issue. You will
tire yourself out and not have anything left for your next issues.
You will also tire your readers out and they may not take the
desired time to finish reading. If you do provide a lot of
information, break it into "bite-size" morsels.

5. Personalized responses

Do you receive feedback from your subscribers or visitors? Respond
to them personally and they will see that you are a real person
that not only cares about their needs and wants, but understands
their needs and wants.

6. Feedback

Offer your subscribers the ability to offer feedback and ask
questions, both on your web site and through email. You want to
be approachable or they will keep searching.

7. Free Exposure

Offer your readers the opportunity to advertise themselves. If
you focus entirely on yourself, your business, your web site,
etc., you will cause your readers to feel you are so stuck on
yourself that you have no idea what is going on around you.
People always love to talk about themselves, let your readers
do so - they will appreciate you for it.

8. Keep it Resourceful

People vary. Some like philosophical articles, some how-to. Some
like quick tips. Some like contests. Whoever your subscribers are,
they are most likely all looking for something that they can get
out of your ezine (preferably for free). Give them something
resourceful. Give them something that they can use to better
themselves and/or their business or whatever their interest.
Help them grow and they will be more likely to be receptive to
what you publish.

9. Give them something free

Just like #9 above, offer free stuff to your subscribers. Let
them have a "taste" of what you are offering. If you truly are
an ethical personal offering valuable products or services,
they will be back.

10. Contests & Specials

What benefit is it to your subscribers to remain subscribed to
your ezine? Offer them subscriber-only specials or contests.
They will want to view the next publication to see if they have
won anything or to see what they can get for free or reduced
prices.

This is by far, not an exhaustive list, but hopefully it will get you
thinking as to how to keep your audience.

To sum it all up - Think of your audience first and they will
remember you.

2.) Retention is Priceless!

One web site: $10,000
A banner advertising campaign on Yahoo: $5,000
A 1-year web hosting package: $1,200
The ability to retain your web site visitors: Priceless

As the number of web pages on the Internet approaches 1 billion, the
importance of creating a "satisfying user experience" for web users
is crucial to the success of any web site. Industry research continues
to show that retaining web site visitors may be the primary challenge
in succeeding on the Internet. A new study reported by Engage
Technologies stated that 4 out of 5 visitors to the average web site
never return.

As partner in Silicon Alley based Cyber-NY, we have put the user's
experience as a top priority for all of our clients. There are a
variety of ways to bring visitors to a web site. Those who retain
that traffic will prove successful in the on-line arena. Retention
plays a key role on the Internet as it enables one-to-one
relationships, repeat purchases or visits, and a channel for feedback
on your business practices. Acquisition without retention spells
long-term disaster.

One way to help retain web site visitors on your web site is to
create a satisfying user experience. Here are some pointers that
will help:

<> Focus on Content and Navigation

Sounds like a no-brainer? Well, too many companies have put more
emphasis on marketing their site than worrying about how and what
their web site communicates. Whether it be out-dated content or
poor navigation and layout, too many web sites are failing to meet
the demands of their site visitors. If your site doesn't give the
user what they want or allow them the ability to locate what they
are looking for in a timely fashion, there are thousands of other
web sites that probably do.

In short: Keep your content relevant, up-to-date, and simple to
navigate.

<> Utilize Compression Techniques

Most of my web surfing, at least for personal use, comes in the
comfort of my home. With a 56K modem, that unfortunately only
connects at around 28.8K, I don't have patience for web sites that
take over 1 minute to download. To avoid having this problem on your
web site, I would recommend one of two ideas. First, compress the
graphics. People don't want to wait a day and a half for a 100k home
page graphic to load. Second, avoid creating text as graphics when
it could simply be created in HTML. This equates to faster download
time.

In short: Compress your graphics!

<> Don't Be Scared Of New Technologies

Investigate new technologies and don't be scared to use them.
Macromedia and other software companies continue to release cutting
edge web production tools that help improve site navigation without
hindering download time. Cyber-NY, for example, employs a number of
value-added interactive tools utilizing Macromedia products and
Java-based technologies that have worked wonders for our clients.
Through the use of these tools, we are able to create content-rich
interactive atmospheres that enhance the user experience. Long-term,
the user experience will play a large-role in generating repeat
visits.

In short: Don't be scared of new technologies!

info@pactrends.com