Keep Website Visitors Coming Back for More

Doing business online is a completely different ball game, and there are some aspects that all business owners must grasp. The first, something you should know by now, is that a site is not worth much if there is no traffic on it. It makes it hard to sell when no one is looking at your website. Most likely you have already addressed this issue by paying good money for web marketing services, Pay-Per-Click campaigns, or search engine optimization. These are all great ways to increase the traffic on your site, but let's take it one step further - By learning how to make customers return to your site over and over, you can gain much greater profits. This article will show you how to keep them coming back!

Research has shown that the cost of getting a new customer is eight times higher than retaining an existing one. It is also easier to sell to that customer since you have already established trust. So if you have spent money on attracting new customers, your best investment is keeping them around and offering more services or products tailored to their interests. Just like in traditional business, establishing a relationship with an online customer is surely going to increase your chance of repeat business and referrals. Internet marketing can be a pricey endeavor, depending on your budget, so it is wise to get the most out of such an investment by capitalizing on repeat business opportunities. With an established customer base you want to encourage them to continually return to your site and do business with you in the future.

We can all agree that repeat business is what we want, but how do we go about encouraging return traffic? The first thing to understand is that a customer's first impression of a site is important, but we must offer them good reason to visit again, the sooner the better. One great advantage of web business is that the statistics of sales, click-throughs, and general traffic trends are instant. Instead of creating a website and leaving it stale, use these stats to your advantage. Take a look at what pages and items are popular and cater your site to that.

There are three main attractions that keep visitors coming back for more online. The first is pure information; if someone can learn from the information you provide, and they trust you as an expert, they are more likely to return again and again to your website. The best way to provide information is to publish articles related to your website's business. The more information and content the better, granted it is well organized. An aggregator of fresh news stories related to your business is also another way to attract repeat visitors. Many other website visitors want more than just information. Promotions or discounts, only available to online visitors, are another great way to lure repeat visitors. Update the promotions for each month, so they have a reason to check back at least once per month. Testimonials can also be a great way to lure visitors back to your site. A testimonial section will help establish credibility with newer customers, and those who have given you a testimonial will want to return to see their name posted on your site.

As long as your website is continually updated and offers good content or valuable discounts, you are in good shape. But how do you let people know that all of these updates are taking place? An effective strategy that fits into the budgets of even the smallest companies is an email marketing campaign. In fact research done on email marketing has shown that it yields the highest return on investment when compared to search engine marketing or direct mail. Email marketing is relatively inexpensive and can reach a broad range of potential customers. Email marketing is a great way to inform people of updates to your website, current promotions you are offering, or show off a new product. The best part is that the majority of your email marketing list is made up of customers who have shown interest in your business in the past, making them more likely to at least check out the new developments, or better yet buy one of your new products. Keeping the customer informed about the latest happenings is a good way to keep your business at the forefront.

Many business owners also assume that potential customers will come to their site the first time and buy right away. Some do but many don't. Have a strategy to capture their contact information. Many will give you their email address if they feel they will get something of value. Offer a tip sheet or entry into a monthly drawing for signing up. Always have a clear privacy policy and also explain what you will do with their information. What you will discover is people come to your site, think its great but then lose the address or forget to put it in their favorites. If you capture their email, then you have a chance through email to remind them to rediscover all your great products or services.

Staying on top of current customers will give you a great business advantage, and save you time and marketing dollars. Offering fresh content, new offers, changing products, and following up with marketing emails will undoubtedly increase your sales. You might even run a survey occasionally and see if any customers have some good input or ideas for the website.

Ron Packer is an Internet Consultant and is a successful WSI franchise owner helping local businesses with Sacramento web marketing. WSI web design consultants bring a local presence along with International resources to help your business succeed online through better web site design, higher traffic from search engine optimization, and smarter conversion rates for leads and e-commerce sales. For more information on increased online sales and web lead conversions, see the regional website.