Repeat visitors to any business website are the lifeblood of current and future success. Although marketing efforts can bring in a continuous stream of new consumers, convincing people who buy or hire you once to come back over and over means you have created lifelong fans, customers, or clients. It is much easier to keep someone happy than it is to make them happy in the first place.
After you have some traffic flowing to your website, how do you convince the people to bookmark your page and revisit it in the future? These five tips are a starting point for repeat business and the power of word of mouth advertising. After all, if someone likes your business enough to come back again and again, they are much more likely to tell their friends about it too.
1 – Tell People to Bookmark You and to Come Back
If you want something, you have to ask for it. This idea is not new, but it is one that many marketers and online business owners forget. There is no shame or awkwardness in telling website visitors that you want them to enjoy their stay, bookmark your site, and come back to it again and again. A simply blurb on the home page may suffice, but it bears repeating on shopping cart pages and the blog.
2 – Update Frequently to Convince Repeat Website Visitors to Return
People are not going to want to come back to your website if it looks exactly the same every time. That’s boring! Give people something new to look at, watch, read, or experience. The easiest way to do this is by updating your blog, but make sure the new posts are noticeable from the front.
Another option is placing widgets that rotate things like quotes, news stories, or even gallery images on the front page. Create an interactive section of your site with weekly announcements in your industry, trivia questions, polls, small contests, or freebies.
3 – Add Actual Value
The things listed above add real value to your website and convince people to come back regularly to look for more. Information is important, of course, but with the astronomical number of new websites on the internet every day, information is also relatively cheap. Your goal is to share new stuff first and with as many people as possible.
Add value to your site with free ebooks and reports, graphics site visitors can download and use, worksheets to help them solve a problem, an interactive question and answer section, video tutorials, podcasts, and more. What you offer depends largely on what type of business you run. A kids’ toy shop may offer free printable coloring book pages and paper games. A mortgage broker could host a “How much house can I afford?” calculator.
4 – Create Opt-In Opportunities for Repeat Website Visitors
The more involved people feel, and the more appreciated and respected you make them feel, the more likely they are to come back to your website again and again. Consumers want to be a part of the transaction as a person instead of just a wallet or credit card.
The first opt-in to offer is a newsletter. You always want to collect contact information and build your list of interested people. Even if someone does not return to your website or place an order in a reasonable time, you still have their attention and can invite them back or to special offers.
Other options include membership sections with “super-secret” extra information or discounts, polls that ask for feedback or new ideas, and contest entry forms.
5 – Interact with Your Public the Right Way
In the end, most business success comes down to customer service. Impressing people with your brand personality can help boost repeat website visitors’ attention. If you do not treat existing or potential customers and clients with friendly yet professional respect, they will go find someone else who does. Stay active in your blog comments section, on social media pages, YouTube and other video sharing sites, and anywhere else you hang out online.
Getting repeat visitors to your website depends on the efforts you make to keep people engaged with your business, yourself, and your products or services. Create dynamic opportunities for them to benefit from their relationship with you, and you will in turn find great benefits when they buy from or hire their favorite trusted company.