Bring those visitors back for more, applauding you and saying BRAVO! They will create a buzz about your great site, and send you many more visitors through word of mouth. These visitors are your personal marketing force.
We non-techies may not have heard of what a “sticky” website is yet, but it is the stuff that lures visitors back again and again. We know we want that!
Forget getting to the top of the search engines. Let your Webmaster do that. Instead, try out some of these low-maintenance ways to bring ’em back to your Web site for more.
1.Upload new, original, and useful content often. Do not think of your Web site as a virtual brochure. Avoid blatant ads such as banners, which turn visitors off. Give them information only they can’t find anywhere else-and give it free. People want and need how to’s, especially. Always think benefits when you post some new article. Helping your visitors get what they want will bring you respect as an expert, and eventually, profit from your book and other products.
2.Update your Web site content regularly and often, perhaps daily or weekly. If someone visits your site and finds nothing new, they will disappear into cyberspace and spend their time on other sites. If you don’t want to write articles, place an excerpt from your book up. Keep the pieces under 800 words. Common lengths are anywhere from 75-400 words. You can include a tip list, past feature articles from your ezine, poetry, or a character sketch from your fiction book.
3.Publish your own special ezine. Make it short and sweet. Start with a monthly, then see if you can do it bi-weekly. If you don’t stay in regular touch with your possible buyers, they will forget you and your book’s message. People want to know you better, so they can trust you and think of you as an expert in your field. Your free information, tips and resources will keep them as subscribers. If they like your eMag, they will recommend it to others. The opt-in eNewsletter tops all other ways to drive traffic to your site, and it can be mass mailed free, too. Check out www.topica.com.
4.Include a recommending service on your site. Your repeat visitors create new traffic. Check out www.Recommend-It.com. It’s free, fast, and versatile. Each time someone recommends your site, they are entered in a contest to win a Palm V reading device.
5.Host a forum on your site where people can post messages, questions, share ideas and skills, and learn up-to-the-minute news about your topic. Without it people lose interest because they want to interact with you and others in their field. Visitors come, post a message or reply to other messages. They will check back every few days for new messages or replies. As the moderator, you can post all kinds of news and become a real person to your visitors. They want to know you personally before they buy. To find these services, do a search on “free webmaster resources.” Two specific ones: http://www.delphi.com and http://www.evryone.net.
6.Put reminders on all of your pages to bookmark. If you omit this, you pass up a great opportunity to lure repeat, loyal visitors. You want a lot of visitors, and you want them to spend a lot of time on your site. The more time they spend on your site, the more likely they will check out your products or services pages. Put in bold print, “press control + D to bookmark this site” or “Remember to bookmark this site. We update material weekly.”
7.Serialize some of your content. If visitors get it all in one visit, what’s to keep them coming back? Put one part of an article, special report, or excerpt from your book on your site each week or so. Let people know this through your eMagazine.
8.Post a monthly special only for your Web visitors. Call it “Discount of the month,” or “Freebie of the month.” Without incentives your audience will go elsewhere. Go to your files now, and see what you can use.
9. Let your visitors talk with you. Without personal contact, you are just another cool Web site. Use “Humanclick,” a program where people can chat with you live without any downloads to their computer. In a few minutes you’ll get to know each other. You’ll enjoy this too, because you want to be helpful. See http://www.humanclick.com/ or you can record a message with “Pagetalk.” Here, you record your message via telephone, which can be heard on your Web site. Sign up at http://www.pagetalk.com. Regular maintenance is a must for these.
10. Enjoy the journey. Each day, you can learn something that will make your Web site more real, more YOU. Avoid being stiff-let your passion show! Add some personal information such as the personal column. ‘The Coaches Corner’ in the ezine, “The Book Coach Says,” mentions personal writing and marketing set backs, boo boos, along with a tip or so. Put this personal message on your site too.
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Judy Cullins
2001
Judy Cullins, 20-year Book and Internet Marketing Coach works with small business people who want to make a difference in people’s lives, build their credibility and clients, and make a consistent life-long income. Author of 10 eBooks including “Write your eBook Fast,” “How to Market your Business on the Internet,” and “Create your Web Site With Marketing Pizzazz,” she offers free help through her 2 monthly ezines, The Book Coach Says…and Business Tip of the Month at http://www.bookcoaching.com/opt-in.shtml and over 145 free articles. Email her at Judy@bookcoaching.com.
