Okay, if you are reading this, you are probably a hard-charging, stay-up-til-all-hours-working-on-the site, make-another-pot-of-coffee webmaster looking for ideas on how to build return traffic.
Well, we've done very well with enticing visitors to come back, and our secret is very simple: Offer milk.
Still with us? Good.
Every local convenience store or bodega carries milk. They don't do it for the profit either as milk has a very low markup. They do it because people need milk every week, sometimes twice a week.
Milk keeps customers coming back. Quite often, after the customer picks up the container of milk, they grab a few other things while in the store. When this occurs, milk has served its purpose. (Stores also situate milk in the section of the store farthest from the entrance, thus making the customer have to walk by and look at all the other products, but we'll save this for another article)
Hence the question: Does your website offer milk?
Okay, enough with the "milk" metaphor.
Does your website offer content that would give visitors the desire to return? If not, you need to get to work.
There are many types of content that can achieve this purpose. Let's take a look at a few.
Message Boards
This is probably the most effective technique. Message boards are outstanding for drawing return traffic, especially when hot topics are going. There has been much written on how to promote and establish a successful message board.
A rather nice side benefit of the message board is the fact that the content is provided free of charge from forum members. If your forum threads get indexed by search engines, they will help draw new traffic as well.
Teasers on Upcoming Pieces
When you begin working on a new piece or project, do you promote in on your site? How about announcing in a highly visible area, "Coming This Monday, How to Lose 30 Pounds in 30 Days!" Give visitors something in which to look forward.
Website Polls
Okay, polls won't draw that much traffic, but some visitors are very curious as to how poll numbers progress. Every little bit helps.
News Headlines Updated Daily
This is just another excellent technique for bringing back traffic. If your site is about baseball, creating a News Headlines section of baseball headlines linking to the actual articles is a very successful draw for return visitors. Yes, the visitors are exiting the site via the headline link, but they came back today for the headlines and will be back tomorrow. (Also, by designing the link so it opens to a new page reduces the amount of traffic that actually leaves)
If your budget for outsourcing to a news headlines service is limited, you can use Google alerts, and the headlines will be sent to you every day. You just paste them onto the page. Not very hard at all.
"What's New" Section
A small table on your index page entitled "What's New" is an excellent way of demonstrating that your site is updated frequently, thus enticing visitors to return.
Email Subscription
If you operate a niche site, you're probably getting visitors who are very interested in your topic. Offer a monthly newsletter or bulletin service where you will notify visitors of breaking news and other large happenings in your niche. Mailings are nice because they give you big traffic spikes when you need them. (Don't overdo it though. Only email when you have something to say, or recipients won't open them)
Of the Week!
Create a section for a quote of the week, photo of the week, tip of the week, etc. If you do this carefully and with excellent content, it will draw visitors back each week.
Half Articles
Let's say there is some large happening in your niche. You can write an article on what happened and make clear that you will post the outcome when it occurs. Simply, instead of waiting for the whole issue to pass by, write the piece half way through followed by a "more to come."
While it's great to put milk on a site, you also need to make sure that you are not driving traffic away.
Here are some things that reduce return traffic:
Excessive Page Loading Times - Often caused by too many graphics, sound, crazy effects, etc.
Poor design and site navigation
Poor grammar, spelling, etc.
Writing in all capitals or fonts too large
Lack of Updated Content
Pages cluttered with too many ads
These are just a few suggestions. If you do some brainstorming, you can come up with even more content that will work as milk on your site.
Someone once said "the best source of new customers are you existing customers." That is as true today as it was when it was said.
Getting new visitors is fine, but take action to retain your current visitors.
