Getting people to come back to your site is something that every company wants and needs. I've gone to hundreds of websites while surfing the internet. I realize that 99% of them I do not return to. I can probably list all of the websites I go to on a daily or weekly basis on my fingers and toes. I can say that most people come back because they are members of the site, they know and trust that the site can provide what they need by one press of the button. Now, out of thousands of really good websites why do people only go to a select few and how do businesses keep them coming back?
For four years I've worked for companies whose businesses are solely internet based. They ran a monthly special and promoted the heck out of it and numbers always sky rocketed. People love to get a deal and feel like they finally get a break. Sure most online businesses offer “Specials” and “Discounts” but how do customers know about these deals, they’d have to visit the site every day! People just don’t see ads anymore, most of the time they go directly to what they need. They ignore all pop ups and fast moving bright flashy banners that tell them what's new and what's on sale. Honestly those banners don’t work for me and I do anything I can to block them from my view, like make my window smaller so I only see content I need to see.
So back to the question of how to get your customers to notice a “Special”, I say you should blast blast blast an email! People give their email out like they give chicken pox when their in kindergarten. Business's have free access to people's personal time and email, so make an email blast but make it hot and straight to the point with links that go straight to the deal! Don’t make an email just to your site where the user has to fish for the special. Get them interested, get them to your product, and then get them to buy. I also think a great designer is key to any surviving website, and I'm not just saying this because I am a designer. But without a good designer, a good programmer is useless and vice versa. Oh, not to mention if it’s not a well designed email blast you can be sure it will be deleted and any future blasts will be marked spam and go directly to the junk folder or what I like to do is “unsubscribe” that way they know their email blasts suck. I do keep the creative email blasts and yes I do go back to their website and check out what’s new, I’m a fan of William Sonoma’s and Bebe but that’s my interests. It’s also important for someone who is revisiting a site to see new things, new products, new colors, and most important new content.
Just wrap your head around how many sites you’ve been too, it’s a lot. Now think of the sites you go back to. Now think of why. Is it mostly because of the information they are able to provide you or because USPS is taboo for keeping in touch? You really do expect a lot from any site you visit and it does take a lot of components to make a good site. It takes functionality, accurate information, the product and the follow up. Another good technique for continuing business is the follow up, when you get a new comment on your social page you get an email, when you pay a bill you get an email, when you buy anything you get an email. People are now programmed to receive emails for anything they do on the internet. Wouldn’t it be a great idea for your company to utilize this free program? Slip another sale item in there or if you have really great marketing you can tell what demographic they are from and then place an ad that they would be interested in. The internet is growing so fast that you have to be ahead of what everyone else does and you have to pick up on trends right away. One trend that people will be slowing down on is “going green”, one trend they are picking up on is “change”. I’d like to see more online sites step up and create their own trend and stop following what everyone was doing 4 years ago.
In conclusion there is so much an online business can do to get people to come back to their business but it starts with a great product and a good company behind it. After that, hand it off to someone who knows what they are doing and trust them to make your website work, a website people will continue to visit.
