4 Sure Ways to Keep Your Customers Coming Back

You may already know how important it is to drive qualified
prospects to your web site. What's even more important, though,
is finding ways to keep them there once they've arrived.

After all, what's the use of spending all that time and money on
securing top rankings on search engines, setting up a network of
affiliates, and building a 100-page site if nobody stays once
they arrive? That's the hard way to learn the value of "sticky"
content.

The easy way is to keep reading. The information I'm about to
share with you will show you how to use content to turn visitors
into shoppers and shoppers into repeat buyers!

I've boiled it down to 4 sure ways to keep your customers coming
back for more. Put these tips into practice, and watch your sales
start climbing almost immediately.

1) Take charge of your content

It's important to spend a few minutes thinking about how often
you really need to update your content. If your site sells
reports on e-commerce issues, your visitors may expect new
content about the e-commerce market on a fairly regular basis.

If your site isn't going to need content changes on a regular
basis, think about writing the content yourself. Nobody knows
your product as well as you do, so who better to write about it?
Of course, you'll want the content to have a strong focus on the
features and benefits of your product or service, so here are a
few ideas for articles you could post on your site:

Three ways your product can save your customers time.
Three ways your product has saved your customers money.
Interesting or unique applications for your product.

Ok, ok. I can already hear some of you saying "I'm an
entrepreneur -- I'm not a writer!" My answer: Why don't you
give it a try? You'll probably surprise yourself. Even if your
writing isn't as clear and flowing as something crafted by a
professional copywriter, your enthusiasm for your product will
go a really long way.

There are a couple of situations where I would recommend hiring
the services of a professional writer. If you simply aren't
comfortable writing your own content, then this is definitely
the way to go.

You will also probably want to look into the services of a
professional if your site is going to require frequent content
updates. Writing can be very time-consuming, and as a business
owner, you'll need to decide on the most profitable way to
spend your time.

Here are a few of the better resources I've found for tracking
down copywriters:

http://www.elance.com
http://www.marketingtool.com

2) Check "All" of Your Content

Remember, when we talk about content, we're not just talking
about the text on your site. We're talking about every single
word, image, link, logo, and e-mail address.

One of the most important things you can do to keep your site
current (and drive sales) is to rotate your features and
specials. Is your best-selling product featured prominently on
your site? If not, visitors won't find what they came for and
that's costing you profits!

Always keep your catalog up-to-date. Nothing will drive
customers away faster than receiving an e-mail from your company
saying that the product they ordered yesterday is no longer
available. It never ceases to amaze me how often I come across
sites with outdated, unavailable products still posted online.

Check all of your links. Every last one of them. Even that one
at the very bottom that links to your privacy policy. If the link
through to your "Satisfied Customers" page isn't working, how
comfortable is a customer going to be entering their credit card
number?

And while you're at it, make sure that anything labeled "Coming
Soon" will be actually coming soon. If it's not going to be
ready within a week, take it down.

I'd also highly recommend that you go through your web site on
a computer other than your own. It's amazing what you'll learn.
That image that looks so great on your computer may actually be
broken when viewed on someone else's! Make sure you take note
of how long content and images are taking to come up.

If it takes more than 10 seconds for the image of your product
to appear, you're probably losing customers by the truckload!

The idea here is to make your visitors comfortable enough to
make a purchase from you. There is a direct correlation between
how comfortable people are and how likely they are to make a
purchase. And a web site where everything works is a comfortable
place to be.

3) Check Out Free Content Providers

In a word: YES! Believe it or not, there are actually a number
of places to find content on just about every topic imaginable
that you can post on your site at no cost. Of course, the
quality of this content varies tremendously, so be sure to
choose carefully.

You should be aware that some free content providers will try
to take visitors away from your site. You may find, for example,
that the news headlines you've posted on your site whisk
visitors away as soon as they click on them. Obviously, this is
not what you want.

If you want to look into free content for your site, here are
a few good places to start:

http://www.allnetarticles.com
http://www.ultimateprofits.com

4) Never Throw Anything Away

Want to know an almost effortless way to make your site 50%
more useful to your visitors? Archive your content. A study by
online usability guru Jakob Nielsen showed that an archive of
past content increases a site's usefulness by about 50%.

And since you've already produced the content, it's no hassle
to simply index all of those articles in an archive. And,
believe me, your customers will be glad you did.

As your archive grows, you'll add credibility to your business,
because your customers will be able to see how long you've
been around. With all those extra pages, your customers should
be hanging out at your site a little longer -- making them more
comfortable and more likely to buy.

Having fresh content isn't about having today's news headlines
scrolling across the top of your homepage. As always, keep your
eye on the bottom line and ask yourself, "Is this content helping
my sales"? If the answer is YES, you know you're on the right
track.

Keep your site current and your content relevant, and I guarantee
that your visitors will start spending more time there. And the
longer they stay, the more dramatic the impact will be on your
profits!

© 2003 by Jean Lam

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Jean Lam is the webmaster of http://www.zineguru.com - Your Web
Marketing Power House. He is also the editor and publisher of a
twice monthly FREE ezine "Zine Guru". To subscribe, for cutting-edge
internet marketing tips, tricks and techniques, send a blank email to
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