The Traffic Snowball must be sticky!
OK so we have got our traffic snowball on its way down the hill but what we need to do is make the snowball nice and “sticky” so that it will grow and grow.
“Stickiness” can be defined as the websites ability to “cling on” to visitors. The longer the visitor stays then the more likely they will be to take up on what you are offering at your site. In this respect “content is king”.
Basically, the website must be interesting enough for people to want to stay. Graphics are OK but don’t overdue it. Concentrate on the content and the layout of the content on the webpage. If the page is too busy then a reader will become tired and will switch off and go elsewhere.
Headlines are fundamental, the first paragraph is crucial and there should be a ‘PS’, a ‘PPS’ and even a ‘PPPS’ at the end of the page if your text is selling a product or service.
Why ?
Because headlines grab the attention and lead the reader into the first paragraph which must sell to the reader the product and service. Then the reader will be interested enough to continue and even if the attention span is limited then they will be interested enough to scroll to the bottom - skipping the middle- and you will refocus using the PS messages at the end.
Here are some examples of which words to use within headlines:
FREE
DISCOVER
POWERFUL
EASY
GUARANTEED
YOU’LL LOVE THIS
MONEY
HOTTEST
NEW
IMPROVED
PROVEN
RESULTS
REVOLUTIONARY
STATE-OF-THE-ART
FANTASTIC
SAVE
BEST
FOR A LIMITED TIME ONLY
SECRETS
THE BEST KEPT SECRET
UNBELIEVABLE
MUST SEE TO BELIEVE
The twelve most powerful words in the English language, according to Yale University researchers: DISCOVER, EASY, GUARANTEE, HEALTH, LOVE, MONEY, NEW, PROVEN, RESULTS, SAFETY, SAVE, YOU
Although, your website should not be include content that distracts from the mail message, you can compliment the content with relevant and related features that will keep your visitors interested enough to stay and maybe return later.
Here are a few:
Free Information :
The Internet is the “Information Superhighway.” The best way to introduce yourself to your prospects is through providing Free information on your web site. No matter what you are selling: be it nutrition products, cleaning products, business products, etc., you can find information or create information to provide with it. Do a series of continuing articles, where visitors must return to the site every day or two to read the next part.
You can find an amazing range of articles from the Web-At-Work Online Marketing Center that can be used on your website. This unique site is a members only based knowledge bank and included in the membership fee are 10000+ articles with 2500+ categorised plus 1200 + categorised links on internet marketing, loads of downloads plus much more
The Web Poll:
You can set-up a web poll for visitors relating to the product or service that your website provides. People love web polls, and people like to know what others are thinking. For example an effective poll for website providing a travel service could include questions relating to preferred destinations, modes of travel etc.. Not only is this kind of feedback useful to the owner of the website but also the visitors like to know what’s popular and what is not . You can give a deadline for the poll so that visitors may return to see results. Web polls can be set-up for FREE by visiting www.multicity.com
Newsfeeds :
Offer content that changes daily (or even more frequent). This could be news, sports info, investment info, entertainment, daily recipes, etc. You can add the very latest news to your website and target the information by topics and categories that fit your site. Newsfeeds are free and are provided by www.moreover.com
Free software
Why not provide free software downloads for your visitors. This will keep visitors at your site and if you keep the software updated you may find that you will get return visits. Also the downloads do take time to complete and this extra time at your website may result in a sale or extra lead. Free software is an ideal tool to make your site sticky as the visitor is unlikely to leave until the download is at least complete. Free software can be found at www.upload.com, being the most popular. Choose the relevant software and and make a direct download link from your site.
Provide hundreds of links to needed tools.:
Offer a service which people will need to use periodically. For example a website that compresses GIF images. Or a website with a great collection of financial tools and calculators. How about a website which displays current weather conditions. Try to come up with a service related to your industry, that will keep your prospects coming back.
Give your visitors what they want and they will keep coming back and referring their friends.