December 7th, 2008

13 Ways A Business Can Retain Visitors On Website

Research in customer behaviour on the internet suggests that an average visitor to a website will more than likely remain on the website for less than 30 seconds. A website is important for a business and it is common for businesses today to have an active ongoing marketing strategy for their website.  In order for a business to improve conversion rates it is important to ensure customers remain on the website long and do not leave for competitor’s websites.

Achieving a higher conversion rate whether it is a direct sale from the website or an initial enquiry, it is one of the key factors for a business. There are a number of factors that affect conversion rate of a website. A website’s usability is important as it ensures users remain on the website and are able to find the information they are looking for. This article discusses the important factors that can improve a website’s conversion rate.
There are a number of ways for a company to attract visitors to its website. However ensuring that customers remain on the website is important for it on a webs success.

This article discusses some ways in which a website can retain customers to improve conversion rates:

1.    A Simple but professional design. A professionally designed website is important as customers tend to navigate away from poorly designed websites quickly without reviewing information. A modern design on the other hand improves the chances of customers spending time to review the information on the website . Attention.

2.    Keep Website free of Clutter

As we are aware that website visitors will decide in the first few seconds whether to remain on the website or leave, it is vital that the information on the website is presented in a clutter free manner which is easy for the user to review. If the user leaves the website and is not impressed the n for visiting again is negligible. Website users are aware of the importance of providing content on the site and sometimes tend to fill a page with too much keyword rich content to promote better ranking. This can sometimes make the website cluttered and drive users away.

3. Create trust among customers. It is important for customers and vistors to website to trust the business in order for them to enquire or buy products or services form the business. There are a number of ways in which a business create trust via their website. Accuracy of information, testimonials and professional design are some ways. It for generating leads and sales.

4. Good Quality content. Content is one of the most important elements of a website. If a website does not offer quality content then it is difficult for it to retain users for long periods of time. Customers will not remain on a website which offers poor quality content. Information should be up to date and updated on a regular basis.

5. Provide detailed information. Promoting products and services is one of the key objectives of a successful company website. Research suggests that offering detailed descriptions and images about a product tends to improve the chances of sale via the website. This especially important on the internet as customers have to decide based solely on the product information available to them. It is better to provide more information rather than provide only the important ones. If there is too much information it can easily be separated into brief and detailed descriptions for the products.

6. Offer free articles and tips. This is useful technique used by many successful website across the world.By offering free tips and articles to customers on their website a business can encourage them to remain on the website and also visit again in future.

7. Website should be easy to navigate. It is crucial for the website to be easy to use by customers. Customers who visit should be able to find information easily without any confusion. The menu on the website should be in a prominent place and easy to use. Consistency should be maintained across all pages of the website. Additional navigation aids such breadcrumb trail or sitemap are other methods to supplement the menu.

8. Use pictures. Pictures and images can improve the visual appeal of a website. Too many words can reduce the overall appeal. A balanced use of images and graphics with text in the content can help by making the content interesting for the user to read.

9. Involve  and interact with the customer. Interacting and involving customer feedback is important for a successful website. There are many ways to ensure this. Customer feedback forms are useful and used by many websites to get feedback form customers.  Blogs and forums are other features that have become popular.

10. Offer a wide range of content. It is important for the website to provide a wide range of information to customers. In addition to information about the business and products, other information related to the business should be offered that could be of interest to users.  There is only so much information a customer will find useful related to your business. It has proved successful for websites to offer additional information as it generates interest among visitors who tend to spend more time on the website.

11. Build email list. Email marketing is one of the most powerful forms of advertising available today.  It is easy to collect email address of visitors on the website. This can be done easily via a email registration form on website.

12. Allow visitors to bookmark your website. Providing a simple link or graphic ina prominent place of the website can have a surprisingly great impact on number of visitors bookmarking the website. This is very easy to do and will promote repeat visits to your website.

13. Use statistics to improvise. Website reporting applications such as Google Analytics offer a useful insight into website metrics and customer behaviour on the website. The information should be used to improve the website.

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