Wednesday, 4 April 2012

5 Tips For Getting More Repeat Visitors to Your Website

Getting more repeat visitors is an admirable goal for any website. For one, you don’t rely on the ever-changing whims of Google for repeat visitors. Secondly, repeat visitors are more loyal, which means they are more likely to click on your ads and are more likely to recommend you to other people. And finally, more repeat visitors is a sign that you are building a unique, useful and well-received website.

Increasing repeat visitors is not terribly complicated, but it does require effort. 
You can’t just write keyword-stuffed articles for the sake of search engine rankings; you have to actually put time and effort into your website. If you’re willing to take on the challenge, here are five simple tips to get more repeat visitors.

1. Write quality content

I’m guessing this is no surprise to you. Quality content is still the name of the game. You can have the ugliest website in the world, but if your content is good enough, people will return. Quality content entices people to bookmark your website and check back regularly for updates.

What I mean by quality content is content that is written for the user and not just for search engines. Always write with your visitors in mind first. Give your visitors what they want and it will pay off in the long run. If search engine rankings are your only concern when you produce new content, you’re not going to be putting out good content. 

Quality content is genuinely useful for the readers. It is content that is compelling, honest and unique. You can tackle everyday subjects, but add your own voice to the mix. Express your opinions and come across as a unique person with a unique view. One of the most common mistakes I see from new internet marketers is a tendency to write like a third-person corporate robot. Forget what you learned in English class; go visit popular websites in your industry and notice how they write.



2. Allow Comments
Trust me; I know how tempting it is to not allow comments at all. Not only do comments force you to waste time dealing with spam, but anonymous commenters can be brutal. They’ll bash your website, bash your article and bash whatever product you were recommending. But even so, comments are great for getting repeat visitors.

Comments show that you’re not afraid to open your work up for criticism. This shows that you are confident in your work and that you’re willing to hold open conversations with your readers. That increases the trust factor dramatically. If you write controversial content, people will comment back and forth on your website and have reasons to return to your website later.

Comments aren’t for every website, though. Corporate websites and sites that just sell things directly to consumers don’t normally benefit from commenting. The best websites for comments are those that publish articles regularly and try to engage the audience. Affiliate websites and AdSense websites are great candidates for comments.


3. Don’t Be Afraid to Link Out
It’s amazing how scared some webmasters are to link out. Linking out to quality websites once again shows confidence in your own website and it tells visitors that you are writing for their benefit, not for your own benefit. Your visitors are not going to just leave your website forever and forget about you if you link out to quality websites. In fact, your visitors will probably remember you as a great resource.

As a side benefit, it is generally accepted that linking out to good websites is helpful for search engine optimization. It increases the trust factor that your website has with Google. Wikipedia links out to multiple websites at the bottom of every single page and yet it still ranks well for countless terms.



4. Provide Something Useful and Unique
One of the best ways to turn your website into a visitor magnet is to provide something that is both useful and unique. Give your visitors something they like that they can’t get anywhere else. It can be some kind of specialized calculator, a tool to help them accomplish something or just exceptionally high quality content. 

The internet is so big that you can start a new article on almost any topic and there’s a good chance that topic has already been discussed elsewhere. Don’t just rehash old ideas; give your visitors a reason to come back to YOUR website. It doesn’t matter if you specialize in
online file storage, movie reviews or video games; you need to find a way to stand out from the crowd.


5. Update Your Website Regularly
Static content is fun because it can make money on autopilot, but you have to update your website regularly if you want to attract repeat visitors. Add new posts regularly and your visitors will be more inclined to check back with you at a later date.

A side benefit of adding new content is that you increase your website’s presence in search engines. The more pages you have up, the more search terms you hit. You reach more first-time visitors that you can then turn into repeat visitors.

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