Is Your Website Sticky?
A ‘Sticky’ website has loyal repeat visitors who spend substantial time on the site due to engaging content and/or a rewarding experience.
Empower your visitors. Design your navigation and online applications so your visitors can find what they want. Yes, the site's overall look and feel is important and, yes, your copy and content must be assured and professional. But the main mission of your site should be to make each visitor feel that he or she is in charge of the experience. That's the route to attracting customers and motivating them to return.
Here are my Top 10 Tips to build a ‘Sticky’ web site.
- Stick to the topic and stay focused on the subject matter. Build your content around your target audience and based on what you want them to do. Always tell your audience something they don’t already know.
- Differentiate yourself. Tell your (compelling) story in simple terms. State the value proposition clearly.
- Update your site regularly (10-15% of content every month). Have a ‘What’s New’ section. Change the ‘Look and Feel’ as often as possible. ‘Window Dressing’ helps get a fresh look.
- Stay Light. Keep it simple. Build an efficient site that is not heavy on download time. 6 second is an industry benchmark for optimum page download on broadband connection.
- Interact with your audience. Get a conversation going. Ask questions. Find out what your web site visitors need and give them what they want.
- Archive content. When designing or upgrading a site, it takes little additional cost and effort to add an archiving channel for press releases, investor bulletins, media clips, company fact sheets, sales presentations, product announcements, conference briefings and white papers. Add an advanced ‘Search’ functionality.
- Go Viral. Blogs, message boards, even emails can spread ideas faster than we ever hope to. The trick is to be where the conversation is. And to do that, you've got to create something they will talk about.
- Develop a mobile version. Add a ‘Blackberry compatible’ desktop interface.
- Develop an RSS newsletter with an ‘Opt-In’ subscriber database. Loyalty breeds ‘Stickyness’. Consider to reward loyal customers with an online loyalty program.
- Fine tune your content, links, and labels constantly. Use the Web site metrics as a way to monitor which pages and areas receive higher traffic, retire or rewrite those that don’t.
Finally, do not forget to add the ‘Bookmark my site’ or ‘Add to Favorites’ functionality.
Remember, a sticky website is one where a first time reader arrives and finds it difficult to leave. The Eagles said it best in 1976, in their hit song ‘Hotel California’,
“
We are programmed to receive. You can checkout any time you like, But you can never leave!”
If you are looking to develop a STICKY web site, contact
sharad@cyber-gear.com.
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