Securing Visitors Sailing the Seven C’s

Webmasters are too often too focused on obtaining new visitors and miss the boat on building relationships to retain visitors.

Returning visitors are vital to the success of a website, and in order to do so, webmasters need to navigate the seven C’s.

Building a relationship with your site’s visitors is not rocket science, but many websites fail in this area; this presents a prime opportunity to be exploited by site owners who are serious about succeeding. Every website is different; selling is not every site’s mission. Some websites are information only, for entertainment purposes, or merely online brochures. Every website though wants and needs to attract traffic, but they also need repeat traffic.

There are benefits to repeat visitors, namely consistent traffic, developing relationships with your visitors, and securing more chances to make sales. Marketing 101 tells us that word of mouth advertising is the most powerful form of publicity – a repeat visitor with whom you have developed a strong relationship will tell others time and again.

By providing your visitors with free services, fresh content, and a reason to return to your site, you’re building a relationship and trust. If your visitors trust you and the advice you give, you have more chances of making the sales, retaining the customer (visitor) for life, and get more referrals to your site through their word of mouth recommendations.

Unlike the early days of the Web, people are not merely doing curiosity surfing; now they are going to the Internet for specific reasons. More over, web surfers today have seen and learned enough to know what a website should offer; they are more insistent, expecting and purposeful in their use of the Internet.

Making the grade for your website should be focused on getting good, solid C’s:

Clear– Confused visitors are lost visitors; be sure not to confuse them, stating your points clearly and concisely. Help your website visitors find what they’re looking for without having to hunt for it.

Content – it’s what is on your site that likely got the visitor there in the first place; they came because of the content, so make it readable, fitting, valuable, and well-written. Web visitors are not looking to be sold; they are looking to be informed. You have less than ten seconds to lure your visitor and convince them that your site’s content is what they’re looking for; don’t copycat, get creative.

Consistent – don’t confuse your visitors with varying elements and formats; maintain an organized look and feel throughout your site. Easy navigation without major surprises will keep your visitors feeling comfortable with their surroundings, and after a few visits to your site, they will develop expectations of familiarity – don’t disappoint them.

Convenient – your site needs to be easy to find, easy to use and easy to navigate. Finding information on your site should be equally easy, using a good hierarchy of file structures, and navigation; building in a site search, sitemap, and static menus can go a long way in this area.

Credible – whether you’re a large business or a one person managed site, the look and feel of your site should be distinct, professional and logical. Be the expert in subject of your site and stick to that expertise. If you want to diversify, partner with other sites or launch new ones of your own and connect them through linking.

Current - keep it up-to-date, of high quality, engaging, readable and on topic; give them a reason to come back for more in the future.

Cogent – this employs both common uses of the word: appealing to the mind or to reason; convincing. Saving this “C” for last should bring your goals to successful culmination. To be appealing to need to have clarity, content, convenience, and to be convincing you’ll need to be current, consistent and credible. If you’ve successfully sailed the first six “C’s” along the way, the final “C” is your confirmatory conclusion for a job well done.

Attracting new visitors is important to a website, but retaining visitors is paramount to success. Repeat visitors are a steady stream of traffic and an awesome selling force through word of mouth advertising; catch the boat – sail the seven C’s!

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