5 Ways to Keep Visitors Coming Back

[TriedAndTested]

A lot of successful websites depend on returning visitors to account for a major part of their traffic. Returning visitors are easier to convert into paying customers because the more often they return to a site, the more trust they have in that site. The credibility issue just melts away. Hence, keep your visitors coming back to your site with the following methods:

1) Start a forum, chatroom or shoutbox

When you start a forum, chatroom or shoutbox, you are providing your visitors a place to voice their opinions and interact with their peers -- all of them are visitors of your site. As conversations build up, a sense of community will also follow and your visitors will come back to your site almost religiously every day.

2) Start a web log (blog)

Keep an online journal, or more commonly known as a blog, on your site and keep it updated with latest news about yourself. Human beings are curious creatures and they will keep their eyes glued to the monitor if you post fresh news frequently. You will also build up your credibility as you are proving to them that there is also a real life person behind the website.

3) Carry out polls or surveys

Polls and surveys are other forms of interaction that you should definitely consider adding to your site. They provide a quick way for visitors to voice their opinions and to get involved in your website. Be sure to publish polls or surveys that are strongly relevant to the target market of your website to keep them interested to find out about the results.

4) Hold puzzles, quizzes and games

Just imagine how many office workers procrastinate at work every day, and you will be able to gauge how many people will keep visiting your site if you provide a very interesting or addicting way of entertainment. You can also hold competitions to award the high score winner to keep people trying continuously to earn the prize.

5) Update frequently with fresh content

Update your site frequently with fresh content so that every time your visitors come back, they will have something to read on your site. This is the most widely known and most effective method of attracting returning visitors, but this is also the least carried out one because of the laziness of webmasters. No one will want to browse a site that looks the same over ten years, so keep your site updated with fresh bites!

 

[xpl0iter]

Moved!

 

[Martee]

I agree with the comment about the chatbox but what would say is the right time and place to add one in? As most people who will read this will probably own forums not 'sites' per se, they will be concerned about their visitors and post count on the forum overall. Many people will tell you that adding a chatbox will detract the posting activity and just keep members in the chatbox rather than getting out and posting.

I see where they are coming from but I see where a chat box can help a forum in the ways you've said. So, when is the best time to add a chatbox in your view?

 

[Webmaster Boss]

I disagree with the shoutbox, it's very unappealing.

 

[Martee]

I disagree with the shoutbox, it's very unappealing.

Depends on the forum though surely. I can see forums where a shout-box wouldn't be needed but on the forum I run which is a Runescape orientated forum, our members are calling for one so they can use it to chat about methods, PK'ing and all that stuff. It's just a matter of having the right community area and adding it in at the right time so not to devalue the community post count.

 

[xpl0iter]

Well said Haze.
Chatbox on a gaming related forum is kind of a must have!

 

[flame]

i must admit as far as chatboxes go i have just found some in my opinion awesome software that can be added free to phpBB and myBB and possibly others. http://www.123flashchat.com/ - you can also pay for it as a stand alone software

it adds the chat as a separate room rather than a box and the functionality is way better than a shout box - i found it through actually chatting on a site that uses it.

while i appreciate that chat is not good for all forums some it is a bonus for and i think if you are building a community with more stuff than just a forum this has to be a good thing to add

 

[ford1001]

I agree with all of the points, with the chat box however I would usually have a separate page for the chatbox rather than it being on the homepage.

 

[Naiwen]

I do keep an online journal, and people do flock to my site... and find it interesting.

 

[Ghost]

Staying relevant to today's times (last tip about fresh content) is definitely helpful! And making sure that users remain interactive with your site and other members is essential.
Good tips this will definitely help people out

 

[pathankp]

thanks bro i agree with You.
nice info...!

 

[wasi90lk]

You have mentioned some very good points.

It is not hard to get traffic, but it is quite hard to get visitors to come back over and over.

 

[kekko]

yes

 

[MyDigitalpoint]

I was the kind of webmaster that always added a shoutbox in both websites and forums, before Web 2.0 became popular and people really enjoyed them.

In fact, I used to include this feature in early blog projects too, but later I removed this option due to spam, and having found scripts that required captcha or some kind of human verification seemed not to work as they used to work driving visitors back.

However, perhaps it's time for me to consider a shoutbox because they really work when it comes to drive traffic and returning traffic.

 

[eagle22]

Those 5 ways really will make visitors come back, but I would add one more. I would put an email capture form on your site so you can send them emails every time you write a new article.

 

[Alexis]

I will not use all these methods to keep visitors coming back. There are methods such as forums and chat which make users spend time on site but add to your tasks. I prefer quality content and a domain name easy to be remembered.

 

[lludawg]

A good idea for the web log is to use vlogs! Video logs updated every couple days will definitely entice your viewers to come back often. Also, many people would rather watch a video than read about it.

 

[Jordan]

A good idea for the web log is to use vlogs! Video logs updated every couple days will definitely entice your viewers to come back often. Also, many people would rather watch a video than read about it.

Another one that could have been added to the list. Nicely done!
However, if you do go this route, be sure to include a text version of the video for SEO reason!