Repeat Visitors: Who They Are & How to Get Them

Attracting Repeat Visitors for Repeat Business

The number of repeat visitors is a key metric used to measure the quality and performance of your website. Each repeat visit signifies a user’s interest in your website and it’s offerings. Repeat visitors are more ready to be converted to clients, it is no wonder businesses are willing to invest time and money to identify that factors that encourage repeat visits.

This week, we are going to share some insights that may be helpful to your business in generating repeated visits.

Why Online Businesses Love Repeat Visitors

• Signal of Intent/Interest
  Having a steady stream of repeat visitors signifies that people are interested in what you have to offer. Having acknowledged this interest , businesses can devise ways to convert these interested parties into customers. (e.g. Web-promotions to entice these visitors to take action)
• Lead Nurturing
  Some products and services have longer conversion cycles. A visitor who stumbles upon your product may not convert immediately, he may take weeks or months to decide on a purchase. During this time, your website and content can play a big part in engaging him until his purchase.
• Cost Effective
  Studies have shown that it is cheaper for businesses to focus their marketing efforts on repeat visitors than it is to acquire new ones.
• Free Marketing
  A repeat visitor is more likely to recommend your products and services to friends. In turn, these new visitors will place your products and services in high-regard, since they came from a “trusted source”.

How To Encourage Repeated Visits

• Fresh Content
  The concept behind the Internet is Information, and that is the same reason why visitors will come back again and again. Successful websites update their content very frequently because they know that their visitors are hungry for quality information.
• Share your Expertise
  Your visitors value expertise and will return as long as you are ready to share it.
• Make Commitments
  Some websites have a section (i.e. articles or blog) that is updated at regular intervals. Having a weekly or monthly column (and sticking to the schedule!) will express your intention of providing quality information to your visitors regularly, and in time, they reciprocate with repeat visits.
• Providing Means to Interact
  A “Contact Us” form is a simple way to provide a level of interaction for your visitors. Once visitors are aware that it is a 2-way channel they will start to respond to your content and offer invaluable insights. In some cases, interaction can even help to create brand loyalty. More developed interaction platforms include forums or messaging systems for registered users.
• Pro-active Engagement
  If your visitors are not coming back, make them! Email Marketing is a good way to provide snippets of information from your website to your visitors. Even your email signature can be used to inform your contacts of news and updates.
• Web Visibility
  Optimize your website and content for the Search Engines. Being highly visible across many networks and partner sites makes it easier for visitors to find you. A professionally designed website inspires faith in potential clients and provides them with a smooth browsing experience.

While there are still a lot of methods you can use, this list should start you on the path to attracting repeat visitors to your website, hence increasing your online revenue!

This Year, Internet Marketing Will Be About Value

Not that it should have been otherwise previously, but with the current economic situation, businesses will find their clients less willing and able to spend like before.  The lead conversion cycle will be longer as clients have to take more time to consider alternative products and services and to find justification for spending.

Instead of taking a hard-sell approach and in the process irritating your clients, use this period to nurture leads by providing more value.  You clients and visitors will appreciate the fact that during tumultuous times,  suppliers and associates are providing valuable content and resources that may help them to reduce costs, increase productivity or make smarter decisions.  It is also a good period to educate clients about products and services and developments in your industry.

Once we tide over the tough times (which we eventually will), you will have gathered a large pool of visitors to your website who are ready to convert to clients.

Conversion Cycles

Depending on the objective of your website or the desired action (signing up for a newsletter, brochure request, purchase etc..) you may have a long or short lead-conversion cycle.

If your desired action is for visitors to fill in a form and place an order, the conversion cycle of your site may be longer than you think. The conversion cycle for purchases are broken into 3 phases:

Awareness Phase

Your visitor, by viewing your webpage is aware that you are offering a service or product.

Consideration Phase

Your visitor has the intention to purchase a product and is considering his options.

Purchase

When the actual conversion of a lead happens.

The process of ensuring that your leads eventually convert is what is known as lead nurturing.  Lead nurturing will include doing things like:

• making sure your landing pages inform visitors of what you are offering within seconds of their landing
• identifying your visitors
• regularly engaging your vistors etc.

Think of your last online purchase and what were the factors that led you back to filling the order form!