Originally published in SiteProNews, October 05, 2007
Whenever you go to a website, you’re looking for one of two things: to buy something you’ve bought before or something new that you will buy. When you visit a website for the first time, you want to see that there is value in coming to that website over the others that are on the internet. So, knowing this, as an online business website, how can you offer this value to your next website visitor? Here are three ways to make their visit worth their while.
Give Good Information for Free
If you create a website that offers only the basic amount of information, you’re going to have visitors that are confused. While they can get to your products and to your contact pages, they’re wondering what else you can offer them for free. The truth is that website visitors want to get as much as their can from a website before they even spend a cent in most cases. For example, when you visit a news website, you look at all the stories before you would even consider signing up for a subscription to their forums or up to date news, right? This is the same situation for any website.
To help encourage your visitors to do more with your website, you need to create the sense that they are getting something for free – just for stopping by. Here are some ideas:
Newsletter signups – If you can offer your visitors a good newsletter on a regular basis (either via email or on your site), you will help to create a connection between your customers and your business. This will work well to keep your customers in the know, while also helping to give them something for free. The only thing to keep in mind is that this information needs to be relevant and not just a bunch of sales jargon. Free articles – By having regular free articles on your site that other websites or visitors can use, you will help to spread the word about your site (be sure to include your web address on the articles) as well as give good information to your site visitors.
Make Them an Offer They Can’t Refuse
Too often, websites will only give out special offers to customers that are buying something or who have already bought something. Do something different by offering freebies without any other strings attached. These might be free samples, free eBooks, or anything else that you can give away that is related to your products.
Of course, you can also offer discounts on purchases and create subsequent discounts for future purchases as well. This will show that you value customer loyalty and that you are eager for them to come back.
Acknowledge Your Competition
While it might be tempting to criticize your competition, a better strategy is to offer discounts that match their prices – when you’re both selling the same items. This will help your customers see that you are aware that you might not always offer the best price, but that you are willing to do whatever it takes for a customer to come to you instead of ‘the other guy.’
You might also want to create a clear listing of the differences between your competition and your own website to help customers make the right decision for their purchases, without looking disparaging.
When you want to create value on your website, you need to remember what the customer considers valuable – discounts, freebies, and information. The more you can offer in these categories, the better you will look to your new customers.
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