The Concept of Developing Loyalty

Attracting potential new clients with promotional tools is essential, but that does not mean that loyal customers should be neglected. Studies have shown that it is more profitable to pamper loyal visitors that to look for new ones.

The goal of developing loyalty is to satisfy visitors so that they come back and even become "ambassadors" of the website by singing its praises.

Generally, Internet users will return to a website if they are satisfied with its content and if their overall feeling is positive. Nevertheless, it is possible that users will end up forgetting that the website exists. Moreover, it is essential to listen to visitors, take into account their comments and improve the content and services that are available to them.

There are several techniques that can maximise the probability that a visitor will remember a website and visit it more regularly.

Persistent Identity

A website with a strong identity because of a unique catchy look, an easily remembered distinctive name and possibly a logo or a mascot will have a strong chance of having an impact on visitors.

Everything must be in place so that visitors associate the website and its colours with a name and so that they will have the impulse to return when they are again interested in the website's subject.

Newsletter

A newsletter is an email sent regularly to subscribers to keep them informed of changes to the website and new developments.

A form must exist to allow all visitors to the website to sign up for this service. A website should clearly indicate how often newsletters are sent and its purpose (i.e. the type of information being sent).

Moreover, considering the collection of information, it might be necessary to register with CNIL if subscriber information is saved.

The newsletter must be throughly proofread before it is sent to subscribers. Do not hesitate to copy and paste it into a tool with a spellchecker. Moreover, checking all the newsletter's hypertext links one by one is highly recommended.

Finally, there must be a link below the letter that allows subscribers to unsubscribe with one simple click. Failing that, the recipient must have a way to unsubscribe by simply responding to an clearly indicated email address.

Favorites

Favorites (sometimes called bookmarks) are a way to store web addresses directly in a browser.

Most browsers have a shortcut (CTRL+D) for inserting a website into the favorites bookmarks). Do not hesitate to encourage visitors to add the website to their favorites.

Recommend the Website to a Friend

More and more websites offer tools that allow people to spread the word about a website or one of its pages by recommending it. A form must be set up so that a user can encourage friends and family members to visit the page that he or she is visiting.

On the one hand, this type of tool is one way of developing a website's audience by allowing Internet users to show their acquaintances the website. It is also a way for Internet users to email the address to themselves in order to remember it.

Email Service

A good way to ensure that visitors will return is by setting up a service that will keep visitors informed of changes to a specific section via email.

Last update on Thursday October 16, 2008 02:43:14 PM.This document entitled « Webmastering - Developing Visitor Loyalty » from Kioskea (en.kioskea.net) is made available under the Creative Commons license. You can copy, modify copies of this page, under the conditions stipulated by the licence, as this note appears clearly.