Everyone knows this: the longer your visitors stay on your web
site, the more likely they are to buy something. The longer
they stay, the more trust they develop in your business, the
more comfortable they will become ordering from you.

So, how can you keep them on your site longer? Well, there are
the wicked ways (opening the pop-up windows every 5 seconds or
posting a dirty picture, which might keep the visitors longer
but not very likely will make them trust you). And there are
the nice and smart ways to achieve the longer-staying visitors.

1) Articles

People LOVE getting free stuff. Free articles are even better,
because they are helpful and tell more about the person who
wrote them. Every article brings your visitors closer to you
personally, while providing them with helpful information.
When using other people's articles, always write a brief forward
or your opinion about the topic - this will ensure that you
agree with the author and are endorsing this article.

2) Stories

Stories can be funny, sad, philosophical, or simply about how
you got started in your business. They will not only keep
your visitors longer, but will bring more people by a
word-of-mouth method. When I came across http://www.timroot.com,
I couldn't help but telling everyone I know about how funny his
site is! If you are up for a good laugh, visit Tim and click on
"About Tim" link.

3) Forum

A message board filled with interesting and informative posts is
a terrific magnet for your visitors! Sometimes I might spend a
whole hour on an online forum, if the messages are of interest to
me. A good and busy forum will also create a strong sense of
community on your web site and will generate a lot of repeat
visitors. Adding a forum is as simple as signing up with
http://www.Network54.com and inserting a few lines of code into
your web page.

5) Poll or Survey

My husband is not exactly savvy on the Internet. He only reads
the news and sometimes does the research for his college papers.
But every time there is a poll on a site, he will post his
opinion and read what others are saying about the topic. People
always want to know what others think about a subject that
interests them. Come up with a few interesting polls and add a
new one to your web site every week. Use the free service
from http://www.Bravenet.com or http://www.Pollit.com

6) Submit Your Site

If it's appropriate for your web site, allow your visitors to
submit their web sites to your directory. It will not only
keep your visitors longer, but will make them come back to
check out theirs and their competitors listings. Make sure
that the sites submitted are relevant to the overall theme of
your web site, so not to make it's not just another "dump" of
links.

7) Audio Greeting

A great way to entertain your visitors is an audio greeting.
It can be a welcome message, or a site tour. Simply download
the free Real Producer from http://www.realnetworks.com and
record your voice. Remind your visitors that they have to have
the Real Player (http://www.real.com) to listen to your audio
message.

8) Flash Movie

Animated movies are a terrific way of pulling your visitors
into your web site. And now with CoffeeCup's Firestarter, you
can make your own Flash animation in minutes! Just go to
http://www.coffeecup.com and download their free version.
Open the program, enter some text, add a few animation effects
and create a web page - all won't take you more than 20 minutes.

9) Take a quiz

A quiz is a fun and informative way of keeping your visitors
on your site. Creating a quiz is easy - just come up with
10-20 questions related to the theme of your web site. Then
go to the free web tools such as
http://www.alxnet.com/services/quiz and sign up for their
quiz services. When they give you the HTML code, insert it
into your web page. That's it! You can find more web sites
that offer free quiz tool by searching Google.com for "quiz
for a web site".

10) Staff Introduction

I always like reading about people behind a web site. Some
stories are so funny and ridiculous, that it's impossible to
stop reading. Have a photograph and a fun story about everyone
who is a part of your web business. And if you are a
one-person business, tell a funny and creative story about
yourself. Pretend you are on a stage and every sentence you
say has to make your audience laugh. Well, at least that
always works for me :-)



About the Author
Milana Nastetskaya is a professional web developer
and the author of "Create Your First Busines Web
Site in 10 days" and "65 Instant Web Design Answers".
http://www.firstbusinesswebsite.com
http://www.instantwebanswers.com