WHAT MAKES A WEB SITE STICKY? The thrust of your site is to create an enjoyable and satisfying experience for your visitors. You do this from the moment they click in to the moment they click out. Here are a few pointers you can use in designing your site: 1. Make It Attractive and Consistent Appearance is the first thing visitors notice. The look of your site sets the tone for their visit. Right away, people will judge your site as professional or amateurish, as funny or serious, as warm or cold, and so on. Keep your site consistent with a uniform appearance. Use the same backgrounds, colors, navigation menu, and site logo throughout your pages. Consistency helps your visitors remember who you are and gives your site an easily recognizable brand. 2. Immediately Tell Visitors What You Have To Offer A sure way to turn visitors away is by not immediately telling them what you've got for them. They want to know now. They don't want to hunt for it or click out of your home page to find out. Unless you already have brand recognition, don't assume people know who you are and what you have for them. 3. Consistently Deliver Value If you promise the moon, you'd better make sure your rope is long enough to lasso it down. Building up your visitor's expectations without delivering value is a sure way to ruin your reputation. Provide your target audience with information they need and the value they deserve. 4. Keep Your Site Fresh Does your audience have a reason to return to your site? Update and rotate your content to keep 'em coming back. Keep your site fresh with new services, products and information that addresses the needs of your target audience. You can make things interesting by offering time sensitive discounts on your existing products, or invite people to participate in a contest or sweepstakes. 5. Make Your Site Interactive People love to get their hands dirty. Provide them with ways to interact with your site to make their experience enjoyable. Add a poll, host a discussion board, guestbook, etc...
RSS feeds are a great way to make a website sticky! Give people a reason to click through on items of interest and return to your site.