Having visitors come to your web site is a great thing. However, if they never return then it's like running a shop on the high street which only ever deals with each customer once (and once only). We've all been in shops or restaurants like that - the ones that trigger the, "I'll never go there again" response. We know full well what happens to these businesses - word gets around town and over a period of time they fade away.

People seem to forget this bricks-and-mortor analogy when setting up web-enabled businesses. Poorly run web-enabled businesses sometimes manage to last longer simply because they've got a much bigger initial prospect base.

So how to you encourage your (web site) visitors to return? Here's five things to think about and investigate more.
 
1) Walk a mile in their shoes
Imagine yourself in your customer's position. What is it that he or she wants to know about your business? Granted, there are terrific tools, like Wordtracker, that help you find out exactly what people are searching for, however asking yourself some basic questions can help make your site seem a lot more friendly. The key here is to deliver stuff that people really want - not what you think they want.

2) If it hasn't been tested, it doesn't work
People don't return to sites that have broken links and buttons that don't work. The equivalent in bricks-and-mortor terms would be returning to a shop that was poorly laid out, with merchandise on the floor, blocking some aisles.

3) Get your microscope and focus clearly on the thing you do
Take the standard Google interface as a classic example. We all know that as a company Google has expanded its offerings to include many new and exciting developments - however, at the core, Google is still a search engine. What's their standard interface? A search box. It couldn't be much simpler. Look at Twitter's interface and you'll see a similar approach - the answer to one question, "What are you doing now?"

4) There's no social hierarchy on the 'net
We all make instant judgments about people and faced with a room full of (potential) prospects, we'll all make snap decisions about who to approach first, and why. There's a temptation to build web sites in a similar way - targeting then very strongly to one, very specific, ideal prospect. However, that fact is that anybody at all can view your site - it might be your ideal prospects boss, best friend, lover, or worst enemy. Set out with the intent of treating all visitors fairly and equally and giving them the information they want.

5) There's nothing quite like home delivery
Remember the days when the baker and butcher offered home delivery? It was an excellent way for them to lock-in their customer base, when at the same time offering a valuable service. Today you can achieve a similar result by using RSS readers on your web site. These are free and will deliver your information to those people who actual want to read it - so you're no longer dependant on them actually visiting your site.