5 ways to make your e-commerce site 'sticky'

A "sticky" e-commerce site translates into an online store with staying power.

Your business may attract curious browsers. But it’s the "stickiness" quotient that will determine how long they hang out and how many pages they actually explore.

Gaining some extra time and attention from an online shopper can make all the difference between a buy and going bye-bye. Plus, sticky sites are more likely to motivate return visits, which, over time, create loyal and repeat customers.

Stickiness alone doesn’t do the job, of course. You also must offer something your target customer wants.

But all things being equal, if your retail site isn’t sticky, you won’t get a chance to define the preferences of your best customers. Prospects will click off faster than you can say "shopping cart."

Here are five proven ways, plus a few bonus alternatives, to get online shoppers to stick around long enough to click through your pages, make it to checkout counter, and return to shop again.

1. Showcase your goods.   Online retailers often think that placing their bestsellers at the bottom of pages or buried deep in the site will lure prospects into a treasure hunt. Guess again. Experts say you have less than 30 seconds to persuade visitors not to click off. The entire Web is a shopper’s showroom, and buyers will simply move on if they don’t quickly see what they want. Place clear descriptions and images of your popular products in the most prominent positions possible, including on your home page. You can always offer more details on inside pages.
2. Reach the casual visitor.   Before those 30 seconds have gone by, your visitors should understand the benefits of landing on your site. Make sure your home page and landing pages explain, in concise language, what a customer gains when buying from your company. Buyers will respond to honest information about how to save money or time, ways to make their work and lives easier, methods for improving income, or how they can look or feel better. Benefits do not mean three different sizes of a sweater.
3. Build confidence and simplify navigation.   The more quickly a casual visitor can trust you, the better your chance to convert their clicks into sales. That trust comes from a combination of elements, including: guarantees about quality, clear policies about customer privacy, returns, and refunds, and the subliminal influence of design. The goal is to make shoppers feel at ease.

   For instance, e-commerce convention puts the company logo on the upper left. Shopping carts and registry or log-on links are on the right, either in the upper corner or in the right-hand column. Navigation tools typically stack on the left side, or sometimes run across the top.

   You need really good reasons to diverge from this design. Unusual layouts or navigation can signal inexperience, suspicious business practices, or simply a feeling of landing on foreign territory. Imagine, for instance, how you’d feel if you were in a supermarket that displayed produce in different aisles rather than in one area.

   Don't forget to include prominent home-page links for common pages such as "About us," "Contact us," "Company history," and the like. These signposts telegraph a serious, established business, which will help develop trust in first-time visitors.

4. Make your content cool and hot.   Quality content is a necessity, but that can mean an incredibly broad range of things, including, for starters:
   
   
   • Timely how-to articles
   • Irresistible puzzles or contests
   • Amusing video clips
   • Informative monthly webcasts or podcasts
   • High-level industry white papers
   • E-mail newsletters with expert tips, special offers, or discounts
   • Concise product descriptions
   • Persuasive customer testimonials
   • Instant messaging for real-time response to customer questions
   • Brand avatars that act as site tour guides or interact with customers
   • Discussion forums for user comments or feedback
   • Reviews by customers and/or experts
   • Expert-written blogs

   The types of content that will resonate with your visitors depend on what you sell and the profile of your preferred customer. To research what works, check out your competitors’ sites to see what they do. Also, survey people who represent your best customer to identify what appeals to them.

   Once you’ve made some decisions, make sure you update and refresh your content on a regular basis. You want to give buyers reasons to return.

5. Keep checking the "shelves."   After you launch your site, regularly change your offerings (if only by alternating featured products) and review which pages and products pull the most interest, through a site analytics tool. Then you can refine your navigation or promote your lead sellers accordingly. (The Reports feature in Microsoft Office Live Small Business can help you analyze the customer traffic patterns on your site.)

Other "sticky" options include:  

• Developing intuitive site-search functionality;
• Creating a weekly or monthly offer that attracts visitors to return by offering a discount offer or the appeal of new content, and;
• Rewarding visitors who buy or register personal information with discounts, freebies, or an exclusive trial of a new service or offering.

Whichever sticky elements you choose, don’t forget that your goal is to make every visitor to your site feel comfortable and connected.

About the author   Joanna L. Krotz is the founder of Muse2Muse Productions, a custom content company for business and consumer magazines, newsletters, and digital imprints. Krotz has launched marketing Web sites and e-news portals, as well as created magazines and online marketing for a variety of companies. She is co-author of The Microsoft Small Business Kit, a 500-page guide to launching and running a small business.