How to Interact Online

By Amy Africa 7 sure-fire techniques for creating involvement on your Web site.Are you having trouble increasing the amount of time your users spend on your site? Do you have a difficult time building up your number of drills (clicks)? If so, here are seven proven tips you can consider.1. Quiz your customers. One of the most effective ways to get your customers involved is still an old-fashioned quiz. Quizzes are good not only because they generate user involvement, but also because they offer an opportunity to learn more about your users without being threatening.For example, JoAnna Brandi, dubbed "the customer care lady," offers a Customer Sensitivity Quotient quiz on her site at www.customerretention.com. Users answer 12 yes-or-no questions about customer-retention programs and awareness.Customers who answer "yes" to all of the questions—12 for 12—get rated "Customer Service Legend." Those who score below four are put in the "penalty box." At the end of the quiz, Brandi recommends that if your score is less than 10, your customers may not be getting the care they deserve. Many sites that offer quizzes like this go a step further than Brandi's by asking the user to fill out the quiz and then type in an e-mail address to get the answers. Capturing e-mail addresses is a great way to communicate with your users on an ongoing basis.2. Try a poll. Polls are one of the most underestimated involvement-generators. Some marketers dislike polls because they think they're superficial, that they don't give enough information. Users, however, like polls because they can give their feedback anonymously, as well as find out what other site visitors are thinking. Polls tend to work best in the right-hand column of the site. Typically, you should ask only one question per poll and offer only three to five response choices. (Two sites that do a great job of polling users are www.cbs.com and www.aol.com.) After checking the appropriate answer box, the user hits "submit" and is presented with the results. If you decide to offer a poll, make sure it has a shelf life based around your repeat site traffic. Most B-to-C companies find polls should last about five days, and B-to-B companies find polls can remain fresh for about 10 days. Of course, if your traffic is heavy, the "live time" of your poll will be shorter. Effective polls often are based on your users' interests, not just the products you offer.3. Survey your customers. Finding out what your users want is one of the best ways to improve your site—and most companies don't do it nearly enough. There are two distinct types of surveys online: the long survey and the short survey.The long survey typically is a multi-question survey e-mailed to your customers and prospects or posted in a "customers only" area of your Web site. Companies that use long versions tend to survey customers once or twice a year.The short survey formula that works is a five-question survey, with four questions that are yes or no and/or multiple choice questions; the fifth is a question that allows customers to post their own editorial or comments.Unlike a poll in which users expect a summary of responses, surveys can be used for your internal purposes only. (Since you aren't going to be sharing users' replies, you often can ask them more probing questions about products or services.)The key with both types of surveys is to collect users' e-mail addresses. Once the survey is completed, pop up a page that reads "Thank you for taking the time to fill out our survey," and then send a thank-you e-mail. Many companies find that surveys are one of the best reactivation devices, especially if a discount or some other type of incentive is offered.4. Add an "ask the expert" area. Allowing users to ask an expert about your products, services, etc., on your Web site is powerful. There are two ways to go about this. One is to have your own company expert answer questions (using one voice is key). The second is to allow users to answer each others' questions. Questions and answers should be short and to the point. If you want to include supporting information, do it as a hyperlink.5. Offer a wish list. A proven technique for overcoming small user sessions and rapid drills is to allow users to put stuff in a basket for purchase or review later on. This feature allows people who are browsing and shopping (especially during work) to come back to their purchases at a more convenient time.If you are going to offer a wish list, it's best to keep the wish list open for at least a year. You also want to offer users the ability to e-mail it to themselves, or to their friends and family. Plus, you should always send a reminder to a user when a list is about to expire. There's nothing more irritating than a basket that disappears. 6. Allow customers to write reviews of your products or services. Amazon is a master at this, and there are many other companies that use user reviews effectively. Customers and prospects are encouraged to rate a product or service (usually on a star system, with one star being the worst and five stars being the best), then add comments. You should always review the comments before you post them (or, if you're really savvy, you can develop an automated tool that does this). Include the good things as well as the bad things users say. The not-so-good things often make the comments more realistic since users will get suspicious if every product gets rave reviews. They also generate involvement by people who feel differently.7. Ask a question, offer a reward. Internet users absolutely love getting something for nothing. Be sure to check out Amazon's nickel program. If you answer a question correctly, Amazon puts 5 cents in your account to go toward purchases. It's a brilliant way to educate users about benefits while also being fun and encouraging orders.And don't forget to ask for e-mail/ newsletter sign-ups in as many places as you can. Over time, many sites have gotten sloppy about collecting e-mail addresses—don't be one of them!Amy Africa is president of Creative Results. Clients range from small, entrepreneurial startups to Fortune 500 corporations. She can be reached at (802) 878-8944.

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