I was waiting for a stop light to turn green yesterday and saw a car wash nearby. I noticed a car wash employee waving at me and pointing at the different cars that had just come out of the car wash. The cars looked beautiful because they were clean. This employee had just shown me how that car wash place could address my need to wash my car. It was a combination of simple and amazing marketing, telling me what I could get by showing me the results others were getting. That made me think of something: if a business can show a potential customer how other customers are benefitting from something, a website can also put emphasis on showing new visitors how other people are enjoying the site.
A human being likes doing what other humans like to do
A website is a showcase of what one wants to offer. If users see how other people trust your site, they will be attracted to the idea of trusting your site too. It is human nature; if a group of people engage in some activity, many other people around them will start getting interested in the same activity also. It is something that Firefox and Internet Explorer [IE] fans unconsciously keep in mind almost everyday when they try to convince people to use their browser. Firefox fans usually talk about how millions of people are switching to their browser while IE fans usually talk about how the number of current IE users overshadows the current number of Firefox users.
Show how the community interacts with your site
You can do the same thing that the car wash employee did and what the Firefox and IE fans do on a regular basis. You can try to create a sense of a visible community in some manner, even if your blog talks about the advantages of not having any kind of community in the world. Whether it is through showing the latest comments by others on every page or allowing users to interact with one another, you can show new visitors how your current and past site readers treated your site. Showing how the community interacts with your site is like showing your site visitors a feedback rating that shows what others think of your site. This will allow your site visitors to feel comfortable and develop a sense of trust in your site, and thus in you.
Conclusion : show people how others feel about your site
Give your site visitors reasons to give you a chance. Show them how others are enjoying your site or even disagreeing with it. I did not get the car wash yesterday because I had to run around taking care of other things. Just because someone showed me how other customers are satisfied with a business does not mean I am going to jump in and stick around also. The same thing may happen with your site too. Some people will stay, while others will have to move on due to various reasons. You just have to keep giving users reasons to start liking and keep using your site by telling them how others are using your website.
As for the car wash, the car will get one soon. I am sure.
« Show less..
