Seven Steps to Better Online Community
If you are in an online business with your own web site, it
would help greatly to build an online community with your
visitors. The pathway to a good online community is to build
trust in your visitors, your future customers. Here's a simple
formula to get you started.
Sweep the "front walk" each day as you begin work. On your site
check for "broken links" (links that don't go where you intended
for them to go) and fix them. Test your opening page's load
time. Remove or reduce any images that seem to slow it down.
(Reducing images is a matter of having a service analyze your
site for images it can cut down in number of bites. A good
source for this is Spinwave Image Crunchers,
http://www.spinwave.com/crunchers.html.)
Ensure your visitors' return. Spot-check your copy for errors
that may have escaped you previously. Freshen your copy
regularly and somewhere on your page promise weekly updates.
Insert a "this site last updated [date]" statement and keep it
current.
Provide interactivity to your visitors-ways for them to
communicate with you. The two easiest methods are a simple
"comments" email link and an online survey. There are several
sites that write interactive forms for just a link back to their
site. The one I use on my site is Freedback.com,
http://www.freedback.com.
Respond to your prospects as they write in. Answer each email or
send a thank you for each survey responded to with a personal
email of your own. Personalize any and all outgoing
communication. You may even add a personal touch to auto
responder messages. Let your customers know you are there to
help. If your product is the solution to their desire, all's the
better. But if you need to refer them elsewhere, don't be afraid
to find where to send them and do so. Your reputation as an
honest, sincere businessperson will grow as a result.
When you make sales, be sure and thank your customer personally
for their purchase. Here's a great opportunity to make
"back-end" sales. Offer them coupons or special prices on your
other products. Ask for questions or concerns and a testimonial
from your customer. They will no doubt tell others about you and
your high level of trust.
These are just a few steps on the pathway to online community
and trust. As your knowledge and skills improve, no doubt you
will learn more about this topic. But do look for ways to foster
trust in your prospects and customers. In so doing relationships
with them develop that will improve your online efforts over and
over.