Is Your Website Like a Really Bad Blind Date?
Posted by Sandy Fitzgerald on Mon, Mar 22, 2010
Is your relationship with your website's visitors like a really bad blind date?
Everyone's been on a bad blind date at least once in his or her life. You know -- the disaster that seem to go on forever, even when you're only meeting for brunch?
You try everything you can to make conversation with the other person, only to be met with yes and no answers. Even worse, when you do talk, you don't agree on anything.
One person is conservative; the other liberal. One is a drinker; the other abstains. One smokes; the other hates smokers. It doesn't take long to realize that this relationship, even though it's only been going on for about 20 minutes, is doomed, and you decide to part ways, never to connect again.
After all, it doesn't take long after you meet someone to decide that the person is or isn't someone you with whom you want to continue a relationship.
And when you think about it, websites are like that too. Anyone who is online for any amount of time has come across sites where they just don't feel the love. If you have a website, you have about five minutes to make an impression on visitors that drop by. If they like what you have to offer, they'll stick around and learn more. But if they don't like what your site says or does, they'll go off to find their website soulmates somewhere else.
How can you attract people who will stick around on your site? Just like with that blind date, the relationships that work best are the ones where the participants are willing to give as well as take.
Not only that, but just like people, websites can have their own distinct personalities. And if your site's personality isn't likeable, you will have people who just won't come back. And to get a site visitor to take a chance - and maybe even come back for a second date - it's important that your content works hard to make a great impression.
So, if your content were, indeed, a blind date, which type would it be?
Wimpy. A wimpy site is one that never takes a stand on anything. It's content goes back and forth in a desperate attempt to make all visitors happy, but just never manages to gain respect.
Boring. This is the content that rambles on and on in an effort to sound important, but never really says much that anyone cares about.
Arrogant. Content should always try to establish the website as an expert of some kind in its field, even if it's only a website about the sleeping habits of people's cats. However, when the content writer belittles readers and makes them feel inferior, visitors will go away, never to return.
Interesting. This is the content that engages readers and makes them think. It allows for comments and sharing, and makes the readers feel that their thoughts and contributions are important to the site's success. That site needs its visitors, but visitors are made to feel that they need the site as well.
If your site's content doesn't fall under the "interesting" category, you'll find that site is spending a lot of lonely time without return visitors.
And a site that gets a lot of one-time hits is just like a person who only gets a lot of blind dates. Yes, it's getting some activity, but in the end, that site finds itself all alone.