Is your website Sticky

Sticky and Sweet is Tasty

Is Your Website Sticky?

Back in the good old days, reaching the top of the search results for a target keyword was a relatively simple task. We knew that Google (along with the other major search engines) looked at a number of fairly simple metrics to work out how closely your site matched a given keyword, and it didn’t take a rocket scientist to game the system. In many cases it was simply a matter of stuffing your site with your target keyword and directing a few external links to your content.

We know what needs to appear on your site to gather interest.

The landscape today, as we’ve seen in the aftermath of the massive Panda and Penguin algorithm updates, is vastly different. Google is becoming smarter, sharper and less forgiving of the old techniques that used to work so well. Today, while it still doesn’t hurt to consider keywords and external links, a site needs to offer something special to climb to the top of the rankings. Brute force no longer works.

RANKINGS WILL MAKE OR BREAK YOUR SITE MY FRIEND.

So what works today? Well, that’s the wrong question. A better question would be ‘what will work tomorrow?’. Whether we like it or not it’s companies like Google that shape the Internet. Google controls the flow of traffic, and it decides what we see. If you want to succeed in the online arena you need to think about what Google wants. What does it want today, and in which direction will it take the Internet tomorrow?

The answer is simple. Google wants to promote sites that offer a great user experience. It wants to present the sort of relevant, compelling content that will keep users returning to Google day after day. There is no benefit to Google in promoting spammy, irrelevant content (if that’s all it did nobody would ever use Google) so we can guess that the long term goal – the point of all these algorithm updates – is to sort the wheat from the chaff.

So how do you create a great user experience? Well, you simply have to make your site ‘sticky’.
Wait, what?

What is a ‘Sticky’ Site?

Get Sticky and Make Money

Well, stickiness can refer to two things. The first meaning of stickiness is the ‘returnability’ of a site – i.e. the features it offers that will attract a visitor back time and time again, turning a single visit into repeat business. The second meaning is how much the site ‘sticks out’ from the crowd – i.e. the ways in which the site differentiates itself from every other site in its niche.

We know how to make people come back to your Custom Design Web Site again and again.

Again and again is good right?

As Google evolves its algorithms and becomes more adept at identifying valuable, interesting and relevant content it will become more important by the day to build sites that offer something unique. The webmasters who start building this content today will find themselves head and shoulders above the competition tomorrow.
So, if you take away just one point from this article it’s this: the thin site is dead. The only way to succeed long term is to add value.

So How Do I Create a Sticky Site?

Let us get you all wet and sticky

The beautiful thing is that it doesn’t have to be hard to add a little stickiness to a site. There are lots of ways to transform a dull, dry website into something a little more valuable and compelling, and regardless of your niche you should be able to achieve it with just a little work. Here are a few ideas…

1. YouTube Videos

These days it’s possible for anyone to create a YouTube video. Chances are you have a video camera sitting in your pocket right now, attached to your cell phone. By embedding a video or two in your site you’ll encourage visitors to stick around a little longer. What’s more, with each viewing you’ll be increasing the popularity of your channel in YouTube, which will suggest to Google that yours is an authority site in your niche.

ENERTAINING IS GOOD

2. User Interaction

An active commenting community or user forum can be an invaluable boost to your site’s stickiness. Users returning again and again to respond to your content and share your latest updates shouts to the world that you have a site worth visiting.

GET PEOPLE INVOLVED – CONNECTED – MAKE THEM FEEL SPECIAL

3. Tools

Depending on your niche you may be able to buy or write a simple script to perform a useful task related to your content. Your niche is finance? Why not add a currency exchange tool? Weight loss?A BMI calculator. You should add anything that will convince visitors to return again and again. The stickiest sites are the ones that offer bookmark-worthy tools.

4. Great Design

Finally, the basis of any sticky site is a nice, clean and easy to navigate design and structure. You could bake the best cupcakes in town, but nobody is going to visit your bakery if the floor is covered in garbage. Make your site a pleasure to visit and, surprise surprise, users will be happy to come back over and over again.

A GREAT WEB SITE DESIGNER TEAM WILL MAKE YOU A HIT.

What Can I Do Today?

Your first task is simple. Just browse through each page of your site. Once you’re done, ask yourself if you’d return again if you were a random visitor. If not, why not? What could you add to the site that would convince you to come back? How could you add even more value to the content? In short, how can you make your site more sticky?
Start today. The Internet is changing.

Call us and let us take care of it – that’s what you can do today!

Written by: Andrew Kelly

Award winning designer, finalist in the Australian Design Awards 2004, SEO expert. Andrew has had a keen interest in entrepreneurship for as long as he can rememeber. He has over ten years experience in digital marketing and SEO for various companies around the world and has now set up Marketplace For Entrepreneurs as an easy way to find a solution for your SEO and Design Needs. Google+