How to Track Visitors to Your Website

You built a website and they did come, but who are they? Knowing the demographics of your visitors can help you sell space to advertisers, turn those visitors into sales leads, or simply make sure the content of your site reflects the interest of those who are using it.

Print-based direct marketers are familiar with the challenge of gathering information about their prospects. Survey questions are the tool most commonly used. And two of the methods weve found useful in getting survey responses are probably transferable to web surveys: ask as few questions as possible, and give people a reward for responding.

Most folks will take the time to answer a couple of quick questions, but beyond that point each additional query on a survey is likely to reduce overall response. Make sure the information youre gathering really is actionable and that its worth what you are "paying" in terms of lost responses from prospects who abandon the survey.

Web-based forms provide a couple of tools which are helpful. You can make it clear which questions are mandatory and which are optional through the design of the fields. Also, you can provide multiple choice buttons which not only make responding very quick and easy, but also give you useful quantitative information.

As for rewards, dont expect that anyone will complete a survey unless they get a tangible benefit for doing so. In business-to-business lead generation where prospects need to gather information to do their jobs, sometimes a white paper or free literature offer is all you need. If youre gathering registrant names for a database, you can offer the carrot and stick of free upgrades/news of new products if they response, no support if they dont.

But even when web visitors have no connection with you, you may be surprised at how much a simple reward for completed surveys can boost response. Consider holding a regular drawing with the winner drawn from people whove completed survey forms during a given period of time. Or, simply offer them a flat-out bribe when they click that final "send" button.

One resource we especially like is www.internetperks.com, which allows you to offer web visitors an electronic premium (customized with your logo) which they can download after they meet your criteria. Among the choices available are a toll-free directory, a financial calculator and a golf score calculator. As an added benefit, these widgets can be hotlinked so that, if they click on your logo, theyll automatically be connected to your website.

M\S has created web forms for our clients to solicit user web site opinions, quickly grow prospect databases, bolster seminar registrations, capture sweepstakes entries, and more. Any data capture ideas that youd like to try with your site? Contact us! msdbm.com/contact_us.htm

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