3 Keys to Online Success

When the IBCC first gathered to consider the question of the fundamental elements that have to be included in a website in order for it to be a successful site, we started the discussion with things like “a seamless shopping cart.”  But a lot of sites are very successful even without a shopping cart.  There are no hard and fast rules that say that you have to sell something through your site in order for it to be successful.  So perhaps the better question to ask is, “How do you define a successful site?”

That’s a question that leads to many answers.  For some, the site just conveys a message.  Take a political website.  Their main goal is to get people to vote for their issue.  Other sites may sell advertising so their goal is to get as much traffic through their site as possible.  Other sites may sell products and need to have a sales process that leads the customer through a shopping cart, ultimately ending in a transaction.  Other sites may be interested in generating leads.  B2B operations are often more concerned with generating leads, educating them and building a relationship, rather than selling them a product right now.

So back to the question of what makes a successful site…

Once you realize that success can be determined in many ways, the answer you’re looking for must be one that’s broad and covers all types of goals.  So the IBCC determined that in order to meet the needs of most any type of site, the three keys to online success are as follows:

  1. Get people to the site
  2. Get them to stay at the site
  3. Get them to come back again and again

Accomplish these three simple tasks and virtually any site will be successful, no matter what the ultimate goal is.  The 3-step formula works for e-commerce, education, B2B and more.  You name it.

I know, there are people out there that love to play the Devil’s advocate and they’re saying, “But if you sell someone your product on the first visit, then they don’t need to come back.”  Or maybe some of you are thinking, “If they click on an ad on the site right away, then they don’t need to stay at the site.”  True, but think of the difference in the level of success if you accomplish all three goals as opposed to just one or two.

If you sell someone your product on the first visit and they never come back, didn’t you lose out on future money?  Studies have shown that the life time value of a customer is far greater than the first transaction.  Get them to come back again and sell them more and more and more.  That’s the key to online success when operating an e-commerce site.  Or get them to come back again and again to click on your ads, if you’re just selling advertising.

Until next time.

Chadd Bryant