Why should your web site be any different? Short answer: It shouldn't! The ultimate goal of any commercially successful web site is to get customers to return over and over again. Why? Can you say "repeat customers"? It's a proven fact that consumers who visit a store often, over any period of time, also buy from that store frequently. This applies to commercial web sites too.

Even if you're not selling any products or services, you still want your web site visitors to come back again and again. Why? Well, can you say "traffic"? Can you say "exposure"? Besides, eventually, they might buy something? And even if they don't, they are adding to your traffic numbers, they could be helping to spread the word about your web site, products or services, and they can be an excellent source of feedback!

[In DominoPower's case, where we sell nothing online, we obviously want you to be repeat readers. The more readers, the more valuable our site is to our sponsors, and that make the whole thing work. -- DG]

You, the savvy reader, may be thinking to yourself, "So, am I to understand that not only do I need to worry about how to get people to my web site in the first place, but I also need to devise ways to get them to come back?" Well, yeah -- if you want your site to be commercially successful!

Getting started getting them to visit again
What's the secret? I wish I could say that was one clear answer, but the solution, or "hook" varies from industry to industry. However, here is a very simple exercise you can do to get you started in the right direction:

• Make a list of the 5 or 10 web sites that you visit on a regular basis, for business or personal reasons. By a regular basis, I mean there are probably web sites you visit every day, weekly, or even monthly. For example, I check out the Lotus and the Notes.net sites every day, and DominoPower's articles monthly and news daily.

• Alongside each web site, indicate how frequently you visit.