A Temporal Pattern from
Patterns for Personal Web Sites
Reward Return Visitors has been removed from this collection of patterns. It was cut because it doesn't fit the definition of a pattern, which is a solution to a problem in a context. This page will not be updated, but it will be preserved.
Q: Why should we care about return visitors?
A: They're your most loyal audience. They have taken the time to explore your site, and find it useful or interesting enough to return to. By rewarding this loyalty, you'll increase your site's audience.
Therefore, give visitors a reason to return to your site.
The predominant way to reward return visitors is to offer them a Living Site that constantly offers new content. Freshness Dates and a History Page indicate changes to visitors.
This pattern also influences new visitors. If they see that the site rewards return visits, they are more likely to return.
A few people will become so familiar with your site that they'll type URLs in manually, rather than navigating through your site. Make this easy by giving pages Guessable URLs, as well as Unchanging URLs.
Content frozen 6 July 2003
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All contents ©2002-2003 Mark L. Irons