Be a Good Host; Make it Easy to Recommend your Site
The best visitor for your site is one who is interested in
your subject matter.
One way to get interested visitors to your site is to let
your current visitors bring them to you. When someone likes
your site and voluntarily recommends it to a friend, that
friend is almost certain to be interested in what you have.
And those that are interested in what you have are more
likely to recommend your site to their own friends.
It stands to reason, then, to make it easy to recommend
your site.
Yet, many webmasters don't do it. Some hide the recommend
link deep down the page. Some insert it among a confusion
of links. Some don't have a link at all.
Requirements
There are two requirements for a successful "recommend me"
implementation:
The site must be something visitors want to
recommend to their friends.
If the site is not something a person would want
to recommend to their friends, then product or
monetary incentives probably won't work either.
Unless recommendations are voluntary, quality
of recommendations become suspect because the
visitor is prone to make recommendations for
self-gratification rather than doing a favor
for a friend.
Making a recommendation must be easy.
If the visitor has to hunt for a recommend link,
then it's not easy.
Put a prominent recommend link (not imploring,
just available) at every point on your site where
a visitor might think, "Oh, my friend would want to
know about this." If the visitor has to hunt for a
link, the urge to recommend your site is likely to
dissipate -- you lose a potential sale and possibly
additional recommendations that could convert to
sales.
Abuse Potential
In our experience abuse is rare. We've had two instances in
the three years we've been using recommendation forms on
our sites.
One was the use of a really nasty term that got by our
offensive language filters. We added that term to the list
right away! The other was by someone who was harassing a
specific individual but carefully avoiding words that might
trip the filters. We blocked the destination email address.
Although rare, if it does happen then prevention steps need
to be taken right away.
Implementation
There are two ways to implement "recommend me"
functionality. By using a third-party service or by
putting the software on your server.
Third-party services are the easiest to implement. Often,
it is as simple as signing up and getting a unique link
to put on your site. The drawback is that you don't control
the mail and, especially if the service is free, your
visitors and their friends will be subject to other
people's advertisements. Probably the most popular
third-party service of its kind is http://recommend-it.com/
If your server has its own cgi-bin, I recommend having your
own implementation. Install the script and be in control.
If your server is UNIX or Linux, I recommend our own programs:
Master Recommend has been
downloaded about 10,000 times since it was released
on April 13, 1998. It's still free and probably
will remain free.
Master Recommend has a offensive language filter,
customizable outgoing emails, webmaster
notification, and a message area for the sender's
comments. It supports only one recommendation
recipient. The month and weekday names may be in
any written language. Visitor gets a thank you note
and can also elect to receive a copy of what's sent
to friends.
The script may be modified to alter the list of
offensive words/terms. It may also be modified to
refuse to send mail if the recipient is a banned
email address.
Master Recommend Pro is a
commercial program for $45 (USD) and features
a control panel where you generate recommend forms
with any number of recipients you please, list
banned addresses, update your list of "offensive"
words/phrases, specify which domains the program
will recognize as valid, maintain email templates
for custom outgoing email, and more. It supports
dates and mail in any written language. Dates may
be formatted any way you like. Form information
can be logged. "Thank you" pages may be
personalized, including another recommend form
partially pre-filled in. Visitor can get a thank you
note and can also elect to receive a copy of what's
sent to friends.
Master Recommend Pro is designed to be very easy
for the webmaster to use and administer.
Master Recommend Pro is also visitor friendly in a
way few other scripts are. If the visitor reverses
the information for the name and email fields, the
program will switch them automatically.
The main differences between the Master Recommend and
Master Recommend Pro programs is:
Master Recommend requires modifying the script
itself for configuration and changes. Only one
recipient can be specified at a time. The form
is created by hand.
Master Recommend Pro has a control panel for all
configurations, formatting, email templates, etc.
Any number of recipients can be specified in the
form. The control panel generates your forms so
all you need to do is copy and paste into your
pages.
Master Recommend Pro is easier.
Master Recommend and Master Recommend Pro require UNIX/Linux
servers. If your server is NT, then the free BirdCast from
BigNoseBird.com is
popular.
Your site deserves all the recognition it gets. Be a good
host and make it easy for your visitors to recommend it
to their friends.
Question:
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Will Bontrager
©2001 Bontrager Connection, LLC
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