Internet marketing is for the birds

Spring is upon us here in North Carolina. There are things blooming, allergies kicking up, soccer and baseball being played and more. In our backyard, we have added some bird feeders. I have to admit that I have never considered myself a bird watcher until my daughter forced the issue. Now the feeders are in and so am I. It is pretty cool to watch the different makes and models of God’s creation come and go and to watch how they interact with each other. I am seeing that we have some regulars and I wondered about that. Why our feeders? What makes us attractive? Of course, in my wondering, I drew an Internet marketing analogy. I have since decided that I really need to get a life.

Image via Wikipedia

I have observed how “our” birds keep coming back because they knew we had what they were looking for and what they needed. We continually fill the feeders and even give the pesky squirrels some corn to keep them occupied and away from the birds. I suspect these birds will keep coming back as long as they live, as long I provide for their needs.
Well, is there any better analogy for an effective Web presence? You make something that is attractive (your site) that is a nice place to visit and to get something (information or products). You put out the best food (content) that makes visitors want to come back (much like my bird feeder). Here’s where it gets a little tricky. You see I can lose my birds to my neighbors’ various bird feeders if my birds come back and there is nothing new or interesting for them to eat. Same goes for your site visitors. If you never replenish the supply of content and other attractive elements of your site your visitors will fly elsewhere as well.
Now for the real stretch. By helping my bird visitors stay nourished and healthy they are able to go help build their families and then make new visitors for my feeder. They trust me to give them sustenance and I am viewed as a trusted source of what they need to prosper.
Same goes for web sites. Visitors and other Web publishers will learn to trust you as the resource of choice, and their families (their site visitors) will benefit and get stronger because you know where the best food (information / content) is. By linking their site to yours, they serve as the middle man that makes it easy for their family (visitors) to get to the information that they need to prosper as well.
So who wins in these scenarios? Everyone. That’s the beauty of providing for others. They look to you for value and support and then trust you implicitly. From there that bond is hard to break as long as you keep providing or producing. Make no bones about it, I know my birds will go elsewhere in a heartbeat if I don’t continue to help them and I wouldn’t blame them one bit.
So if you are losing visitors to your site, or it is not performing like you want it to, consider what you are offering visitors that fly in and out of your site. If your food is inferior or missing, they have every right to leave and not come back. Wouldn’t you do the same thing?