Are you asking too much of your customers?

One of the most common mistakes sites make in welcoming a new visitor is to expect her to register before she can get to the “good parts” of the site. Of course as marketers we all want a lot of information, but the visitor has no idea if the information is worth getting on “another” list. Gathering the information is good for the company but what is in it for the visitor?

Cord Silverstein, who blogs at Marketing Hipster, suspects that sites requiring registration don’t provide enough for a visitor to come back a second time so they have to capture the information on the first visit. Silvertein’s advice is to create a site worthy of repeat visits and use a registration form that only captures 3 pieces of information. Name, email address and zip code. With this information you can contact them again, personalize messages to them and know what part of the country they live in.

You can read the full story here:

 http://www.marketinghipster.com/2007/08/28/online-registrations-done-wrong/