How would you bring users back?

I’ve got this other website with several thousand registered users.  This morning I wondered – how many of these users are really active users and how many registered and then abandoned their account.  I was kind of shocked to discover that for one of my target demographics, only about 20% of those registered users visited the site in the last 180 days.

What I need to do is bring those users back.  Do you have any suggestions?

7 thoughts on “How would you bring users back?

  1. The real question is why did they leave in the first place?

    Most often, when I abandon an account, it is because I was forced to make it to get the information I want — often an attachment on a message board. Once I have it, I will most likely never visit the site again. No matter what you do, you won’t be getting those users back, because they never wanted to be users in the first place.

    For websites built around a hobby or other activity, if your users no longer participate in real life, they will have also moved away from your website. The only way to get them back is to get them interested in the hobby again — good luck with that.

    The users you may be able to bring back are the ones who are now going somewhere else for whatever you were providing. Where are they going now, and what is your competition doing better than you are?

    Perhaps obvious points, but you need to know this before you can start to figure out how to get your users back.

  2. @ppirilla: That is an excellent idea. I’m honestly not sure why they left.
    So, this other site is a website that provides free online tools for professional in their particular industry. (I’m being circumspect on purpose – sorry for that) They would have to register to use the tools, they’re never asked for information once they register, and I like to think the tools on my site are much better than my competitors.

  3. You need to give people a reason to subscribe and return. You’re making piddly little personal posts, of course people aren’t coming back. Give the people what they want.

    If it were me, and if I had infinite time, and if I were in your position, here’s what I’d do:
    1. It looks to me like you’re casually offering printing services. Make that less casual. If possible make the estimation automated. Make that the main thrust of your site and redesign it around that.
    2. Record time lapses of all your builds, especially the commissioned ones, put in some royalty free music, and put them up on line YouTube. If you’re hard core automate this process.
    3. Optionally live stream the builds and send the person who commissioned you an e-mail when their build is about to begin.

    Then you can post whatever you want on your blog, tho I’m guessing you’ll find you’ll be doing them more towards your audience, and that’s good because that’ll grow your audience. So be happy about that. It’s a little bit of work and a little bit of time to set up, but if you want folks to stick around that’s what you gotta do. Other wise the only people you’ll get reading your personal blog is your personal friends.

    By the way, want to be my personal friend?

  4. @Joe Larson: Ah, yeah, so this (as in MakerBlock.com) is definitely NOT the website to which I was referring. If anything the piddly personal posts (and, really, I actually whole-heartedly agree with your description) are as much for me as they are for other people. This site has become the dumping ground for all the things I write that wouldn’t really find a place on the MakerBot blog. I do still print stuff on demand, but I’ve really cut back on that lately. My other website (link withheld :) ) is the one I was referring to. It has nothing to do with anything nearly as cool as 3D printing.
    As for personal friend – sure!

  5. Well in that case the advice still stands. Find out what your readers want, center around that, and if possible focus your design on it. Then if you’re smart automate the process of updating it so you have to do as little as possible to maintain your audience.

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