Enabling visitors to your web site to refer a friend, you can help your visitors to naturally generate new web site traffic and create revenue and sales opportunities. No endorsement is as effective or successful in generating customer interest than word of mouth. To entice your site visitors to refer a friend, you must provide incentives for them to do so. You must also ensure the process for the referral is as painless and easy as possible.

The first action you should take when instituting a "refer a friend feature" through your web site is to brainstorm a plan of action. First, establish what incentives you will provide for those who refer a friend. You might provide a free e-book or piece of information for those that provide a valid address. You could also institute a full-fledged referral program whereby visitors install referral features on their own web sites. Cash or credit for services can be a viable way to generate new sales leads and revenue.

Next, you must take into account the placement and usability of your tell-a-friend feature. Placing it on every feature item that a visitor may wish to refer is essential to developing a successful program. Ensuring it is properly placed within your site structure while failing to create a visible distraction from your site content is also a major concern. Before posting the feature on your live site, experiment with placement to ensure you are comfortable with its layout once the feature is in place.

Finally, make the actual referral process as seamless as possible. Requiring only a name and e-mail address is one effective way to create a successful referral while still retaining an air of personalization. In addition, the user should be provided with a pre-formatted description of your service or web site that they may alter to their taste. This prevents any appearance of undue effort or concern on the user’s part during the process.

Creating a "refer a friend feature" can generate a great deal of additional web site traffic when implemented correctly and efficiently.

Do not hesitate to install a referral program on your web site because every time one of your visitors refers a friend you are literally creating untapped or untold profits (because they weren't telling their friends before).

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