Know-How Exchange : Strategy

Hi Blombardo,

Good question.

My philosophy is that if you have areas of content that consistently have real true value (proprietary content or not), that is, after a site visitor reads them and you asked them if they believed they had learned something that would make them or their business more productive or in some other way "enriched" their lives, than yes, registration is definitely warranted.

On the other hand if you require registration and deliver syndicated garbage or in-house created drivel , then no, you'll gain nothing but a subscriber who will either never open in the future, will hit the "spam" button, or will unsubscribe.

You also hit some key objectives: to gain knowledge of your users and use that to continue to deliver them relevant valuable content and create the opportunity for future business opportunities.

Operating flawlessly is a requirement either way.

I suggest that you have enough information available without registration that it would encourage visitors to want to register for more in depth information.

Michael

Blombardo

Agreement with the above posters. Pepper Blue makes the critical point that it depends on the value of the content to the target. It depends on the industry, target and many other variables. Also, agree with Michael that it needs to be flawless.

In general though, I would provide enough information to get the target individual to buy-in and then make it very very easy to see more, for example tell them the only registration requirement is to submit their email address, four seconds and they’re in.

Best of luck,

Steve

Great answers so far. I would add one other perspective – your business model. Done right, your registration strategy and business model are aligned. For example, content sites that live (and die) by advertising require it. IT companies that have long sales cycles and use the web to nurture marketing leads require it. Companies that are fortunate enough to pop someone from the web site to a phone call or face-to-face meeting appointment in ONE touch don’t really require it (since the necessary info will be collected in the subsequent touch).

The role that your site plays in your business model also dictates WHAT you ask for as far as regi info goes. If you are selling ads, then you need demographic info, for example. If you are selling complicated complex computer systems, then you need info on where they are in the purchase cycle. Etc etc. While I agree with an earlier respondent that you want to make registration as easy as possible, you can’t do less than what your sales process requires.

Being wide open or completely shut is easier to manage no doubt, but at what risk to your business?