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Creating the "Feeling" of "Busy" on a website

by dvduval
4 replies
As I look at some of the marketing strategies used here and elsewhere it seems apparent that people are always drawn places where there are more people. There is the idea that if "everybody else is doing it", then there must be a reason I should be doing it too.

I would be curious to know what you have done to create this feeling on a website even if it is a new website, as if it seems popular, then it may indeed actually get popular. I remember a site that was somewhat controversial, but where this worked called Plenty of Fish. It was a dating site, and allegedly they created thousands of profiles to make it seem busy, and then it actually became busy.

So what do you do to make something seem busy?
#busy #creating #feeling #website
  • Profile picture of the author nick1123
    This is a marketing technique called Social Proof and lots of places use it.

    Sites like Digg use it to determine what's on the first page (with votes) that everyone sees.
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  • Profile picture of the author bandonflyer
    Creating "false" users or comments is very common for this purpose. Be careful with that approach, however, because it can backfire on you. The best route is always to provide real value to entice people to engage in the first place.
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    • Profile picture of the author dvduval
      Originally Posted by nick1123 View Post

      This is a marketing technique called Social Proof and lots of places use it.

      Sites like Digg use it to determine what's on the first page (with votes) that everyone sees.
      I love that term. I'll have to remember that one.

      Originally Posted by bandonflyer View Post

      Creating "false" users or comments is very common for this purpose. Be careful with that approach, however, because it can backfire on you. The best route is always to provide real value to entice people to engage in the first place.
      Yes, even in the case of the Plenty of Fish, I know they got a lot of flack about this.

      In my case, I think there can be some ways to work with creating the feeling without doing it artificially such as showing the users who visited in the last 24 hours, but I would love to get some more ideas.
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  • Profile picture of the author Peggy Baron
    One thing you can do is tweet about your blog post and offer a freebie to those who comment on it.

    I believe you should have LOTS of content before you try to enter the popularity game.

    Peggy
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