WebProNews

With so many sites on the web, it's challenging to gain the attention of visitors for more than 60 seconds - and even more challenging to get them to return.

Encouraging people to "bookmark" or add your site to their favorites is one of the many simple strategies you can use to encourage repeat traffic.

It's not enough to rely on the fact that browsers have favorites/bookmarking functions only a few inches away on the toolbar - visitors need to be encouraged to bookmark - and for it to be as easy as possible for them to do so.

With the script below you can create custom text and set the page you want bookmarked - it could be a different page to the one that your visitor is currently viewing.

<script LANGUAGE="JavaScript">

if ((navigator.appName == "Microsoft Internet Explorer")
&& (parseInt(navigator.appVersion) >= 4))
{
var url="HTTP://WWW.YOURWEBSITE.COM/";
var title="YOURWEBSITE DESCRIPTION (this will display on favorites listing)";
document.write('<A HREF="javascript:window.external.AddFavorite(url,title);"');
document.write('<small>Bookmark YOURWEBSITE!</small><br></a>');}
else {
var msg = "<b>Bookmark YOURWEBSITE!</b>";
if(navigator.appName == "Netscape") msg += " <b> - press(Ctrl-D) on your keyboard.</b>";
document.write(msg);
}
</script>

While the script functions best in Internet Explorer, users of older versions of Netscape will be shown a prompt to bookmark the page by using the Ctrl +D key combination.

Michael Bloch is the Business Operations Manager of ThinkHost, a USA based company that has been providing hosting solutions to the world since 1999.