Humor - Pass it On!
November 4, 2008 by jp
It’s true that people love to pass around funny or unique postings and content from websites. After all, that’s what viral marketing is all about - spreading the word!
Don’t forget to include some humor in your website occasionally. Even the most serious products or services can use a little humor now and then. You can include graphics, cartoons, funny quotes, or other amusing ideas. Make it something unique that is relevant to your website’s theme.
You may find that humor is one of the best ways to keep people coming back too. It gives your readers a comfort level with your website and helps them feel that they know you better too. One of the nice things about using this strategy is that is free or inexpensive.
If you decide to try this technique, keep the following tips in mind:
- ALWAYS use good taste with any type of humor. You definitely do not want to offend anyone.
- Cartoons are probably one of the best ideas since they are easily read and digested. They’re most effective when they related to one of your articles. Cartoons can actually help simply your message and drive it home. You can find free cartoons online or you can purchase/license them for your use as you choose.
- Make sure any type of humor is relevant to your content.
- Avoid controverisal types of humor. For example, political satire is probably not a good idea. Humor that includes inferences to age, gender, or race should be avoided. Good clean humor is what you’re looking for.
- Use real life stories for humor. If something funny has happened to you or others related to your niche market, tell your audience. Just keep it short and they’ll enjoy it.
- Solicit humorous stories, articles, or cartoons from your readers. People often like to tell about funny things that have happened to them - keep relevancy in mind though! This also increases the interactive component of your website.
Your website is serious business, but sometimes a little bit of humor sprinkled in occassionally can go a long way. It’s just one more tool in your arsenal that allows you to increase your site traffic. But more importantly, people like to pass along funny stories, cartoons, or other humorous tidbits. That can help draw new visitors to your website. If it’s worth reading, they’ll pass it on!
J.P.,
How ironic, I was thinking about this subject recently and was trying to determine if it would be suitable for my blog.
Well, when I saw your post, it disspelled any qualms I had about using humor on the net.
I always thought it might work, but was unsure, now I am going to use a bit of good humor (no pun intended) on my blog.
Thanks for your insight on this and I appreciate the timely advice.
Larry