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A vital question for marketers who are using the Internet is what factors make users revisit a site. Most agree that good content is vital to produce visitor satisfaction and a high repeat visit rate. However, what other Web site design features and experiences satisfy visitors and make them return to a site? On the other hand, what design features/experiences are undesirable and make visitors decide not to return? This article examines this important topic by reporting on the most comprehensive Web site satisfaction study ever conducted in Canada. Visitors at 27 different Web sites were asked to rate the site and evaluate their experience during their visit. Respondents were also asked whether they intended to make a repeat visit to the site. The results gathered from this survey allow us to determine which Web site features and/or experiences are most important in determining whether a repeat visit is likely. Research study SurveySite recruited a total of 27 Canadian Web sites to participate in this research study. The Web sites included a wide range of topics including Web magazines, software/Internet, nets, business directories, entertainment, retail, travel, not-for-profit; and health-related sites. A pop-up survey was placed on the Web sites for a period of two weeks. The software chose visitors at random and popped up a screen asking the user if he or she would like to complete a short online survey. This sort of survey eliminates the serious self-selection bias that occurs when typical feedback banners are placed on a Web site. Based on exploratory research, a survey containing 12 questions/factors was used for this study. These 12 factors fell into two broad areas: a) design/technical evaluation of the Web site and; b) emotional experience of the user during their visit. Specific question areas are as follows: Design and technical evaluation 1. Content 2. Ease of finding information 3. Graphics 4. Visual attractiveness 5. Organization/Layout 6. Speed of moving around site 7. Uniqueness 8. Ease of navigation Emotional experience during the visit 1. How much did visitors enjoy their visit? 2. Did visitors feel any confusion during their visit? 3. Were visitors frustrated in any way during their visit? 4. Did visitors find their visit exciting or boring? Respondents were also asked, "How likely are you to return to this Web site?" All of the questions were asked using a seven-point rating scale (with a score of 1 equalling a negative reaction and 7 a positive reaction). This data allowed us to conduct a standard correlation analysis between the design/emotional experience questions and whether the respondent would make a repeat visit. Respondents were also asked, in an open-ended question, what factors were "most important in their decision to return or not return to the Web site." Results The results of the correlation analysis are shown in the table below. A high correlation shows that the design feature or emotional experience was important in determining whether or not the person decided to make a repeat visit to the Web site. As seen in the table, overall content is the most important factor influencing the likelihood of making a repeat visit. Specifically, content had a correlation of 72% with the likelihood of making a repeat visit to the Web site. Lack of content was cited as a major reason in the open-ended question why respondents were not planning to return to the Web site. This result highlights the fact that Web sites must make useful or interesting content their top design priority. The next most important factor in determining the repeat visit rate is whether the respondent found their visit enjoyable (here, the correlation was 69%). Enjoyment is a multidimensional factor that is influenced by many things, including the person's reasons for coming to a particular site. For example, some people in our research reported that the site was enjoyable because it was entertaining or because they found the specific content or information they were looking for. Others stated they enjoyed their visit because it was entertaining or provided a novel experience. This points to the fact that Web site designers and marketers must create sites that have the ability to produce an enjoyable experience. The next most important factor in determining the likelihood of a repeat visit was the quality of the organization and layout of the Web site. This variable had a 68% correlation with the repeat visit rate, meaning that if a visitor finds the organization/layout difficult or confusing they are much less likely to return. Uniqueness also had a very significant impact on the repeat visit rate (67% correlation). To improve the repeat visit rate, Web marketers should include content, design/interactive features or some other factors that are unique and differentiate their site from other ones. In addition to the factors discussed previously, respondents to our survey also reported that ease of finding information/content was important (with a correlation of 63%). This was followed in importance by whether or not visitors found their visit exciting (62%), whether the site was visually attractive (57%), whether it was easy to navigate (54%), the speed they could move around the site (52%) and whether the site was not confusing (51%) and not frustrating (50%). It is interesting to note that other factors, such as the quality of the graphics, had much less impact on the level of repeat visit rate. The graphics are simply not a crucial factor in determining whether someone will return to a Web site. Conclusions A combination of Web site design factors and the visitors' emotional reactions have the greatest impact on whether or not a user is likely to make a repeat visit to a given site. The results of this study show that good content is the most important factor that leads to a high repeat visit rate and consequent Web site success. Visitors will simply not return to a site where content is lacking or is not useful to their needs. The next most important factors in determining whether a repeat visit will be made is whether the visitor found the site enjoyable, whether the site had good organization and layout, the degree of uniqueness and the ease of finding desired information/content. The quality of the graphics at a site is a relatively unimportant factor in determining whether a repeat visit should be made. Marketers are urged to consider these factors when creating or redesigning their Web sites. Features of a Web site determining whether people are likely to revisit it Important Feature Rank Correlation(f.*) Overall content 1 72% Enjoyable 2 69% Organization and layout 3 68% Uniqueness 4 67% Ease of finding information 5 63% Exciting 6 62% Visual attractiveness 7 57% Easy to navigate 8 54% Speed of moving around site 9 52% Not confusing 10 51% Not frustrating 11 50% Graphics 12 42% f.* Correlation between the user's evaluation of each feature of a Web site and whether the user says he or she is likely to visit the site again Source: Survey of visitors to 27 Canadian Web sites by SurveySite, Toronto