How Contests Contribute to Your Site - The Reward
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Every contest has one end-all, be-all element that makes it a contest: the prize. You simply can’t have a giveaway unless you’re actually giving something away. Even when your site isn’t a revenue-generating machine, there are ways to sponsor an exciting, engaging contest that doesn’t cost you a whole lot. After all, we can’t all be J. Peterman (http://jpeterman.promo.eprize.com/shopping spree/, pictured above), and you may not have a ton of money to spend. You can still create a great contest.
You may not have a brand-new car to offer, a million dollars to give away or even tickets to a popular event. What you do have is a Web site, and that means you have a powerful tool at your disposal. You have space on the Web.
Why not host a contest that costs you nothing but space? Many, many sites run poetry, short story or other writing contests, promising to feature winners on special pages within the site. Other contests may bid visitors to submit the best photo, the best title for a story, the best idea for a new name. You could even run a contest for graphic designers; whoever comes up with the best page design for the site wins. With contests of this sort, there are actually two winners: the visitor who scores the prize, and you. They get to be featured and get to enjoy that winning feeling, while you get a great cost-free advertising campaign and new content for your site.
There’s nothing wrong with giving away feature placement and acclaim as a contest prize. These rewards may seem small monetarily (especially when compared to a shiny, new convertible), but in the end it all comes down to the same thing: that winning feeling, that rush of excitement. It’s hard to put a price tag on something so esoteric, which is why contests of any kind can work well when properly advertised and executed.
Contribute to Your Site with Contests
How do contests contribute to your site? You’ll be offering something fresh and exciting to your traffic, something that carries the potential of a prize. It will draw in new traffic and entice the old, and show that you’re trying to give something back to your visitors. Your site looks good, your traffic feels good and at the end of it all everyone gets to win (because even non-winners get to feel the thrill of excitement and the hope of possibility). Contests add something to your site, and aren’t you always looking for something new to put on your pages?
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