Stop trying to "capture" your visitors

It is funny that many companies still try to capture their visitors at their website. Even people with lots of online experience don't seem to get it. Sure, we want people to visit, look around, come back occasionally and maybe even buy something.

But we need to end this concept of capturing them (as if they are some wild animal) by trying to keep them at the site as long as possible, not making it easy to click off to another site. It reminds me of when supermarkets used to change around their aisles in an attempt to keep us there longer, in the hope we will buy more. Part of this I'm sure is companies that can show stats on how long customers are staying at their site - for advertising reasons.

Which is why blogging is refreshing. Bloggers actively send their visitors off to others sites, around the blogoshere. They understand and respect their visitors.