How to get users to fill out their profiles

With so many companies out there trying to get information from users, it's shocking how dreadful most profiles are. It's no wonder most profiles are left blank or filled with false information.

To we get users to voluntarily - and accurately - fill out their profiles, make it valuable to them.

Step 1: Offer a Public Profile

Many of the biggest sites out there offer public profiles. The profiles aren't necessarily great, but they exist.

By giving every user a public profile, you've given them a home on the web.

It's a start.

Step 2: Make it obvious

For the sake of privacy, don't automatically activate the public profile. But make it obvious. I would go so far as to include it in your primary user navigation, like this:

Hi, Mario! (Turn on your profile)

Step 3: Make it useful

This is where it gets interesting. For starters, let users put in whatever information they'd like. If they want to write an entire book about their cats, let them.

But also empower them. Make any of your apps available to them in some kind of widget. Taking Yahoo as the example, if they use Flickr, offer a widget that lets them embed their photos right on the page. If they use Groups, make a widget that shows their latest activities. Don't be afraid to get into gray areas either. You'd be surprised how many people might like to display their email stats - as long as they opt-in for that.

Don't stop with just your own apps either. Make it easy for people to plug in their Twitter accounts and the like. The goal is to let users do whatever they need to do in order to consider this their home on the web. If someone else does it better, they'll go there.

Step 4: Make it beautiful

Offer a series of drop-dead gorgeous templates for them to use. Get a real variety. Don't do like Blogger and have the same few designers create them all. Variety is the spice of life.

That being said, let users customize to their heart's content. It's their profile, after all.

Oh, and don't brand my profile. It's about me. If all I see is your brand all over my profile, I'll puke and go somewhere else. At most, you can get away with a small logo and navigation bar at the top. That's it.

Step 5: Make it easy

I'm not going to go into all of the principles of usability, but suffice it to say that the easier it is for something to be accomplished, the higher the likelihood that people will do it.

Step 6: Give it an awesome URL

How cool would it be to have yourname.yahoo.com as your URL? Or www.google.com/yourname?

Make this URL super simple to find too. Ideally, when I'm editing or viewing my profile, I should already be on the right URL. Don't make me hunt it down.

Why should you go through all of this trouble?

When users fill out their profiles, everyone wins:

• Advertisers are better able to narrow down who they're targeting, and write ads that work for that specific audience.
• You're able to offer more relevant services and offerings, thereby increasing your conversion rates.
• Users get an experience finely tuned to their unique personalities and get a kick-ass home on the web.

Basic gist: User profiles are probably your biggest opportunity to get valuable information from your users. Treat the profile as a feature and you'll get better results.

Photo Credit: danzo08