Every website owner’s nightmare is having a visitor leave too quickly without taking an action. It means a potential customer is lost, and an opportunity is wasted.
When a visitor lands on your website, you have a very limited amount of time to capture their attention. Just a few seconds actually. If you don’t manage to pique their interest in those seconds, it’s going to be pretty difficult to get them to stay.
You want to be that website that invites them to explore more, and assures them that you’re the potential answer to their problem.
So how do you keep somebody on your website for longer than five seconds?
- Put your valuable content ‘above the fold’ – When someone clicks through from the search results, they’re seeking an answer. For example, they could be searching for a specific question such as “why is my lawn dying?”. When they reach your content, the answer should be visible on the page without scrolling. The answer being above the fold (before scrolling), shows the user that they’re in the right place to get help and answers. You can, of course, have plenty of additional content on the page to provide further guidance.
- Use media (images / video / audio) – Visual content such as images or video encourage your reader to stay on your website for longer. Images can add context to the message that you’re sharing. Videos are great for demonstrating a feature or adding credibility. Audio is a great way of sharing a longer message or offering an alternate way to enjoy your content.
- Use internal linking – Make sure you link to your other pages and blog posts in your website content. When you’re sharing information about a subject, you will often have additional relevant information on your site. Using internal links in your content will help your reader to find further relevant or valuable content that they might be interested in.
- Talk directly to your reader – If you want your reader to engage with your content, you need to talk to them. When you write content for your website, use language as if you were talking to them on the other side of your desk. Try and replace the uses of “I” and “we”. Instead use “you” and make your reader part of the story.
- Be relatable – Your reader needs to understand that your business can relate to the problem that they’re experiencing. You do this by answering their questions and showing them that you’ve either been there yourself, or you’ve helped customers just like them. When you’re relatable people will engage more with your content and thus stay on your website for longer.
