We’ve all read figures about how quickly a website visitor will click away from a page if they don’t find what they are looking for or don’t feel engaged; typically, it’s only 15 seconds. Of course, if you can draw them in with content they are looking for, they will hopefully stay a little longer. But how do you make your website engaging and create opportunities to keep potential customers interested? Here are some factors to consider:
Today, visitors are much more likely to stay engaged if they can scroll, rather than click around to find things. Scrolling is faster than clicking and works better on touch screen smart devices – and we’re already used to it on platforms such as Instagram and TikTok. On a website, if a visitor clicks away and wants to return, this isn’t always straightforward. If they are scrolling, they will typically just scroll back up to what they were viewing earlier.
We’ve written about this before, but it’s best not to ‘reinvent the wheel’ when it comes to website design. In our blog: Creatures of habit https://www.targetink.co.uk/news/creatures-of-habit we talked about how visitors expect various elements of a website to be in their ‘usual’ position.
While, as website designers, we love an exciting brief and the freedom to produce something unique, we need to bear in mind that website visitors today have certain expectations. If you confuse them by putting even simple things like the contact us information somewhere they aren’t expecting it, they generally won’t stay around or have the patience to go off hunting for it.
When it comes to websites, we look for the home page button in a particular place and we know where the menu should be. You’ll probably lose potential customers who don’t have the patience to navigate your reimagined idea of how a website should look.
Nowadays, if somebody is looking at the home page of your website, they probably know quite a lot about your business already or have ended up there looking for something specific, such as ‘contact us’. We covered this in a recent blog: https://www.targetink.co.uk/news/home-sweet-home
The point is, if you want to engage with your website visitors, don’t focus on making your home page your modern-day company brochure. The chances are, a new visitor will have found you via a landing page or ended up somewhere else due to a search on Google, so make sure those pages are really working for you and providing the information that visitor is looking for.
Businesses might well have useful blog and news sections featuring compelling articles to read but on other pages, content should be clear and concise. Most visitors are just scanning to find what they are looking for, so make headlines eye-catching and make content easy to scan, with compelling statements and bullet points etc. Use clear and concise language – if you are too clever or complicated, people won’t stick around.
In a blog we shared recently – https://www.targetink.co.uk/news/the-benefits-of-sharing-video - we discussed how people today will spend longer online watching a video than reading words and, for a business, they can provide a great way of communicating and converting leads into customers. A video sends information directly to a potential client in a clear and concise manner.
It’s likely nowadays that visitors might have ended up on your website via one of your social media platforms. If that’s the case, make sure your branding is consistent across all your touch points. It can be confusing to a visitor if they are attracted by your modern and fun persona on Instagram but find a completely different approach on your website.
If a website visitor feels they are viewing content which fits their needs, then they are more likely to stick around. It’s possible to use data nowadays to personalise content and offer recommendations; it’s something we are used to on the big retail sites, as items are shown to us based on previous purchases or what we’ve viewed before.
Visitors also want to read content which is relevant to them. We’ve told you before, that the most viewed pages on our own website is our case study section: https://www.targetink.co.uk/news/why-case-studies-on-your-website-are-key That’s because we not only point potential clients there, but we know visitors find that section and want to read about companies similar to their own who are benefitting from our services and support.
Nowadays, we find that website pages do load quicker but it is really frustrating if the page we want to view takes a while to load up properly.
We know Google seeks out new and relevant content, so we would always suggest our clients regularly add fresh content – such as blogs – as well as making changes and tweaks to their web pages. At Target Ink, our clients have access to our maintenance and support system, which makes this straightforward to achieve.
Website visitors also feel reassured to see up-to-date copy on a website. We’ve all looked at the news pages of a business and noticed that nothing has been added for a few months, even a few years. It makes us wonder if that firm is actually still in business.
If you have successfully engaged with a website visitor and they want to take that next step - talk to a member of your team or make a purchase etc - then you’ll need a clear ‘call to action’ on your website. Your ‘contact us’ section needs to be easy to find or a form, where people can leave their information. Alternatively, you could consider integrating a chat function into your website, so visitors can ask quick questions.
If you want to benefit from an engaging website, get in touch call our team at Target Ink on: 01892 800400.
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