Your website is more than a personal journal posted online for the world to read: it serves as an invaluable marketing tool, designed to promote you and the products or services you sell. That means your blog needs to attract visitors and engage readers. How do you draw traffic or keep visitors connected to your site while competing with thousands of other websites and blogs? In this article, I will share 5 strategies to keep visitors on your website longer that have been proven to work.

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Site Design

Whether you hire someone to design your website or blog, do it yourself or use a template, pay attention to the visuals. Bland, colorless blogs may turn readers away before they give your content a look. Your blog should look good and make people want to see what it’s about. Additionally, resist adding every color in the rainbow or tons of extra visuals. A visitor’s eye can handle only so much stimulation, so create an interesting and inviting layout that visitors can appreciate and enjoy. Make it easy for visitors to find things on your website. If they struggle with finding what they need, they will leave. Remember, people’s attention spans are very short.

Article Layout

As mentioned above, people have shortened attentions spans, so a majority of website visitors or blog readers will skim posts. They look for subheadings with interesting information as they take in the major points of the post or article. Strive to make each paragraph and sentence as succinct as possible. A good layout should flow smoothly, allowing the visitor to find what they need quickly and easily. It will encourage visitors to view more pages on your website.

Quality Content

Quality content can build trust by offering valued content that the visitor is seeking. When a visitor first visits your website, you only have a few seconds to form that trusting relationship. As you add your content, offer helpful tips and relevant information with a touch of your personality. A visitor is more apt to relate to a “real” person. Include personal anecdotes and failures, in addition to your triumphant moments, for personal appeal and to make yourself more relatable. Initiate conversation and ask questions to encourage readers to respond to your posts. Also important is to make sure you fulfill your headline promise. There is nothing more frustrating than clicking on a headline only to find out the article does not relate! Visitors will no longer trust you and could probably even think the website is not legit.

Lastly, carefully choose the font and use spell-check. Visitors may skip your blog if the font is too small, large, or flowery. Additionally, most readers will dismiss your blog if they find repeated mistakes. Ask someone else to proofread your article. Another set of eyeballs can make a world of difference. (April note: I took the sentence “trusted editor” out because everyone might have access to one)

Linking To Other Content

Link to other helpful content on your website, making sure that it’s easy to find. Don’t go crazy with tons of links and do not add links in the first paragraph. You want your visitor to keep reading your article. Link back to helpful articles that will give them additional information that will help them with their problem point. Do not link back to articles that may not pertain to the subject matter. Remember, your visitor is seeking help and advice for a particular problem they may be experiencing. Or, they could be looking to try a new skill. Make sure your linked articles are relevant.

Call-To-Actions

Call-To-Actions, or CTA’s, are exactly what they state. They call for your visitor to take a certain action on your website. A few examples would be “Read More”, or “Start Your Website Today.” By adding CTA’s, you are given precise and clear instructions for your visitor. Try not to use too many “salsey” CTA’s like “Buy Now”, or “Try My Product.” You want to have your visitors trust you before trying to sell to them. This will allow them to want to submerge themselves into more of your content and stick around.

By keeping visitors on your website for longer periods of time, you are more apt to make a sale. They are also more likely to become a life-long customer. By using these tips, and, adding a bit of personality to your website, your visitors will see that you care, and they will keep coming back.

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