HOW TO KEEP USERS ON YOUR SITE LONGER
Did you know that 70 to 96% of your website visitors will never return once they leave after visiting your site for the first time? So how do you make the most of that short amount of time with you? The answer is to keep them engaged with what they find. Here are a few of our favorite tips to keep visitors on your site longer.
1. DESIGN
Keep it Simple
When someone visits your site for the first time, they should be able to intuitively navigate it without feeling lost or unsure of what to click to find what they are looking for. Each page of your website should have a singular purpose – no more, no less.
Essentially, no one should have to guess or feel like they’re being subjected to a deductive reasoning test to navigate your site. All sites adhere to certain design format principles, so make sure your site follows suit.
Doing this checks several boxes. First, it reduces your site’s bounce rate. And second, keeping pages simple contributes to faster load times. Overall, minimalism is ‘in’ when it comes to web design and keeping people on your site longer.
PRIORITIZE VISUALS
As they say, a picture is worth a thousand words, and images also provide a nice mental break between chunks of text on your site. But, even the greatest hero image in the world isn’t going to keep visitors from leaving a cluttered, overly busy page. Instead, focus on making your pages just as visually appealing as they are informative. There are a lot of different schools of thought when it comes to the “correct” visual design, but to paint things with a broad brush: choose a base color and a couple of accent colors and call it a day.
KEEP WITH THE TIMES
This one feels obvious, but we’ll mention it anyway. A site that hasn’t been reimagined since 1997 isn’t going to inspire much confidence or excitement. A site should feel current to be effective. In summation, your site should feel fresher than a craigslist ad. Make sure your aesthetic fits modern times to earn credibility with new audiences.
2. CONTENT
QUALITY OVER QUANTITY
A goldfish’s attention span is about 9 seconds long- that is about 2 seconds longer than your online audience. If they start reading and don’t immediately feel won over by your content, odds are, they’re going to move on to the next thing in search of the information they’re after. So, instead of a lot of fluff, get right to the point. Intrigue them with a catchy hook, then offer real information. People will appreciate you for it.
READABILITY
Your site doesn’t need to (and shouldn’t!) look like a scholarly article. Big walls of text are intimidating and unappealing. That is not to say you can’t have a lot of text on your site; in fact, the Google algorithm encourages it. However, it would behoove you to present that big chunk of text in small, easily digestible bits. Include a series of facts in a listicle. Break up big paragraphs into quick, concise sentences. Your copy should be easy and, dare we say, fun to read.
ECOMMERCE MARKETING GUIDANCE
Jump-starting an eCommerce business is no small feat. However, you’ve got friends in the fight. At Boxwood, we’ve helped eCommerce companies up their conversion rates by 42% and can help your business reach the same goals.
Get your eCommerce site off the ground today.
Give us a ring, schedule a consultation, or get right down to business by requesting a quote. We’re excited for the opportunity to help your business grow.
