Website Tips That Help Engage Users

You’ve decided that a website would be beneficial for your business but you’re wondering, what are the makings of a good website though? What makes one website better than the other? What keeps a user looking at one website when they are so quick to jump from another? Now you’ve decided that you need website tips to really get customers engaged.

Here are 10 website tips to help you make the most out of your website.

1. Attract Customers

When a person lands on your website you want to make a great first impression. A beautiful design and easy to find content will help to hook the reader and keep them reading. The longer someone stays on your website, the more time you have to convince them of why you are the right person for their needs.

2. Be Easy to Navigate

Part of the advantage to the internet is finding what you need easily, and in a timely fashion. A user will only spend about 2 or 3 clicks looking for information on your website before they decide to leave and find the information elsewhere (A competitor!)

• Who is my customer?
• What information are they looking for?
• How easy is it to find that information?

3. Provide a Great User Experience on all Devices

It is becoming more common for a user to find what they are looking for using mobile devices and tablets. Having content that works for any device makes sure that every website view that you receive is a great experience for the user regardless of device (mobile, tablet, laptop, desktop). This is especially important for businesses like restaurants or department stores which may have users searching for immediate services (pizza near me) while on the go.

4. Keep Things Fresh

You’ve designed your site to keep new users on the page and reading. Once they’ve read your content, become familiar with your services, you want to keep your business on their mind by creating a website that entices the user to return and to keep them engaging with your brand.

There are a several ways that you can do this such as creating a blog that offers informative content that gives your audience real value (ex. Jewelry Store – I just bought a new necklace. How do I keep it looking clean?), changing your content to reflect any store sales or promotions that you currently have, and by posting any new happenings in the store such as new inventory.

Google loves to see a website growing and improving. This is a great way to help improve your website’s search engine optimization efforts as well.

5. Highlight the Benefits of What You Offer

What advantages do your products or services offer to your audience? Your users are coming to your website to solve a problem. How can you solve their problem and in what way does your solution distinguish you from the competition? Visitors to your website are looking to make a purchase. Use their visit to your website to tell them why you’re the best choice.

6. Capture Data

Capturing user data to your website is a great way to take a customer that’s on the fence and turn them into a customer. It’s commonplace to have a form on a website. Perhaps it is to contact you, sign up for a newsletter, or keep up to date with the latest store promotions. This gives a great opportunity to gather their contact information and create meaningful lists for future contact. You can use this data to send out a mass email blast, or fine tune your email list to send a special offer to a small group of people interested in certain services that you have to offer.

7. Give Clear Calls to Action

When a user visits your website, what action would you like them to take? Are you trying to get a phone call? Have them request a quote? Perhaps you’re a restaurant hoping the user will peruse the menu and call for an order? Whatever action you would like the user to make, make sure that action is apparent, easy to accomplish, and readily available on any page.  Design your website in a way that the calls to action stand out to the user, not hidden or written in a way that blends in with the content around it. Someone skimming your website may completely overlook it unless colors, font sizes, etc. scream “Look at me!”

8. Provide Contact Information

Some users may go to your website because they want to contact you and just need your email or phone number. Others may browse your site and decide they want to call to set an appointment or to learn more. Your contact information should be one of the easiest pieces of information to find. It’s good practice to include this information on every page of your website. You can make this task easy by adding your contact information to the top menu and footer of your website. Both sections are on every page. The top bar is available when the page loads and if the user makes it to the end of the page, the footer is there to give them one more chance to put your contact information to use. With calls to action in between, contacting you for whatever action you would like them to take is more than an easy accomplishment for the user.

9. Give a Great Experience

A well-designed website with great content can give an unforgettable experience for a user. Engaging detail keeps a reader interested. Accompanying images bring the words to life with visual representation. Great colors tell the reader where to look and what’s important. A great navigation makes the trip through the website easy and the tasks enticing. Don’t be too eager to get the website going to the point where you sacrifice the experience to be online sooner.

10. Keep You Connected

Different online avenues like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram can reach an entirely new audience with a completely different strategy. Understanding and using these audience demographics and strategies to your advantage gives you the unique opportunity to reach different groups of people where they hang out regularly. Make sure to take advantage of these avenues and to link them all together to get the best results.