Visitor engagement is crucial to a website's success. The more engaged a visitor is with a website, the more likely it is that they're going to stick around. Not only that, but the more likely it is that the visitor will return to your website, and, more importantly, share it. This article will offer 5 easy ways to help you improve visitor engagement.

HOW TO : Improve Visitor Engagement on Your Website


1. Great Content

5 Easy Ways to Improve Visitor Engagement on Your Website

The phrase "Content Is King" is heard all over the web in relation to website and blog design. There's a good reason for that: If you want to keep visitors engaged, you must have great content... on every webpage. Essentially, every page on your website should have a point. It should have relevant content that is designed to help or intrigue your viewer in one way or the other. If a visitor keeps coming across useless content upon visiting your site, they're not likely to stick around for very long, and they're even less likely to share it with their friends.

So, update your content regularly: it keeps visitors interested, and it reassure's them that the site is still running. Make sure that your content is geared for a specific audience, targeted content will make a big difference. Make sure the content is useful, and helps the reader in some way. Lastly, be clear and concise with your message. Don't bore the reader with useless fluff.

Also Check : 5 Ways to Get Blogging Ideas for Great Content


2. Include Pictures, Avoid Animations


Visitors like pictures. It helps to avoid monotony and break up block text. It can also clear up any questions that the visitor might have. Depending on the kinds of images you use, and how you integrate them into your content, they're proven to improve visitor engagement. Furthermore, they encourage readers to learn about the images, and in turn, pay more attention to the content.

Animations, however, tend to do the opposite. Animated ads in particular will distract readers, and draw them away from your content. They might even get annoyed, and abandon your site altogether. It's fine to include ads to monetize your site, but use static ads, and don't overdo it. Ads should maintain a 25-75% ratio. 25% ads, and 75% content.

Also Check : How To Drive Traffic to Your Site Using Images


3. Make it Easy to Navigate


If a visitor has a hard time finding things, they aren't going to stick around for very long. Put a lot of thought into how you organize your content, so that the visitor won't have a hard time finding things. Also, put clicking at an all time low. If at all possible, make it so that the visitor can get anywhere in your site with only one click. Make it so they can make it back to the Homepage from any page on your site, and include a menu. The menu should appear on every page on your site, and it should make it so that the visitor can travel from page to page on your site without having to return to the homepage. Thus eliminating unnecessary clicks.

Also Check : How To Tell If Your Website Usability Sucks (Infographic)


4. Communicate with your Visitors


5 Easy Ways to Improve Visitor Engagement on Your Website
Updating your site often is a step in the right direction, but you should also enable comments. Encourage conversation, and respond to any comments that your visitors make. This lets the visitor know that you care about what they have to say, and that you're engaged with your site as well. Comments is one of the highest levels of visitor engagement, because it can often encourage conversation among your visitors.

Also Check :

Top 8 Tips to Engage Your Readership on Your Blog

5 Powerful Tips for Successful Facebook Pages


5. Offer Exclusives


Offering content, or access to features that is exclusive to members only can improve visitor engagement. It will force the visitor to become a member of your site. After that, they're more likely to return. The point is, think of ways to offer your visitors status, it will make them feel important, and that's a good thing.

Nick Parker is a senior web designer and guest author at TopWebDesignSchools.org, a site with resources and information to help students evaluate online web design schools.
 
Top