5 Ways to Keep People on Your Site Longer
You’ve attracted visitors to your site, but now what? Today, we’ll break down five ways to keep people on your site and engaged in what you have to offer.
- Match Your Headline and Your Ad Copy
In this video, the purpose is explicitly stated: “here’s the five things you need to do to keep people on your site longer.” That matches the title of the video and the thumbnail. Likewise, everything on your site needs to match.
On your site, ad copy is the equivalent of this video’s content. It is what visitors are there to read, listen to, or see.
If you’re offering something – like weight loss tips or a free eBook – make sure that heading is clear and easy to find at the top of the page. This is important because if your visitor doesn’t see what they clicked on your page for within three seconds, they’ll go elsewhere.
- Remind Your Visitors Why They Are There (2:50)
On a related note, you must make sure that any promise you make is delivered upon immediately.
The visitor’s eye should gravitate to what you want them to see. Any unrelated information about your experience, company, or qualifications is irrelevant at this point. People are more interested in what is in it for them.
W.I.I.F.T (What’s in it for them?)
In other words, why are they on your page? People come to your site with a purpose in mind, so you need to immediately tell them what you offer and what it will do for them.
Think about it as an “if/then” statement. For instance, if you learn these five tips, then people will stay on your site longer and you will make more money.
Tell visitors what the tip or giveaway you promised them in step one will do for them in real-world terms. Make sure that your explanation uses words that are descriptive and eye-catching, like in the examples below:
- “Here are ten tips to lose weight so you can look the best at your next Christmas party, feel great, and be the envy of all your friends.”
- “Here’s how to make money so you can quit your job, feel good and have extra money at the end of the month.”
- Use Curiosity to Keep People Engaged (5:28)
Using curiosity in your website copy is getting people interested. It is not the same as clickbait, which is typically a sensational headline that leads to spam or advertisements.
While clickbait may evoke curiosity, we want to use real world headlines and copy that get attention in a helpful and meaningful way.
Which of these statements sounds more interesting?
“Teach people what’s in it for them.”
OR
“Check this out! I’m going to teach you my W.I.I.F.T method of getting inside your customer’s brain and getting money out.”
What about these?
“How to Lose 10 Pounds”
OR
“Here’s how I lost 10 pounds using this method”
In both examples, the second option is more interesting and more likely to intrigue a visitor reading your site. As you can see, acronyms are also helpful.
Your site visitors are very likely to read bullet points. This is how they will decide if your information is helpful to them or not, so you want to make sure that your bullet points convince them to stay and read more.
Bullet Points in Your Content…
- Are easier to read
- Are gentle on the Eyes
- Entice visitors to find what they want fast
- Break Up Your Content (8:00)
When faced with an unorganized block of text, we tend to shut down and avoid it. Don’t discourage visitors from reading your content. Instead, make it readable by breaking it up into bite-sized pieces.
A list or outline is much more easily read than a big chunk of text, and more effective in getting your point across. You also can utilize the bullet points from tip #3 to make your content gentle on the eyes.
Look at the Difference
Rather than using bad formatting, give your visitors simple paragraphs to read.
The reformat will help you understand several things:
- How to get your audiences eyes to go where you want them to
- How to add affiliate links and make them stand out
- How to make content easy to consume
The Dual-Readership Path
Your site will have two kinds of people: the kind who reads every word of the copy, and the kind who skims it. The second type is much more common, so it’s important to appeal to the site visitor who wants to skim through the copy to get information.
You can do this by using bold headlines. People will read the headlines because they stand out, and if they are interested in the sub-topics, they can go more in-depth and read the smaller text underneath. Site visitors are looking for specific answers to their questions, and headlines can help them find those answers quickly.
You can also use one or two other text colors to not only make things stand out, but also to make your points easier to locate on a web page.
A well-formatted page is more likely to be printed out, because you’ve already put the information your visitors want into an easy-to-read layout.
- Keep Your Visitors Wanting More (10:29)
Structure your content in a way that makes your visitor want more. Obviously, you want your content to help visitors, but you also want them to be interested in what else you have to offer.
You could get visitors interested with some content, for instance, three tips out of the five offered and then present a link or download where they can see they other two. If the visitor is interested enough in what you have to say, they won’t mind taking an extra step.
“But Wait, There’s More…”
Today’s video actually contains two more tips for keeping visitors on your site, but in the interest of making visitors want more, they are saved for the end. This is a perfect example of not only creating interest, but also breaking up content.
In the full video, you’ll find information on the importance of adding video and images to your content, and how to use Slide Voodoo to drive affiliate sales and keep people on your site longer.
Wow!!!
Marcus you are awesome all of your students are very lucky to have you as their teacher, you care if they are struggling and care if they succeed. You are one in a million.
For me you are astute, kind and honest, cannot get enough of you’re knowledge and cares, love, love, love, keep up your wonderful work.
I thank You.
Rosa