Mar, 2016 : 5 Ways to Keep Visitors on Your Website Longer
📅 - Whether you're planning to create a website in the future or have been running your own for a while now, you should be thinking about the amount of time visitors spend or will spend on your website.
The session length is important because your chances of converting a visitor into a customer increase exponentially the longer he or she is browsing your website.
It's clear that it's important to keep visitors on your website for as long as possible, but what are the best methods to keep users around? What considerations should you keep in mind as you put those methods into action?
We compiled a list of some helpful ways to keep users on your website by using content and design to your advantage. But first, let's cover the basics of writing what we call ‘sticky' content.
What is sticky content?
Sticky content makes your website visitors ‘stick around' longer.
Think of it as being so good, on-topic, and interesting that your visitor literally gets stuck in it, first reading it, then another related post, then buying your product or service.
Your goal should be getting each visitor to go down a “rabbit hole” of your best content.
Sticky content is the good kind of sticky. If you're not writing sticky content for your website, your numbers probably look something like the graph below–visitors staying less than a minute.
Writing sticky content is a lot like writing evergreen content, except the goal becomes making the content as engaging, interesting, or interactive as possible to keep the user on your website for a longer amount of time. This can include current or newsy topics that wouldn't be a fit for traditional, evergreen content.
5 Ways to Keep Users on Your Website Longer
1. Write natural, interesting content for your website.
Make your website content sticky, and you'll ensure your visitors spend more time on your site than before.
That means no keyword-stuffing or sneaky workarounds to rank better in SEO. Don't just write about your business or industry–find out what your audiences' broader interests are, and write about those too. Not every piece of content has to promote your company.
2. Work with a trustworthy web hosting provider.
Nothing will make a visitor leave your site faster than slow page loads or seeing that your website is down.
Choosing an unreliable web hosting provider means both of these issues are going to happen to your website on a regular basis, so do your research and select a web hosting provider that promises nothing less than 99.999% uptime average, unlimited disk space, and 24/7 support (like ITX Design).
3. Pay attention to design and UX.
Your website's design and resulting user experience (UX) are critical factors in determining how long a user will stay on your website. If either are lacking, you're sure to see it in the average session length of your website.
Avoid anything that will frustrate your visitor and cause them to leave quickly, like pop up ads or sign up forms.
Shoot for a clean, easy-to-navigate design that is responsive, or optimized for mobile users.
4. Play with article lengths.
Some posts can be bite-sized and some can be essays, but don't overdo either one. It's important to include short, medium, and longer content to appeal to visitors of every type: Those that have a lot of time to spare and those who don't; those who enjoy reading long, in-depth articles and those who like short image galleries or lists better.
If you only offer predominantly one type or length of content, any visitor who isn't a fan is automatically going to leave your website.
5. Watch those outbound links.
Outbound links are necessary to rank well in search–they help prove that your content is good because it has sources to back it up and is related to other talked-about concepts on the web.
But leaving your outbound links alone can be dangerous for your website because if and when a visitor clicks on it and you haven't made adjustments to have it open in a new window, that link is going to carry them away from your site and directly to some other website.
The worst part?
If the user was engaged enough in the article to trust and click on a link you included, they probably would have been likely to purchase something on your website, or sign up for your email list at the least–had they not essentially been ushered to another website.
Moral of the story: Always choose to have your outbound links open in a new window.
Read next: How to Write Evergreen Content That Doesn't Go Stale
How to Write Evergreen Content That Doesn't Go Stale
The session length is important because your chances of converting a visitor into a customer increase exponentially the longer he or she is browsing your website.
It's clear that it's important to keep visitors on your website for as long as possible, but what are the best methods to keep users around? What considerations should you keep in mind as you put those methods into action?
We compiled a list of some helpful ways to keep users on your website by using content and design to your advantage. But first, let's cover the basics of writing what we call ‘sticky' content.
What is sticky content?
Sticky content makes your website visitors ‘stick around' longer.
Think of it as being so good, on-topic, and interesting that your visitor literally gets stuck in it, first reading it, then another related post, then buying your product or service.
Your goal should be getting each visitor to go down a “rabbit hole” of your best content.
Sticky content is the good kind of sticky. If you're not writing sticky content for your website, your numbers probably look something like the graph below–visitors staying less than a minute.
Writing sticky content is a lot like writing evergreen content, except the goal becomes making the content as engaging, interesting, or interactive as possible to keep the user on your website for a longer amount of time. This can include current or newsy topics that wouldn't be a fit for traditional, evergreen content.
5 Ways to Keep Users on Your Website Longer
1. Write natural, interesting content for your website.
Make your website content sticky, and you'll ensure your visitors spend more time on your site than before.
That means no keyword-stuffing or sneaky workarounds to rank better in SEO. Don't just write about your business or industry–find out what your audiences' broader interests are, and write about those too. Not every piece of content has to promote your company.
2. Work with a trustworthy web hosting provider.
Nothing will make a visitor leave your site faster than slow page loads or seeing that your website is down.
Choosing an unreliable web hosting provider means both of these issues are going to happen to your website on a regular basis, so do your research and select a web hosting provider that promises nothing less than 99.999% uptime average, unlimited disk space, and 24/7 support (like ITX Design).
3. Pay attention to design and UX.
Your website's design and resulting user experience (UX) are critical factors in determining how long a user will stay on your website. If either are lacking, you're sure to see it in the average session length of your website.
Avoid anything that will frustrate your visitor and cause them to leave quickly, like pop up ads or sign up forms.
Shoot for a clean, easy-to-navigate design that is responsive, or optimized for mobile users.
4. Play with article lengths.
Some posts can be bite-sized and some can be essays, but don't overdo either one. It's important to include short, medium, and longer content to appeal to visitors of every type: Those that have a lot of time to spare and those who don't; those who enjoy reading long, in-depth articles and those who like short image galleries or lists better.
If you only offer predominantly one type or length of content, any visitor who isn't a fan is automatically going to leave your website.
5. Watch those outbound links.
Outbound links are necessary to rank well in search–they help prove that your content is good because it has sources to back it up and is related to other talked-about concepts on the web.
But leaving your outbound links alone can be dangerous for your website because if and when a visitor clicks on it and you haven't made adjustments to have it open in a new window, that link is going to carry them away from your site and directly to some other website.
The worst part?
If the user was engaged enough in the article to trust and click on a link you included, they probably would have been likely to purchase something on your website, or sign up for your email list at the least–had they not essentially been ushered to another website.
Moral of the story: Always choose to have your outbound links open in a new window.
Read next: How to Write Evergreen Content That Doesn't Go Stale
How to Write Evergreen Content That Doesn't Go Stale
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