Marshmallows roasted over a campfire. Bubble Gum. A Lone Star Flag bumper sticker. Post-it Notes. Sticky Buns. A baby’s face after his first birthday party. Some things are just better sticky, and that includes your company’s website.
It’s so easy for web users to surf from a Google search to your page, and back again without spending quality time on your site. A key part of great web design is making sure to keep readers engaged and lowering your bounce rates.
A few tips for making your website super sticky are:
- Get Superficial- Appearance counts in web design and you want your entire website (and especially your landing pages) to appear professional, easy to navigate, high-quality, up-to-date and attractive. There are millions of other websites for your visitors to browse and they will judge your success and credibility within the first few seconds of opening up your site.
- Experiment In Multimedia- Use multimedia files such as video clips, slideshows, podcasts and image galleries to hold viewers’ attention for longer. Not every visitor wants to sit and read 2,000 words about the benefits of going with your company, but they might be willing to listen or view that same content.
- Improve Your Content Presentation- Make your content more readable by cutting paragraph lengths to no more than 2-5 sentences, using subheads to break up content into sections, using bulleted or numbered lists, bolding or italicizing key words and phrases, and addressing common concerns in a FAQ question and answer format. Be sure to add internal links to encourage your readers to stay on your site. This includes related posts, related content and you might like links. Another great tool to encourage stickiness is to install a plugin that shows top posts in a side bar- this way your readers can get a sense of what’s most popular on your website right now.
- Calls To Action- Invite your readers to visit you on social media sites, leave comments on blog posts, request a free quote or estimate, download a free trial version or sample, or request access to specialized content. You’ve just made your website more dynamic and gotten valuable lead information.
- Last But Not Least- Ensure your website is optimized for the fastest possible loading time, including any mobile users. You don’t want to miss out on business because your site just took too dang long to load. Also, always keep your target audience in mind. The layout elements that won a business a Best Web Design award may not be ideal for your customers.
Creating a sticky website won’t happen overnight, so keep implementing new ideas to see how they affect your business for the better! Contact us to learn more about how you can improve your website and get a free estimate.
