You’ve put in the time and effort (and maybe a little money) to create a website that users will want to spend their free time browsing – at least, that’s the hope…
Prepare Your Content Properly
The best way to keep new readers on the page is by making sure they can actually find what they’re looking for. Content that looks like you copied your writings from notepad to the webpage will be difficult to navigate and ultimately lead to shorter amounts of time spent on-page.
It All Starts With A Killer Headline
Every headline should be equipped with: practical utility, interesting content, or surprising facts. A headline must be compatible & relevant to the contents of the article.
Pro Tips:
- Write the headline after you finish the article – you tailor it perfectly to your work.
- Prepare a few proposals headlines, consult with someone, run a poll on Twitter, or think about them for some time. Then, choose the best one.
- Before publishing, ask yourself “would I click on it”? If so, why? If not, why not? Take note of why you would or wouldn’t click to read more and what you’d expect to find.
Make Your Article Clear & Easy To Read
You need to remember that most website browsers are skimming for the information they need and then leaving the page, so using subheads, bullet points, and bolding important text can influence them to read through the entire page.
Pro Tips:
- The content needs to be discernible, descriptive and divided into obvious chunks.
- Build easier navigation to avoid wasted time – there’s nothing worse than reading through a 2,000+ word post only to learn that the answer you were looking for wasn’t even there.
- Bullet point lists of important content instead of writing large paragraphs with lots of bolding/italicizing.
Add Video Content
It increases the time spent on pages. It’s really that simple.
Offer A Newsletter
Getting a newsletter on a smartphone is not a hassle, provided that it can be read by scrolling down, not by pinching and dragging the text. A single-column format makes the newsletter easy to read on tablets and smartphones, and you can send interested readers portions of your new material to peak interest – kind of like a movie trailer.
81% of people use a smartphone for checking e-mails on a regular basis, so an email list definitely isn’t “old news” or “outdated.” Not yet.
Pro Tips:
- Shoot for simplicity and transparency. In this case, less means more. Keep emails brief and to the point unless they are expecting larger content deliveries.
- Short paragraphs are easy to follow because they tend to focus on one point, which is especially appealing for those who read on a mobile device.
- Find one good photo to pull readers in and stop there. Many images slow down the load time of the email open and most readers will simply give up.
- Enlarge links or keep from stacking them on top of each other. With the screen size of a mobile device and the size of the human thumb, it is very easy to click on the wrong link if they’re too close.
- Place the unsubscribe button away from all other buttons. You don’t want the unsubscribe button anywhere near another button where it could be clicked by mistake. The best place for an unsub button is in the footer of the email.
Distribute Content Via Mobile App(s)
Responsive website design lets new visitors experience your website on the go, but a mobile app attracts return visitors.
- A mobile app allows you to reach every reader, engage your community in every place and at any time.
- Mobile apps notify people about new content and the latest news, which makes it impossible for them to forget about your brand.
- Readers can save the article and come back to it when they have time to stay longer.
- Reader-oriented features allow them to be constantly up to date and decide when to read, even if they are offline.
- You can give readers an option to remove ads with in-app purchases (subscription or one-time) to further enhance their reading experience.
Don’t have the bankroll to fund your own app development? You can choose a premium plugin for WordPress websites to get you started with something simple or use other large platforms (with apps) to publish your content.
Create A Community
When done right, online communities are a powerful tool for your business. It adds another layer of value to your offer and builds a meeting place for motivated, like-minded people.
A Few Benefits:
- Ability to provide fast customer support that everyone can read and learn from.
- Help other users connect and network with each other.
- Research customers’ needs through observation, questions, or discussion.
- Unlimited access to your most engaged customers.
An online community can help you work towards repeat business, first-time customers, research, and even generate rewarding SEO.
You can create a forum (extremely beneficial for SEO), encourage users to start a discussion in the comments section, or invite them to a private area to talk in-depth with others.
If you are creating a community that’s adding value to an offer or answering specific questions that can’t be found anywhere else, people will join!
Browsing all the secondary content in the community can keep potential & current customers close to home.