7 Website Hacks to Help You End Lackluster User Engagement To increase your conversion rates, it's no longer enough to simply drive traffic to your website in the hope of some success.
By Alex Bashinsky Edited by Dan Bova
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
To increase your conversion rates, it's no longer enough to simply drive traffic to your website in the hope of some success. Smart business owners know that user engagement and experience is the key to increasing conversion goals.
The more engaged your audience is, the more likely you are to turn those viewers into customers and subscribers.
Using these seven practical website hacks, you can end lackluster user engagement and turn viewers into highly-engaged prospects.
1. Make a strong first impression
Most people's attention span lasts just four seconds across 20 percent of website content viewed. So, when it comes to your website, think about first impressions.
As Adam Singer, from the Future Buzz, says:
"I probably view more than 1,000 websites each week, so when something is unusually good it stands out from the clutter. The web is expanding an incredible amount daily – with both well designed and poorly designed sites. With such a tremendous amount of competition, standing out is a huge key to success."
You want a professional, simple design, a clean and uncluttered site and clear navigation.
Evaluate what content is above the fold -- meaning, the stuff people see without having to scroll. Determine your most important information and position it to capture the user's attention.
2. Use visuals
As marketing expert Jeff Bullas says:
"90% of information transmitted to the brain is visual, and there is another theory that says visuals are processed 60,000 times faster in the brain than text. Therefore, 40% of people will respond better to your visual content than plain text."
Forty percent is a BIG return on investment for just adding visual elements.
If you sell lots of products or have an ecommerce store, you want to have clear product images.
Videos are also a compelling visual tool.
3. Eliminate barriers
Make it easy for users to click the important stuff, find your contact details, leave comments and share posts and pages from your site. Bullas suggests:
This comes back to point number one: think through a clean, clear, effective design.
4. Construct magnetic headlines
Most business owners write their own copy, often as an afterthought. That means they also tend to leave critical elements, such as headlines, out of the equation.
In fact, 14 out of 50 business websites don't contain a headline, which is not good practice. As freelance copywriter Joseph Ratermann explains: "8/10 people will read a headline while only 2/10 will continue to read the body copy."
Good headlines are the direct link to more engagement, leads, conversions and sales.
5. Be mobile-friendly
Now that most people carry a mini computer in their back pockets, the days of the desktop are slowly fading away.
Users who go online "mostly via desktop" are now in the vast minority. Check out these stats on global Internet usage:
- Mostly via desktop: 11%
- Evenly split between both mobile and PC: 28%
- Mostly via mobile: 37%
- Only via mobile: 23%
You simply must have a mobile-responsive website that looks good on desktop computers, smartphones, and tablets.
6. Create massive value content
Readers are selfish. They want to get something out of viewing your site, and rightly so. It's chipping into their valuable time.
It should go without saying that one of the best ways to create value on your website is to have a blog. But not just any blog. It must serve as a valuable resource to potential leads and current customers alike.
The benefit is that blogging brings compounding results. Write your post once, and it continues to work for you over the long term.
7. Use a call to action
The whole point of any marketing effort, including that of your website, is that you want people to do something. The easiest way to get them to do something is to have a call to action (CTA) on every page of your site.
It can be as simple as using text like "Click here", "Try it now," or "Subscribe for updates."
Attracting more user engagement really is quite simple. Try implementing these website hacks and you're guaranteed to see your conversion rates improve.
