Internet visibility is a must on the market nowadays. But more than that, the internet has revealed an intrinsic need to connect with others, especially with companies we make deals with. Every good CEO and entrepreneur knows that they have to keep their customers happy. And today, that includes maintaining an online space that mirrors the way your company works. A place where people can express their opinions and connect through their mutual interest – you. In this article, we offer a glimpse of how easily you can turn your website visitors into returning, happy users.
Vary Your Content
The biggest mistake a company can make in their online marketing is keeping a single type of content. Whether those are blog posts, tutorials, or infographics, providing your visitors and customers with only one kind of text can quickly bore them. Consider switching up your posts, matching them with the topic and appropriating them based on the target audience. Keep your content fresh and engaging, with photos, videos and interesting, yet simplistic designs.
Reward Participation
Like students eagerly awaiting acknowledgment for classroom participation, your users want to feel seen, recognized and rewarded for their loyalty. You can use this intrinsic desire to connect with them, and keep them engaged in your website – offer discounts for newsletter sign ups, coupon codes, raffles and giveaways for active participation in forums, discussions or social media shares.
Involvement Is Key
There is nothing more enthralling on a website forum (or a discuss page), than seeing the website creator or the company CEO joining in on the conversation. The respond posts should not be lengthy or posted every day. Simply replying to users’ concerns, stirring up conversations and asking for feedback is enough to let them know you care about their involvement in the company and the community they formed.
Website Design
The one visual factor impacting user participation the most is the look. From the design of the landing page, down to the color choices, every single corner of the website is subconsciously scrutinized. Find out how easy or difficult it is to find the most important links and related articles. Carefully choose and utilize fonts in relation to the topics of your posts. Everything on your website should blend smoothly for optimal user navigation.
Engage The Elusive Lurkers
The internet is a place that offers anonymity – there will always be users who are not keen on interacting with others, but still want to leave their mark on your website. For example, buzzfeed.com features an option to rate an article by choosing from a range of emotes at the bottom of the text. This triggers a graph, which shows how other readers reacted. Similarly, you can expand participation to graphs, quizzes and surveys that anyone can fill out and feel like a part of your digital community.
Cluster Your Content
The best way to ensure users will stay on your page is to keep thematically linked content clustered together. You can sort similar topics in appropriate categories, thus making it easier for users to find what they are looking for in a particular field. This keeps them exploring your site, rather than getting lost trying to dig up similar posts, which inevitably leads to clicking the ‘back’ button, or going to another website in a flash.
There is much more to the topic of website optimization in relation to users, but these were some of the more prominent details that seem to be a common thread to all websites. It is vital to do research where you decide what kind of audience you want to draw in, how to optimize post types, how to design your website to appeal to the user, and how to make them feel like a part of a community, even those who are not as ‘talkative’. Never forget that behind each username and comment is a real living person. Validating them and being mindful of their needs will return to you tenfold.