Take a moment to think about your favorite website. Chances are you like to return to that website on a regular basis – maybe you have it saved in your favorites menu, or on the bar at the top of your browser screen – well, you’re not the only one. All users love to come back to sites that they truly enjoy, and they especially love to do this when they feel a connection to the owner, the community and the content. In my experience as a content writer, marketer, and consumer, I’ve noticed that there are a set of winning elements out there that really need to be included in any website in order to get true user engagement, improve loyalty and turn your leads into all-important conversions. Here are just a few of those factors to consider:
1. Starting User Engagement – Who Are You?
Most of the time, unless you’re in a very particular industry, your users will want to learn as much as possible about who you are. That means that they want to see what you’re about, and connect with you on some human level. Yes, it’s important to give as much information as you can regarding what your industry/business/website can do for your customers, but you also need to share some anecdotes about the human being behind the business. As a consumer, if I was going to hire someone, refer them, recommend them or anything else, I’d feel more comfortable doing that if I have a sense of who you are.
Be careful that you don’t go too far with your storytelling, however. The “About Me” page of your website should reflect a good balance of what you’re about, and how you can meet your users’ needs. It’s not an opportunity to write a truncated version of your autobiography.
2. What are You Going to do for Me?
As much as we might like it, no user is turning up at a website simply to do the owner a favor. You visit a website for a very specific reason – either you’re searching for information, looking to buy something or hoping to start a conversation. If a user ends up stumbling on your website in the search for a solution and finds that it offers nothing to them but information about how great you are – they’re going to leave pretty quickly.
With that in mind, it’s important to always be user-oriented with your unique, engaging copy. If you’re doing the work yourself, instead of using an experienced content writer, discuss what your users are going to want to talk about and solve their problems in the content that you are providing. Be creative, original, and understand what your audience wants from you.
3. How do Other People Rate You?
Testimonials can either be written solely on their very own page of your website, or scattered throughout your service pages. For example, if you were a copywriter, like me, your testimonials should be able to show that you produce good, high-quality content that people enjoy reading.
4. Why Should I stick Around?
So you work hard to get your audience to your webpage – but what’s keeping them there when they do finally arrive? More importantly – what’s going to keep them coming back time and time again? The answer: Content.
You need your content to be original, informative, entertaining, interesting, and valuable to users in some way. Great content not only ensures that your audience engages with your website, but also that more users are attracted to your platform in the first place.
In my experience, some of the ingredients for a successful content policy include the following:
- Originality – Unique, original content that doesn’t show up as duplicate on numerous places around the web is essential. You can’t just see an article that you enjoy and copy/paste it to your own site. It’s fine to take inspiration from other things that already exist on the internet, but you need to make that content your own in some way.
- Creativity – Try to stand out from the crowd wherever you can. This isn’t always easy, since people are doing new things all of the time, but if you can, don’t be afraid to discuss something a little bit further, add some extra research or put a new twist on an old topic.
- Relativity – Your users need to feel as though the content you are providing relates to their needs, otherwise they’re going to wonder why they’re on your page in the first place.
- Consistency – Another difficult one – it’s important to keep updating and providing content on a somewhat regular basis. This can be quite difficult for some beginner bloggers, but even if you’re pushed for time, it’s better to publish a couple of pieces of great content every week/month than to publish dozens of useless pieces.
- Engaging – Ask your users about their opinion and adapt your posts accordingly. Your readers want to know that they’re being listened to, and by choosing to listen, you’re actively giving yourself a bigger scope of inspiration for new content.
- Accuracy – Make sure that the advice you offer is something that you truly believe in. You can’t just provide any old solution that doesn’t really work in the hope that it’ll stop people from asking for more. Make sure that what you are suggesting is applicable, and that the advice you offer is advice you’d be tempted to follow yourself.
5. How Can People Contact You?
One of the most crucial aspects of enhancing user engagement on your website is making sure that your audience can contact you easily. Make sure that there are plenty of options for people to choose from, from contact forms, to an email address, and even a telephone number if you have one. If you specifically want your audience to contact you in a certain way, then draw attention to that method as much as possible, but don’t be restricted by it. Even if you’d rather have all of your contact by telephone, some of your potential clients may prefer talking to you over email, and you shouldn’t miss out on a possible sale because of this fact.
To learn more about developing amazing copy, establishing your online presence, and creating user engagement, subscribe to my blog. To access your very own content writer, contact me via email, or fill in my contact form for a quote.