9 Ways to Engage Your Website Users

We all know that the internet has now become a noisy place with content put out on every single platform, every niche, and every topic under the sky. And we also know that even if your website is shelling out content that is more informative and read-worthy as compared to most other websites in the same niche, that simply isn’t what the measure of a successful well-to-do website would be. The one and only measure of a successful website is the engagement of your target audience with your content.

While there are a gazillion ways people can apply to their websites to increase engagement, we are going to explore a set few that are tried, tested, and results-oriented. 

But before we dive into these tactics, let us understand what exactly engagement is. 

The engagement of a website visitor can be any of the following things: a like, comment, or share, but most importantly engagement is if the user reads the entire post and browses through more of your website! The last type of engagement is the hardest one to achieve. 

And here’s why.

Our attention spans have gone for a toss. As per a Microsoft study in 2015, the attention span of humans dropped down from 12 seconds, as recorded in 2000, to an alarming 8%. 

Source: Microsoft

What’s more disturbing is the fact that a report released by Jampp recently found that the human attention span drops down by a staggering 88% every year.

While this might be true, a much more recent study by Prezi (in collaboration with Kelton Research) has suggested that our attention spans are simply evolving. 

Ever notice how it is tough to sit through an hour-long lecture or conference? And yet we can easily binge on a Netflix series for multiple hours at a stretch? Right there is the loophole. The duration of our attention span is directly linked to how interesting we find something. This is also the reason why some movies perform great, as compared to others, similar to websites.

However, this “compelling” content has a number of factors that need to be hijacked before we can actually achieve it. 

So, let’s dive into it.

1. Website Design Matters

 

While your WordPress website may be full of information, if the access to this information is blocked by a bad user interface, the user experience is compromised and the visitor is bound to leave the website in irritation. This leads to a high bounce rate. 

A high bounce rate always means lower engagement. 

2. Engaging Content is KEY

 

While the word ‘engagement’ has become a buzzword in the digital media, it is an important aspect of the website. Your entire website is made up of content and if that foundation is weak, your WordPress website will not perform up to its highest potential. Before you head off to devise your content strategy, it is very important to understand your target audience. 

Source: Ballantine

Whether it is for your business or your website, understanding your target audience will give you a clearer insight into the context of the content that you wish to share. For instance, if your target audience is a middle-aged man living in the suburban area, posting content about the latest makeup trends won’t cut it. While the level of irrelevance is preposterously high in this example, it is necessary to make the concept clear. This intensity of irrelevancy may exist on a much smaller level, which you may need to fish out by trying to get to know your audience better.

Tip: Taking polls, asking the right questions, and engaging with your audience in the comments section will allow you to gradually gain insight regarding your reader base.

3. Creating Content with Intention

 

Now that you have figured out the type of content your audience is looking for, one important thing you need to take into consideration is intention. Content without intention will lose structure and won’t have a strong, memorable parting message for your reader base. Apart from this, a content created with intention also helps you refine your target audience. This weeds out the possibility of readers stumbling upon your eCommerce website using short-tail keywords and bouncing out too soon due to irrelevance.

Here are the two main intentions that you most definitely should follow to create engaging content:

1. Entertainment
2. Education

If you closely inspect your audience, this intention will become starkly clear. Once this intention is clear, the vision of your website starts to become more intricate, hence allowing you to devise content that aligns with it perfectly.

Tip: Making sure your reader is gaining the value that they’re looking for from your content.

4. Value-based Content

 

There are many articles online that claim to give you a blueprint to creating engagement filled content. This blueprint may highlight the word limit, keywords, headline usage, meta descriptions, and virtually everything that comes under the umbrella term of SEO. However, the most important part of this whole equation is most people bypass or undervalue the value-addition aspect of your website.

It is quite simple to understand that your potential readers will read and engage with your website content if it is providing relevant value to them. All the above-mentioned points will help you figure out the relevancy factor. But how much value to provide in each blog post?

The answer is TOO much.

It has been evident that unless the WordPress website provides more than enough value to your readers, the bounce rate is extremely high, leading to a chain of reactions which can further lead to an underperforming website. Giving away more than you seek is key to winning in the written content stream.

5. Search Engine Optimization

 

Now that your vision for the website is clear, it is wise to seek for WordPress development services that help you with proper search engine optimization. While there are certain things in SEO that you can do yourself, there are many things that a developer can help you out with. 

Search Engine Optimization will help you rank better in the SERPs (Search Engine Result Pages). Also, now that your content is rich with information, value, and your website has a clean and pleasing UI/UX, it will get the necessary support required to retain your search engine ranking and hence, content engagement. 

According to a 2019 study conducted by Backlinko, ranking on the #1 SERPs will lead to an organic rise of 30.9% in your CTR (click-through rate). 

Source: Backlinko

Source: Backlinko

6. Use Infographics! 

 

Consuming content on a website is similar to consuming content in a magazine or book. Readers get bored if there aren’t any pictures. According to a popular statistic, your website content is likely to have 12% more engagement if your content is supported by infographics or relevant images. This makes the consumption of information easier and convenient for the reader. 

Supporting your content with images that are communicating the summary of your written text enables the reader to gain the necessary gist of the article. Apart from that, a splash of color is always pleasing to the eye, as compared to a block of written text.

Going back to our very first point regarding attention span, images and infographics allow you to cash in on the opportunity of communicating the maximum amount of content in the least amount of time. 

Hire WordPress Developers to infuse these infographics in the right place, without losing the balance of the website.

Tip: While it is important to include infographics in your content, a balance of text and image is key to maintaining a healthy SEO score for your website.

7. YOUR Engagement on Your Website

 

We have shed enough light on other aspects of how to develop an engaging WordPress website. However, it is important that you engage and personally respond to all comments, questions, polls, or even likes and shares on your website. Your engagement with your audience instills a sense of care and further personalizes the experience for your reader. This personalization is one of the most important keys to maintaining the loyalty of the visitors on your website. Take the help of WordPress development company for building your website, but also make sure you have access to the backend, which will allow you to interact with your audience.

8. Initiation of Engagement

 

Just like it is important to respond to the engagement on your website, it is also important to initiate engagement. While this strategy works well on social media, it works amazingly for website-based content as well. Adding a CTA (Call to Action) to every blog post will urge readers to add a comment with their thoughts and engage with you. Once this comment is added, it will allow you to reply to it and engage further. You can also do this when you share your posts on social media or in your social circle. 

Tip: Engage with your readers and personally reply to as many comments as possible. This will give you better, more intricate insights into your reader base, helping you create future content!

9. Email Marketing 

 

Email marketing works wonders when done right. However, it is a little tricky. 

We have all seen pop-ups on websites asking us to sign in and get a free e-book or get a coupon code for discounts. And most of us have also signed up for it… just for that free e-book or coupon code. While these strategies work just fine in building the email database necessary for sending out a newsletter, they are ineffective because the intention with which the reader signed up for it was completely different.

Finding a way to engage your content consumer, in the long run, is a challenging feat to achieve. However, it isn’t impossible. While the carrot to the stick is a tactic that may work for data collection, it may not work as effectively for getting the necessary CTR (click-through rate). 

For that, you may have to come up with strategies that align with your content strategy. 

One strategy that we have for you is the ‘Cliffhanger Strategy’. The Cliffhanger Strategy is a classic strategy used by writers to make sure the reader’s curiosity is tickled and they are left wanting for more. Employing this will not only help you gain data from the reader in question but will also set the intent of the reader in the right place, making them want to visit your website for more.

To summarize it, there is much more to your blog than simply SEO which will aid in the engagement of your reader base with the website. While SEO is necessary, making the nuances right will not only help your SEO score on the side, but also enable you to have a website that is rich with information, content, and most importantly, value to your reader. 

We hope this post did the same for you!