There are millions of people online every single day and millions of different websites and services they can use to occupy their time with. As a business owner, you need to make sure that your website not only draws in your target audience’s attention but keeps them coming back again for more. What many don’t know is that you need to capture a reader’s interest in a matter of seconds. Studies have found that over half of website visitors only spend 15 seconds on a web page when browsing. So how can you make a lasting impression in such a short time? Well here are a few quick tips you will need to use when building effective content creation on your site.
1. Know Your Audience
It sounds simple. After all, you interact with your customers every day, you know what they want. However, when it comes to website content there are many different factors that could sway visitors in different directions. Before starting your content ask yourself the following questions: Who is my target audience? Who can influence my target audience? How will they find my site?
Your content should not just cater to the clients you already have but attract the type of customers you want. To be effective your content needs to be both accessible and interesting to all types of people. Most importantly you should know what website path your audience will be coming from.
2. Short & Simple
As mentioned, 15 seconds is a very short time to get someone’s attention. While you are primarily looking for certain readers, your content creation still needs to be understandable by a wide audience. Make sure that the information on your site is understandable and nix the lingo. After all, they know you are the expert, or else they wouldn’t be on your site. By keeping your sentences simple and to the point you’ll your site will come off as approachable and open.
3. Use An Active Voice
Active voices help create reader-friendly sentences. By being more direct with your audience comes off as more engaging and encourages them to take action. For example, instead of writing “Products can be ordered on our website” say “You can order products on our website.”
4. Make It Scannable
Since most readers have short attention spans, it is important to put your most important information first. If users are jumping around looking for something particular you don’t want to lose them because your key selling points are at the bottom of the page. Depending on the content you’re writing, using bullet points and number lists can highlight your most important points and help users navigate through them. This will help keep your readers engaged and interested in the content of your service.
5. Incorporate Multimedia
90% of information processed through the brain is visual and this can be used to your advantage. A video, gif, or even a simple photograph can all have a big impact on your site. Featuring easy-to-read charts and graphs can do a better job of making your point than a few large paragraphs explaining yourself. Images can also help break up long paragraphs making them easier to read.
6. Leave Them Wanting More
At the end of each page, you should leave them wanting more. This is a good place to leave a call-to-action button. Call-to-actions lets your visitors know that what they are reading about is just the beginning. Start them with action verbs like “Download,” “Learn More,” Sign Up,” and “Share.” You can link these buttons to any page you want to direct them to on the site. This will help increase your page views and encourage them to promote your business.
Writing can be a difficult task in general but content creation for a website that is just right can be even more so. Just remember, whatever you put on your site is not permanent. Once you get your content pushed out there you can make edits and updates as frequently as you like. You can even optimize your website’s performance by reviewing your analytics monthly. Not sure how? Let the Cobalt Media team help you out. Our advanced analytics and research skills can help keep your website and your business running at their best.