5 Ways to Keep Visitors on Your Website for Longer

You’ve probably spent a lot of time thinking about how to attract visitors to your website, but have you thought about how to make them stay once they’re there? Optimizing your site for visitors will help keep them around for longer, and may even entice them to support your business. But how can you ensure that visitors view more than just a single page before exiting your site altogether? Here are five simple ways you can keep visitors on your site for longer and reduce that dreaded bounce rate.

1. Make your site simple to navigate

If your website is tricky to navigate, your visitors will be quick to move on. It’s crucial to provide the information they need quickly and clearly. One area of significant importance is the main menu. It should give your visitors quick access to the pages they care about most, such as your list of products, services, or pricing. They shouldn’t have to drill down too many levels to find the answers to their most pressing questions. On the web pages themselves, the most useful content should be visible near the top of the page, not hidden somewhere in-between.

2. Keep the content clear

Few things scare away visitors more than large chunks of complicated content. Try to include as much information as possible without affecting clarity. This includes using descriptive headings and subheadings, short sentences, bite-sized paragraphs, and bullet points. Try refrain from using jargon as far as possible so as not to alienate potential customers. The typography should also be easy on the eyes. Choose a legible font and include plenty of white space between paragraphs and blocks of text.

3. Have visual elements

Humans are visual beings and can process images 60 000 times faster than text. Most of us also enjoy looking at pictures or watching videos more than we do reading text. Which is why it’s crucial to have visual elements on your site. Images, infographics, slideshows, and videos all work well. Not only are they easy to look at, but they can also help aid your audience’s understanding of your business and its offerings. With that said, take care not to overload your visitors’ visual centres. Be strategic about your visual placements.

4. Include calls-to-action

Don’t assume visitors will know what to do next. You will need to tell them by way of a call-to-action (CTA). Many visitors are lost by not encouraging them to take that next step. Decide which actions are most valuable to you (quote requests, newsletter sign-ups, etc.) and encourage visitors to take those actions by including a clear CTA on each relevant page. For example, if you want them to request a quote after viewing a particular service page, include a button that links to your contact page or online quote form.

5. Speed up your site

A page’s load time has a direct impact on its bounce rate. In fact, a recent study by pingdom.com found that the average bounce rate increases from 9% at two seconds to 38% by the time it hits five seconds. Google recommends a page speed of no more than three seconds. One simple way to speed up your site is to reduce images, video, and file sizes. Your web developer should also be able to suggest additional steps to increase your site speed.