Your Site Has 5 Seconds To Capture A Visitor’s Attention. Here’s How To Do It.

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Do you ever wonder why your website attracts hundreds or thousands of visitors, yet sales revenues hardly budge upwards? It could be because your website communicates a vague message that leaves visitors confused. Perhaps your website’s layout is too disorganized for potential customers to navigate through available web pages easily.

Here are 12 ways you can follow to improve your website’s appeal, and fully grab a visitor’s attention in just 5 seconds.

1. Make your identity and mission clear

Today’s typical internet consumers demand content to be presented in simplistic formats which enable them to obtain required information quickly. It is because there are many sites competing for an internet consumer’s attention. For example, Facebook, Twitter, gossip websites, and online music stores are the most visited sites on the Internet. It’s necessary to present your brand and objectives in a reader-friendly format that ensures visitors understand who you are, and what you have to offer by simply scanning your homepage.

2. Avoid generic website layouts

You should be willing to hire a seasoned web designer to come up with a unique website layout that commands attention instantly. The problem with using free or cheap layouts available on online based DIY website creators is that any visitor who’s ever come across a similar layout on another website will be quick to label you a copycat.

Aim for a website layout that offers everything lacking in your competitor’s websites. This uniqueness will enhance your credibility among leads.  Break down your articles into small paragraphs, and incorporate bullet lists to retain reader’s attention from the heading to the conclusion.

3. Incorporate features which visitors need

When your website enables visitors to solve their needs effectively, they reciprocate by promoting it to their friends through word-of-mouth. For example, if you operate a tours and travel website, you can include a free foreign exchange calculator to help tourists correctly convert their money into required currencies. Incorporating a free online translator tool will help visitors overcome language barriers.

How often do you gather feedback from your website’s frequent visitors? By maintaining active feedback channels, you’ll be able to teach your visitors un-met needs, then come up with effective solutions that are easily accessible on your website.

4. Target your audience’s emotions

Use provocative visual media as opposed to conventional posters that are quickly forgotten once the visitor scrolls down the page. Images can captivate attention and stir up a variety of emotions much better than an article can. When you position your images strategically on different pages, visitors will find your website refreshing, and will spend more time consuming your content.

Using memes gets your audience to lighten up and lower any mental barriers they might have previously held against your brand. Humanitarian websites often use Kevin Carter’s famous starving child and vulture photo to communicate their mission of eradicating poverty and hunger in developing nations.

5. Ensure your website is fast

All internet users dislike websites that take ages to load. One ends up wasting mobile data when reloading web pages repeatedly. Purchasing domain space from a renowned provider will ensure your website operates effectively even when there’s massive traffic flowing in from different sources. Visitors who have a pleasant encounter will visit your website frequently. In addition to earning a good reputation, search engines rank your website higher for targeted keywords.

Google PageSpeed and CloudFlare are reliable online tools to help you assess your website’s performance.

6. Offer convincing examples

Offering a clear illustration of how a newly launched product or service satisfies consumer need helps you to capture your visitor’s minds and trust. When Samsung launched the S8 smartphone, they created a variety of interesting advertisements to illustrate the device’s waterproof capability. It wasn’t enough for them to display a list of features on posters, and their website.

If your website just contains articles, it’s time for you to hire a skilled video editor who will present your ideas in a compelling manner that attracts and maintains high web traffic.  Novel videos and posters easily convert leads into customers. Infographics are great visual tools you can rely on to relay new concepts to your target audience. Potential customers who watch a genuine testimonial video are more likely to end up purchasing the advertised product compared to those who glance at a poster.

7. Present unique content in an engaging way

If your website has a reputation for providing credible, unique information that's hard to come across on other websites, you automatically become an authority in your niche. New referrals will be eager to visit your website because it has something refreshing to offer. However, you need to structure your content in a friendly format that enables visitors to obtain the information they require in a matter of seconds.

Ensure links to content on your website are working, and neatly arranged to enable readers to access related articles and videos easily. Use anchor links strategically within articles to remind them about informative content that’s worth their attention.

8. Use enticing short copies

Your business website should contain brief sales copies, since lengthy paragraphs put off a majority of internet consumers. Avoid writing lengthy sentences because readers can easily get confused, and lose their attention on the message you’re putting across.  Brief sentences facilitate effective communication, and lead to better sales.

The main advantage of hiring a seasoned copywriter is that your copies will contain the right words and tone that captures your audience’s emotions, and sways them into becoming customers.

9. Use call- to -action statements moderately

Call-to-action statements are necessary to push visitors through your sales funnel. Some website owners make the mistake of flooding their sales copies, blog articles, and visual media with call-to-actions. Visitors feel invaded if they constantly have to tolerate pop-up windows while browsing your website. Your visitors need to feel convinced about your products or services before following the instructions on your call-to-action.

A website that contains numerous pop-up windows, and is full of content that gets saturated with call-to-action statements, appears shady. Potential customers will feel wary about purchasing products or services from such a website.

10. Prove your website’s credibility

First-time visitors may have doubts concerning your website's credibility, especially if you're a startup. Suspicion is your enemy because it hinders you from converting leads into sales. It’s also hard to gain extra traffic through word-of-mouth referrals when your website hasn’t fully earned the target’s trust.

Visitors will let go of their defensive misconceptions against your website if you display results from Alexa and ScamAdvisor. You can also incorporate video testimonials from public figures vouching for your credibility.

11. Optimize your website for smartphone and tablet use

Have you ever tried accessing your website through a smartphone or tablet? If yes, how was the experience?

A majority of people access the internet through their smartphones and tablets because of their affordability and high portability, in comparison to laptops. The large difference in screen sizes and mobile browsers limits certain online features whenever a visitor accesses your website through their smartphone. To ensure your visitors have a pleasant experience accessing your website from their favorite gadgets, hire a skilled web designer to optimize your website for mobile users.

12. Refresh your content frequently

If a frequent member realizes your website barely posts new articles or visual content, they might assume the site is dormant. It’s necessary to refresh outdated content with updated information that captivates your reader’s attention and loyalty. You can hire an online content manager to identify interesting topics for future articles, and also develop a strategic plan of how to release them to your audience.

You don’t need to spend a lot of money to retain your site’s visitors if you implement the tips highlighted above. 

Any related tips to add? Let us know in the comments below!

Publié 29 juillet, 2017

Ruchi Bhargava

Content Writing | Designing | Web Development

Hi! Are you looking for content that gets all the birds (read: customers) in one proverbial stone? Then I'm the person you need to talk to. After millions of words written for my clients, I can guarantee one thing: quality. When you're working with me, you'll get nothing short of perfect, well-researched, and enticing content. But that's not all I'm about. Along with creating custom cont...

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