When someone visits your website, you only have a few seconds to capture their attention.  If your website doesn't engage your user, they won’t stay. Instead, they’ll hit the back button on the browser and likely wind up on your competitor’s website instead.

So what can you do to engage your visitors? How can you encourage them to keep reading your content and stay on your website? How can you optimize website engagement?

Here are five things you can do to capture more attention from your visitors:

• Use engaging content - Make your visitors feel like you’re talking directly to them. Try and refrain from using “I” or “we” too often. Your content should be about your visitors. When you’re creating content, imagine your reader is sitting on the other side of your desk. This will help you to use a conversational tone that draws the reader in and encourages them to read more.
  
• Use media effectively - This works really well with blog content but is equally applicable to any page on your website. Using images and videos in your content helps to keep your user engaged. Media is great for breaking up large sections of content too and adds different options for your visitors to engage with what you have to say.
  
• Make sure your website is easy to use - This might seem obvious, but it’s something that companies can easily miss with their websites. When was the last time that you viewed your website from the perspective of a potential customer? Make sure you do this regularly. Your website should be easy for them to use and really easy to navigate. Ideally a user should be able to get to any important information within 3 clicks.
  
• Utilize solid design principles - Design can be subjective, but one thing is clear - website visitors will react better to a website that is well designed. There’s no need to go over the top and create something that sacrifices usability, you’re simply looking for a design that is clean, easy to navigate, and communicates trust to your visitor.
  
• Have consistent branding throughout - Branding is about more than just your logo. Your website should have a consistent look and feel. This helps users to feel comfortable as they browse your site and engage with your content. Consistent branding goes hand in hand with good design when it comes to making your website feel trustworthy to your visitors.

You may have some of these elements in place already, but if your site is more than a few years old - it may be time to consider a refresh or rebuild.  Technology continues to evolve and it's important to always be aware of the latest opportunities available to stand out from the rest of the organizations in your space.

Interest + Engaging Content = Conversation & Conversion