Is Your Website Engaging?

User Engagement

If you’re about to launch a new website, have you considered how engaging it is for your potential visitors? First impressions count, so get to grips with understanding the fundamentals of user engagement before you launch it into cyberspace.


User engagementUser engagement is how someone interacts with your website. Before launching your website, you should first consider how enticing your website content is to read. Will visitors want to subscribe to your newsletter? Will they place an enquiry or get in touch? Cyber Sushi Design is here to offer advice so, read on!

What is User Engagement?

You can feel positive your website has strong user engagement when visitors to your site are:

  • Reading/sharing your content
  • Clicking through the pages of your site
  • Sending enquiries
  • Placing orders

A website that accomplishes all of the above is likely to have high engagement, which indicates a loyal audience. If these actions are lacking, maybe it’s time to rethink your user engagement strategy.


Ways To Encourage User Engagement


There are many ways to encourage users to interact with your website, we’ve listed some examples below:


Content

A visitor to your website who clicks through and reads other pages is engaged. Your content is keeping the visitor interested and by remaining on your site they are indicating they are interested in your business. The more time a person spends on your website, the likelier they are to purchase from you.

TAKEAWAY: Your website content needs to be interesting. Content must talk to visitors in a language they understand, using an engaging tone of voice and call-to-actions. You must demonstrate that you know what you are talking about and present yourself as the business that can solve the problem the visitor is experiencing.


Videos & Images

High-quality images and videos will enhance the user journey. In 2022, video has become a highly significant component to visually engage visitors and help your business to come alive online.

TAKEAWAY: Only upload high-quality visual content because poor quality images and videos are less likely to create a positive image of your business and therefore less likely to generate the desired engagement.


Audience Participation

This refers to the actions your audience are invited to engage with across your website. This can be achieved by providing access to quizzes, polls, surveys, web chat and videos. These features can all entice engagement. Making your website content educational and entertaining ensures it is more likely your audience will share and recommend your website,  whilst coming back for more themselves.

TAKEAWAY: Entice engagement by creating content that encourages audience participation. Quizzes, polls and surveys can provide valuable feedback that can help you to adapt your business to your customer’s needs or enable you to improve your website.


Social Sharing

When visitors to your website share your blog posts with their connections on social media, this is an act of user engagement.

TAKEAWAY: Include social media icons across your website. This makes it easier for visitors to share your content or access your social media profiles to follow, interact and recommend your business on social media.


Boost User Engagement


1. Improve the load time of your web pages

A web page should take 2-5 seconds to load. But, reportedly, an internet user will abandon your website if the page loading time exceeds 3 seconds. You can check how fast your web pages take to load by visiting Google’s PageSpeed Insights. Type in your URL and it will return a Pagespeed score and summary of the issues for you (or your web developer) to address.


2. Maintain a simple layout across your website

Keep your pages looking clean by utilising white space and implementing a simple navigation menu. Use easy to read fonts and keep the size optimal. If your web pages appear busy, you are more likely to have a higher bounce rate.


3. Streamline your navigation

Everything across your website should be accessible in no more than three clicks. Difficult to navigate websites have higher bounce rates, so structure navigation clearly and make use of categories and a search box to make blog posts/information more accessible.


4. Optimise your links

Use relevant descriptive anchor text when linking to another page of your website. Before publishing, make sure links always take visitors to where they expect to go.


5. Create long-form content

Long-form content can maximise user engagement. Typically, web pages that are 1000 – 2500 words long experience higher user engagement. Such content is more detailed and likelier to provide value to your visitors.


6. Content should be broken down into bite-size chunks

Small sections of information are easier to read than long blocks of text. Break content down into bite-size chunks by making use of subheadings, bullet points and lists. This makes reading text easier to digest. By adding images or videos you can make your content more aesthetically pleasing.


7. Ensure your website is mobile-friendly

More searches occur from mobile devices than desktops. Don’t launch your website before ensuring it is mobile-friendly. You can check how your site fairs by visiting Google’s Mobile-Friendly Test. Type in your URL to discover whether your website offers a responsive experience across mobile devices.


8. Use Call-To-Actions

Use a call-to-action on each page to encourage them to take action. Call-to-actions stand out from the rest of your content and encourage visitors to subscribe to your newsletter, call you, share your content on social media, download your eBook, enter their email address. Clear and simple instructions ensure readers know what is expected of them.


Understanding User Engagement


While it’s important to know how to encourage user engagement, it’s equally vital to understand visitor interaction over time.

Google Analytics will help you gain insights into key metrics that can be measured over various periods. The metrics to understand include:

  • Engagement
  • Page Views
  • Bounce Rate
  • Average Time on Site
  • Return Visits
  • Conversions

By understanding your website’s analytics, you can make amendments and adjust how your website seeks to engage your target audience.


Launch your Website & Hit The Ground Running


If you are about to launch your website ask yourself the following questions:

  1. Do you have a stunning, well-designed website?
  2. Is your website content engaging and interactive?
  3. Have you provided links to your social media profiles? (Create them if you don’t already have them)
  4. Have you checked pages speed using Google’s Page Speed Insight test?
  5. Is your website optimised for SEO?
  6. Have you checked how mobile-friendly your website is using Google’s Mobile-Friendly test?
  7. Do you have Google Analytics set up?

These are several steps you can take to ensure your website is set up for successful user engagement.


Contact Cyber Sushi Design for Web Design & Internet Marketing Services Buckinghamshire


We have over 20 years of digital marketing experience and provide a professional, friendly service to help you boost your brand awareness and user engagement online. Cyber Sushi Design offers web design and internet marketing services in Buckinghamshire and beyond!  Our services include:

Get in touch with us if you’re looking to successfully launch your online business or boost brand awareness. Call us on 01494 356 778 today to discuss your needs.