One of the most common issues with your website is keeping readers and site visitors engaged.
Trust me; you are not alone.
On average, 55% of your site visitors will only stick around for a few seconds.
It is more important than ever to know how to hook your readers and keep them engaged. I put together 7 of my favorite tips to keep your readers and new visitors engaged.
The longer they stay on your site, the more likely they will use your services or buy your products.
Are you ready?
1. Give your audience what they want.
This step may seem simple, but the majority of business owners are not utilizing it.
No one knows your audience better than themselves. An easy way to find out what exactly YOUR audience wants is to create a survey.
Two of my favorite survey creation sites are SurveyMonkey and Typeform.
All you need to do is ask questions about the type of content they want to see more of from you or your business.
If you do not have an audience yet, there is no need to worry.
Join Facebook groups relevant to your business or online content and start asking what type of content they would most likely enjoy reading.
You are bound to get tons of ideas from those members commenting on your post.
Once you have created your content, share it back inside that group for them to enjoy.
2. Take the time to plan your headline.
I want to share a small but powerful statistic with you.
8 out of 10 people will read your headline while only 2 out of 10 people will read the rest.
Let that sink in for a second, re-read it if needed.
I come across so many people who create great articles, worked on them for hours, and have nothing to show for it.
When I ask how long they spent creating their headline, the most common answer is, I just used the first one that came to mind.
When creating your headline, write down at least ten different options. If you can come up with more, the better off your headline will be.
If you want to see how it might perform, use a headline analyzer tool. My favorite tool is Co-Schedule Headline Analyzer.
3. Use the AIDA method: Attention, Interest, Desire, Action.
Never heard of the AIDA method? No worries.
AIDA is an easy to remember formula that helps you structure your content for the highest engagement and conversion rate.
This easy to remember formula has been around for decades. Why try to change something that has been working?
You may be wondering which part of the content is what when it comes to AIDA?
Attention will belong to your headline. The job of the headline is to get the visitor to read the first paragraph or opening statement.
Interest will be part of the first paragraph or opening statement after the headline.
Desire will be in the paragraph or section following interest. Here you will make the reader feel like you know exactly who they are and what they want.
Once you have demanded their attention, gained their interest, and hit on their desires. It is now time for a call to action.
Action will ask for the sale, sign up, or download.
Do you see the flow of content using AIDA?
4. Incorporate powerful and emotional words.
These are the words that will keep the reader glued to your post, advertisement, or landing page.
Have you ever come across an advertisement that you just had to keep reading?
Maybe you stumbled upon an article that captured your attention.
More than likely, they were using power words in their content.
SmartBlogger did a great job of coming up with over 801 of these powerful and emotional triggering words.
Check out the list here.
5. Concise copy converts better.
When it comes to writing copy that keeps people staying longer and converting at higher rates, being concise is key.
For example, if you are writing a headline and it seems a bit wordy, try to widdle it down to as few words as possible. While still getting your point across.
Apple does a great job at this check out their headline for the new Macbook Pro here.
You can still be concise while writing a 2,000-word article or blog post. With every point, you are trying to make, do so in as few words as possible.
6. Speak your customers' language.
When it comes to capturing the attention of your audience, showing them you understand who they are and what their needs are can benefit you and your website.
Speaking potential customers' language will make them feel like you understand who they are. Keeping them on your page longer with a higher chance of converting.
7. Use helpful tools to perfect your writing.
As a professional copywriter myself, there are a few tools that help me work more efficiently. Even if you aren't a copywriter, the tools I am about to list will help anyone who writes emails, blog posts, etc.
If you write your blog posts for your business or just for fun, Grammarly is an essential tool. They have a built-in plagiarism checker and help perfect your grammar and spelling.
Grammarly isn't just for blog posts. You can even use it to write emails for work.
Like I said in tip #3, the headline is your most valuable asset when it comes to blog posts and advertising.
CoSchedule does a great job of showing you exactly how you might make your headline better.
Final thoughts
Copywriting may seem like a foreign land that is not very spoken about, but it isn't hard.
It's all about understanding the fundamentals, knowing which tools to use, and being patient with your writing.
None of the copywriters I know ever get their writing perfect on the first attempt. I'm sure there are some out there that come close, but never on the first attempt.
Today you only have a few seconds to capture people's attention. It's vital to get your point across quickly - remain concise at all times.
Just remember copywriting is what keeps people sticking around and ultimately leading to conversions!
