The longer a visitor customer stays at your site, the more time you have to convince them to buy your product or service. There are many things you can do to help your customers "take off their coats and stay a while." Here are some practical ways:
1. Make sure your page loads fast. If it has so many graphics that it takes forever to load, people get bored, and will leave before they start. Also make sure you don't put everything in 1 table.
Eg: putting everything between <table></table> is bad. Because your visitor will have to wait until everything loads inside it. Only then will the content pop up on their screen. Instead brake your page into multiple TABLES.
2. Be clear from the beginning. Make sure that the very first words that people see are describing what your website is all about. Do not mislead them to try and get them to stay – it’s a bad idea.
3. Proofread for spelling and grammar. Grammar and spelling errors scream amateur - if you want people to take your site seriously, make sure there are no mistakes.
4. Make your text easy to read. Small text is hard to read, yet if it’s too big, it looks like you’re yelling. Bright text is also hard to read and can look very unprofessional.
5. Use sub-headlines and bullets throughout your text. This breaks up the reading and invites people to read more. Also make sure that there is enough white space so it is pleasing to the eye.
6. Offer something free like an eBook or software, if they fill out a quick questionnaire. As they fill it out, they're thinking about your product (this is also a great way to build your customer database).
7. Host a forum or chat room on your site. Not only does this keep them on your site for a while, but it also gives them a good reason to come back over again. An "ask the expert" question and answer page also works well.
8. Remind people that they’re welcome to print your information and share it with others. A print-out allows people to revisit your product several times a day.
9. Throughout your site, create curiosity hooks. Eg: "I'm now going to reveal my secret formula on how to ___,
but before I do that, let me first tell you about ____". This way they'll keep reading (stay longer) because now they're curious what the secret formula is. Keep doing this often, making sure you word the context differently each time. Variety in wording is what'll keep them unsuspectable to this or any trick.
There are literally tons of ideas, you'll just need to find what words best you're your site and your content. Every time you come up with a website that you believe is put together very well, bookmark it. When working on your own site, reference those favorites. Making your website more appealing encourages visitors to stay longer. If a site is at all confusing or hard to absorb, you'll lose your contact before you ever had them.
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