Our attention spans are dropping. With so much information and access online, the amount of time to grab someone’s attention has become minuscule. In fact, recent studies have found that the average attention span has dropped to just eight seconds. Dropping 25% in just a few years…
This has made it considerably harder for small businesses’ especially to attract users online. The key behind this is to make sure your website is engaging. One study found that there is a ‘3 second rule’, about website engagement, and that in those three seconds your users should be able to know what it is your website does, enough to engage your users and keep them browsing.
When looking at what makes your website engaging, this usually includes your content, design layout, imagery and more.
Take your images as an example: these will work as a guide for your customers, as well as help in telling your story. This article will take an in-depth look into what makes an engaging website so that your users can get the most from your site.
This article looks at what makes an engaging web page experience, why it’s so important and what you can do to make sure your website is engaging to your users.
Why is this important?
Depending on how engaging your website is, this will be the difference between a customer browsing and purchasing a product, vs a customer losing interest and going somewhere else. With so much available to us on the internet, there is nothing stopping someone from finding similar products or services from a more engaging website.
In other words, an engaging web page can be the tipping point between success or failure. This is what makes engagement so important.
What makes an engaging Web page?
Content
A website without content is a blank canvas, and while a website with content is infinitely better than the latter, not every painting will capture your attention. Content is one of the stepping stones behind what makes an engaging page experience. With the vast amount of information on the internet, the way we write content has become more than just writing.
Engaging content can lead to a range of benefits, such as an increase in traffic and conversion rates.
There are a few ways to have engaging content, and it goes deeper than simply writing. Of course your written content is important, but many factors including how your content is displayed, how you use headers and who you write your content for will make a difference.
What the content says is directly linked to how engaging it is, due to the different types of content and the subject matter it covers will vary wildly. We can not directly say what to write for content to be engaging.
However, that is not to say that there is not more than simply what words are used, there is more that can be done. We will be looking at how to make your content better formatted and easier for your browsers to consume;
If you want tips on how to write engaging content, check out our blog!
What makes engaging content?
Headings
The correct placement of headings and subheadings will be very useful when it comes to engagement. Headings are used to show structure throughout your site and within your content.
Your users are unlikely to sit and read all your content, no matter how informative it is, especially if it is a large, singular block of text.
Your headings help your users scan your content and better understand the structure of it, allowing them to read the parts that are most useful to them. This is done as they act similarly to images in that they will guide your audience around your webpage. This means making your headings informative to entice your reader is very beneficial.
Tell a story
Now you’ve broken up your content into something that is more easily digestible with your content headings, it’s important that the content your user will read is just as enticing. One way to do this is by telling a story. If someone has clicked on your website, it’s likely you already have something in common with them. This is why telling a story is so important.
Telling a story is a great way to connect with your audience, helping them identify with you and further helping to attract users with a similar ethos to your business. Furthermore, storytelling is a useful tool to set the tone of your website and establish credibility. Which will be engaging to your users.
Interactive Content
Written content is all very useful, but it can be even more beneficial if you make it interactive. This means utilising links and buttons to move people around your site, or to areas that are more relevant to them.
A user may be at the point where they have read through your content, so what now? This is where having some interactive content is useful: they can now take action on the information they have read. Or, for those who have simply scanned your page, this is a great way for them to access other areas of your website.
Add images
How you use your imagery throughout your site will play a considerable role in whether your site is engaging or not.
I’m sure you’ve heard the term ‘show don’t tell’. This statement holds a lot of accuracy in connection to imagery and websites. You could tell your customers that you specialise in cleaning, or you could show them a quick before and after. Seeing is believing, and your imagery will act as a form of credibility.
Due to the nature of how users scan through websites, there is never a better time to use imagery. With the correct use of images your users will be able to scan quickly and gauge what your website is about. This is useful as it means your users won’t have to read through all of your content, but rather know in a matter of seconds whether your site is relevant to them or not.
What makes imagery engaging?
Emotion
Images can be used to provoke emotion throughout your webpage. If you think of a piece of art or a photograph, they have the ability to evoke a range of emotions from individual consumers. The same can be said for imagery on your website.
A study said that ‘To evoke emotion in photography simply means your photos say something. They tell a story’. Linking back to the content of a site, this ability to tell a story is what makes imagery so engaging. And being able to utilise this on your webpage is a great way of drawing users into your site and encouraging them to take action.
User Experience
A website without images can feel like trying to read a 2000+ word essay. It’s a sure way to make your users quickly exit your website. On the other hand, a website with images can create an immersive experience for your users.
Human beings are very visual creatures; in fact, 90% of the information we process is visual, and it takes us mere milliseconds to process imagery.
They say variety is the spice of life, well, images add variety to your content, helping to break up the content and keep the page interesting
As well as using images to tell a story, you can also use them to guide customers around your website. Using images of people is a great way to attract attention, and your users will follow their line of sight. With this in mind, you can use these images to point customers to specific sections or features such as a call to action or button.
Design Layout
Designers know that if a site looks right, this will transfer over to the users. Studies have found that individuals will stop engaging with a site if it looks bad or is laid out poorly. When it comes to it, if you want to increase engagement your website should be structured logically, user-friendly, and have a good breakdown of information.
One way to do this is through utilising a Z Pattern. Humans will typically read left to right and top to bottom, which on a website follows the pattern of a Z.
Following on from the Z pattern, a user’s eyes will scan in this pattern picking up the most important parts of information. Your users will see your logo first, and therefore learn who you are. This is why having your logo on the left of your website and a compelling hero section is so important. Without these, your website will fail to be engaging.
Video
There are many benefits to including a video on your website. One of which is your website will be more engaging. A recent study found that ‘84% of people say that they’ve been convinced to buy a product or service by watching a brand’s video.’
Adding a video to a web page is a great way of increasing the number of people who consume your content. Some people prefer to watch videos than read the content.
Marketers have also found that video is better than blog posts for generating leads and can be a quick way for your users to learn about a product or business without having to read all the content.
Similarly to the images, people are very visual beings; people are more likely to look and learn from something than actively read, which is why videos will always be beneficial on your website.
Conclusion
Engagement is the key factor in whether a webpage will keep a customer’s attention and, doing so is crucial for any business. Due to this, it is crucial for you to make sure your website has things in place to keep that attention.
