From looking up a restaurant to online shopping, people are constantly visiting various websites. While some are visually appealing and easy to navigate, many leave room for improvement. And the fate of a poor site is clear, views will plummet as people go in search of something better.
This is true across the board and can make website content creation and maintenance feel intimidating. However, creating a well-received site is possible. Here are a few tips to put into action to build a site with content that people keep coming back to.
1. Focus on Bringing Value
Looking something up and finding it is typically an unremarkable experience as a customer. You visit a search engine, type “best headphones,” for example, and engage with content on page one. From there, you’ll read, weigh the pros and cons of each option, and feel informed enough to make a decision. For this scenario, informative content was able to solve the problem at hand.
However, being unable to find information can be an impactful experience. Think about the last time you looked up a recipe. You probably followed the same search journey and chose a recipe for what you were wanting to make. Landing on the site, you started to read. It was then you realized it was a dozen paragraphs of the writer’s life story before you even hit ingredients.
And that’s when many people aggressively scroll past it or go back to their search results page and start anew. They were wanting something that would give them value — a recipe — and the content delivered didn’t provide that soon enough. The information was buried under largely irrelevant stories that were taking up prime real estate.
The same can be said for any other digital content experience. Whether your audience’s goal is online shopping, gaining information, or seeking entertainment, people need to get something from your content. And they need to do so in a timely manner. Identify the and make the information or entertainment they are looking for easy to find. You’ll deliver better, more effective content that people will want to engage with.
2. Use Mixed Media
Attention spans have never been shorter, which makes keeping eyes on your content a challenge in and of itself. A variety of content can help remedy this. Incorporate different forms of media on your site to enhance the reading experience. From static images to GIFs and videos, strive to find ways to add mixed media to spruce things up.
And that’s not to say traditional articles are a bust. They’re useful for many practical goals like efforts and interlinking. However, adding videos and other mixed media builds on top of great content. Especially if that additional content dives deeper into a topic the article doesn’t or can’t explain.
For example, an article about how to check your car’s oil may include a step-by-step guide. It can detail precisely what the reader will need to know and how to do it. However, adding a video to the article about how to change your car’s oil can keep people on your site. They were looking for one topic and then found a similar topic interesting, leading them to stick around.
Content isn’t just words, and most websites will require images, videos, and/or infographics. This approach keeps your audience’s attention and improves the user experience. On the other hand, a block of text on every page with nothing else will leave people disinterested and looking elsewhere. You’re putting too much time and effort into creating content for that to be the case.
3. Let Data Speak for Itself
You could have a focus group speak to their habits and explain what they love and hate about brands. But their actions may not necessarily align. It’s not uncommon that people will do the exact opposite of what they say. And this disconnect is precisely why data is vital to successful content creation, execution, and reception.
Your audience may claim to love one thing and prefer something else, but you wouldn’t know unless you track it. Lean into data and metrics to deliver what people want and expect from you and your site. From the popularity of content topics to the effectiveness of calls to action, there’s no shortage of data to be explored.
Focus on prioritizing what matters most for you and your business. E-commerce sites may want to convert the most sales possible, while restaurants may gauge success on reservations or menu views. Find what is most valuable for you to track and routinely check in on it. From there, updating your content strategy becomes more intentional, and the content produced will better appeal to your audience.
Your Content Strategy Moving Forward
Setting up a website is a long and tedious process, which requires hours of work. And crafting content that makes people want to keep coming back — that’s a true art form. Keeping your audience at the core of all that you do makes website success possible. Valuable content goes a long way in elevating your brand and creating a strong audience relationship with your site. Maintain that focus throughout all you do, and you’ll be happy with the results.