Last week, in Episode 066, we discussed 5 ways to boost website traffic — ways to increase the amount of visits to your website. Visits to your website not only help you to connect with your prospective client and grow your business, but visits to your website also help boost your Search Engine Optimization. 

Search Engine Optimization or SEO refers to the likelihood of a visitor coming upon your website following their search on a search engine. SEO is influenced by a wide variety of factors, including but not limited to the number of visits your website receives, how long visitors spend on your website, the pages within your website, the blog posts within your website, and more. 

Just like website traffic can influence SEO, so can the quality of the website traffic you receive. In other words, the longer a visitor spends on your website — the better. This shows search engines your website is a high-quality website helping people to gather important information. As an example, if someone visits your website and clicks around to keep exploring — that’s great! On the other hand, if someone visits your website, doesn’t click to another page, and simply exits after a few seconds — that’s not so great!

So, today, let’s explore 5 ways to keep visitors on your website — five actionable ways your web design can work on your behalf, serving, educating, and guiding your visitors toward the content most beneficial to their needs.

5 Ways to Keep Visitors on Your Website

Keeping visitors on and engaged with your website matters for a variety of reasons. Learning more about your business, products, or services can help visitors to form a meaningful connection with your business — or even help your website and business to be perceived as a dependable, go-to resource in your field.  We believe your website should work for you even when you’re not working — guiding your visitors toward the products or services aligned with their needs, equipping your prospective clients for success — and in turn, helping to grow your business.

So, here are 5 ways to keep visitors on and engaged with your website:

1. Create a clear and user-friendly web design. The more user-friendly your web design is, the more seamlessly your visitors can navigate and explore your design. For example, use headings within your copywriting to showcase need-to-know details, use photos or graphics to supplement your copywriting and help with understanding, and remember, less can be more. The easier your website is to use, the better. In Episodes 042 through 046, we explore, page by page, how to elevate each page of your web design.
2. Create the same great experience on both Desktop and Mobile. At With Grace and Gold, we use Google Analytics to better understand how our website is serving our audience… to know where our website’s visitors are coming from (social media, Google, or elsewhere) which pages are visited most frequently, how long visitors are spending on our website, and more. For With Grace and Gold, 52% of visits occur on Mobile, and 48% of visits occur on Desktop — and maybe your small business experiences something similar. With a nearly-even division between Mobile and Desktop visits, we have always believed in and have been dedicated to creating beautiful, engaging, and user-friendly web designs across both Desktop and Mobile. When you create the same great, user-friendly experience on both Desktop and Mobile, you can better equip your visitors for success — and help visitors to depend upon your website as a place to seamlessly discover the products, services, or education they are looking for.
3. Create a user-friendly navigation menu. We recommend using very clear, concise page names and listing no more than 5-7 pages within your navigation menu. If visitors are able to find the content they are seeking in just 1 click, they’ll have a smoother and more enjoyable experience navigating from one page to another. As a bonus tip: on your Mobile design, ensure your Mobile navigation menu is easily accessible. We often create one menu at the very top of the page, which sticks to the top of the page when visitors scroll — and then create another menu at the very bottom of the page. That way, as visitors reach the bottom of the page, they’ll be equipped to continue exploring.
4. Have a purpose or goal for every page of your design. Every page of your web design should have a purpose or goal. Whether you’re a photographer, and your aim is for visitors to complete your contact form, or you’re a coach and your aim is for visitors to book a free consultation — every page of your web design should lead visitors toward a logical next step. Think about each page of your web design, and determine what type of call-to-action you can include near the bottom of the page. This will equip visitors for success and help visitors to answer the question “What should I do next?” or “What can I do to get started?”
5. Put yourself in your visitors’ shoes. Just like we believe your brand design should be a blend of what you love and feel connected with and what your Ideal Client will love and feel connected with, in the end, your web design should be created with your prospective clients and customers in mind. Your web design needs to be able to serve, educate, guide, and equip your prospective clients and customers for success. When you put yourself in your visitors’ shoes, you can see your business, your products, and your services through the lens of a beginner — someone who hasn’t yet pursued your services or purchased your products ever before. 

Since 2014, With Grace and Gold has provided brand and web design for creative small business owners. Hire With Grace and Gold or shop With Grace and Gold’s pre-made designs and Showit website templates – and come away with an elevated brand and web design for your small business!

About Brand It, Build It Podcast, Hosted by Kelly Zugay

Hosted by Kelly Zugay, co-founder of With Grace and Gold, The Brand It, Build It Podcast is a leading small business marketing podcast for small business owners, creatives, founders and entrepreneurs. Enjoy weekly, actionable episodes to build a successful, sustainable small business from the inside out.