Gumming Up Your Site: 3 Tips to Improve Stickiness

The most amazing and sometimes depressing measurement to see on an analytics report is site duration. For many, that number is low. Perhaps a minute or two? Or less – 30 seconds! And when you think of all the time, effort, and money you put into building your site, people have the nerve to click on and click right back off. What’s up with that?

Well, I’ll tell you what’s up with that. The reality is many small business websites are short on value but long on content. Visitors are immediately overwhelmed by lengthy text or flashy camera tricks. The information they’re looking for is buried, hidden from plain view, and navigating around the site is a chore. Visitors aren’t finding what they need when they need it so they’re rolling out in pursuit of greener pastures.

With your site, you want to pull visitors in and hold them there. To do this, you’ll want to work on your site’s stickiness, which simply means its appeal and ability to encourage a visitor to stay longer and return regularly.

So, let’s see. What can you do to gum up your site? Well…

1. Write good content. Please note, I didn’t say long content. Quality trumps quantity every time. Nobody wants to click on your website and see a lot of paragraphs and bullet points. That screams term paper. Keep your content fresh and at a minimum, giving readers enough information to pique their interest, but not answer all their questions. You want them to call you for that so you can close the deal.
2. Keep content updated. Content should be educational, not promotional. Always keep your audience and their changing needs, pain points, and questions in mind when writing your content. Remember, solve the problem, win the crowd. As needs change, update your content. As your products and services change, update your content. If you’re writing a blog (which I hope you are), it too, should be updated regularly, not just when you think about it.
3. Include a call to action. Creating downloadable data is where it’s at. Ask visitors to sign up for your weekly newsletter, download an eBook, get a coupon! Not only does this give your visitors something to do, but it gives you an opportunity to capture data on those who download, with their permission, and follow-up. It’s a win-win!

Search and find some of the best websites out there and see how yours measures up. Then, make changes that make sense for your business. Who knows, a frequent visitor today may become a loyal customer tomorrow.