Keep Your Website Visitors Longer pt 1

Wanna keep people on your site longer?  Well, here are some basic things you can change (if needed) on your own site that can increase the chances of them sticking around.

Are they "musts"?  Absolutely not.  There are no rules for websites, but why re-invent the wheel?  If people have to learn how to navigate your website... You've already lost them.

According to Jakob's Law of the Web User Experience, it's stated that  "Users spend most of their time on other websites".  Simply put: their expectations for your site is based on what's commonly done on other sites.  If you deviate, your site will be harder to use- and users will leave.

1. Is your text consistent across all pages or does the font change?  Headings, sub-headings, regular text?  Does it look like you updated it and forgot what font you used for the main body text?  Try using a sans-serif font (without the curly ends) which have proven more readable for visitors.  Headings, like my Blog, can have some exceptions.
2. Is your navigation consistent across the whole site?  Is your main menu on every page?  Remember, depending on your content- people will not always land on your home page.  Depending on what they type into a search engine, people may land on a specific entry of your  Blog.  With clear navigation, they'll be able to find their way around to see what else you have to offer.
3. Can your main points be "scanned"?  Visitors will not read paragraphs and paragraphs to find out if you have the solution to their problem.  Get to the point of what you can do for your visitors and make it "Above the fold", which is high enough on your website so visitors with different screen sizes can see it.

Tune-in next time for more key points in keepin 'em longer.