Quality content is the backbone of an effective website. Providing visitors with worthwhile content, either in the form of satisfying their query or piquing their interest with something new, will have them coming back for more and sharing the site with friends.
Even websites with good content likely have areas they can improve. While other websites just getting started can use these nine tips to help boost their site’s content and general visitor experience:
Embrace White Space
White space enables text and titles to be more easily readable, helping increase user attention by 20 percent. White space in the design can also add a more modern, refreshing look, an enjoyable escape from overstuffed websites. If your branding is consistent with such minimalism, it gives even more reason to embrace white space. It’s also important to have content above the fold. Aim for a balance between vital information up top and supplementary information below the fold.
Apple enhances its content with effective white space, helping to emphasize the sleek design of its laptop with the text above also standing out. Apple shows it’s proud of its product designs and supplementary content, describing those products by using white space to highlight both.
Increase the Page Speed
The speed at which content loads plays a pivotal role in the perception of that content. Visitors to a website that feels like it’s perpetually loading are likely to experience frustration, increasing the site’s bounce rate. In fact, a two-second delay in loading time results in average abandonment rates of up to 87 percent.
Use Google’s free PageSpeed tool to test and analyze your website for areas you can improve to boost its speed. PageSpeed Insights provides a score out of 100 while providing suggestions like optimizing images, minifying HTML and leveraging browser caching, with elaboration on each suggestion. Improving a page’s speed instantly bolsters the readability and access of the page’s content.
Use Bullets and Spacing
Website visitors that face a seemingly insurmountable wall of text are likelier to leave the website. Bullets, spacing and headings provide a great way to organize your content so it’s easily scannable, without being overly concise to the point of not being informative.
Readable content consistently uses bullets, spacing, subheadings and concise paragraphs. This helps to captivate a reader and make it easier for them to find what they’re seeking.
Implement Original Images
Original photos are likelier to form a connection between the user and the brand, instead of a stock photo that is ineffective or may seem overly familiar. Although using original imagery instead of stock photos can be time-consuming to create, content quality can increase conversions.
Value Consistency in Style and Tone
Quality content is consistent in style and tone, with the website’s design also matching. Aim for similar content length on each page, dividing up longer content into multiple pages if necessary. Dramatic design shifts from each page can cause visitors to lose track of where they are on the site and increase the chances of them leaving.
Use Engaging Calls to Action
Direct calls to action throughout a website can help a visitor navigate the site, with more confidence in knowing they aren’t missing out on any particular content. The call to action can be fairly intricate if incorporated within an article, Perhaps even a minor touch at an article’s conclusion, like “Comment with your thoughts on so-and-so,” that helps drive engagement.
Calls to action on prominent display via a banner or button is also a great way to improve your site’s content, especially when these calls to action benefit the visitor in some way.
Design With Mobile-Friendly in Mind
Your site’s content may be useless to mobile users if the site’s design is inaccessible on mobile. Improve your site’s content significantly to that base by ensuring it’s mobile-friendly. If your site runs on WordPress, consider a plugin like WPtouch to turn your site into one that’s mobile-friendly instantly. If not, consider design changes that cater to a mobile user.
Accommodate User Interaction
Every type of site has a way to accommodate user interaction, which ultimately helps drive sales. Ecommerce sites, for example, can allow customers to leave reviews on products or services. A more information-driven site, like a blog, can allow users to comment on articles. Regardless of the site type, accommodating user interaction helps improve site content by creating relevant buzz and expanding upon the information in general.
Produce Timely Content
Website visitors are likely to lose interest if you’re consistently behind the curve. Don’t write about topics weeks after they break or promote products after their popularity surges. Any website seeking to improve its content should ensure it’s up-to-date on emerging trends and topics in its niche. This will increase the chances of new visitors while also showcasing a passion for the niche.
Conclusion
These nine tips can help improve content in numerous ways, from enhancing the user experience to producing content that’s more timely and ripe for engagement.
To learn more about POP THE PIXEL’s services and how we may be able to improve your website, give us a ring at 323-848-4465 or contact us today and let’s start a project together!
About the Author of This Post
Lexie Lu is a graphic designer and blogger with a passion for the digital world. She spends most of her time working on logo mockups and creating websites for her clients. She also manages Design Roast and can be followed on Twitter @lexieludesigner.