Most of us are quite happy building a website that loads quickly and looks great on phones and desktops; but is building a pretty and functional website enough? Remember the saying, “Beauty only goes skin deep”? Substance with your website is key and in this case, we are talking about content. Here are four key approaches to website development that can improve visitor retention, engagement and conversions.

1) Provide Value First Don’t drill customers with sales pitches when they arrive on your website. Image result for adedge marketingCustomers know what they want, and there is a reason they arrived on your page. They didn’t come to “be sold”, they came to learn. Focus on providing value and inform them of how your product or service can help them. Content that is customer-focused will create value and will demonstrate your leadership in your field. Doing this increases your authority and develops trust, and you’ve just increased your odds that the visiting customer will buy your product or service when and if they need it.

2) Add Video Content Video is a powerful tool that can be extremely beneficial to those visiting your website. Video puts a person behind the name and humanizes your company. If you offer a complex product or service, explainer videos and product demonstrations simplify the complex. They reduce buyer friction and improve conversion rates.

3) Website layout While it’s not exactly content related it can make or break conversions on your site and it’s worth mentioning. Image result for adedge marketingWhen someone arrives at your website, they should find everything in a familiar place. Customers who easily find what they are looking for have a better, more enjoyable experience. They go deeper into your site and are more likely to convert to a lead or bookmark your site for a later visit. Make sure your navigation bars are in expected places and don’t forget to add large, Contact Us buttons. These lead-generating “jump off points” should be there to capture leads at the moment they are ready to take further steps whit your company. It’s another way to reduce buyer friction.

4) Be Social Everyone has their own way of researching and utilizing information and many will do so by visiting your social accounts rather than bookmarking your site. Social media is a great way to increase your reach, nurture prospects and create a funnel of visitors to your website. Make sure that content on your social accounts aligns well with your website and your brand. This makes for a seamless experience among those who jump off your website onto your social media accounts and visa versa. Well built social accounts also improve your website’s natural rank in the search engines. But that’s an SEO conversation for another day.

While there are lots of other tips and tricks involved in optimizing your website for conversions, these four proven strategies are likely to work well for your website, regardless of what industry you are in.

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