Take a second or two, and think about your own reading habits online…
Let me guess – you are too busy to even take a few seconds to think about this?
You are not alone…
Online readers are notorious for skim reading, skipping, and only clicking on interesting, relevant content that looks informative or entertaining. This is the #1 reason why getting your blog content right is SO critical.
If you want to increase your conversions, and get more clicks through to your blog, here are 7 things to avoid (and what you should do instead).
Cliché headlines
Let’s face it — newspapers make their money by monstrous, rather subjective, size 72 headlines. The headline is the single most important thing about your entire content — if you get a great one, you’ll pull in more visitors than you need. Write out a bunch, and then pick a few of the more interesting and creative ones to test.
Being too distant from your readers (i.e. your customers)
People want to be spoken to like people — which may mean dropping some of the corporate jargon from your site if you’re in a B2C industry. Immediately on their arrival at your site, do you engage your visitor, and show them your best deals? Focus on creating a relationship with your customer on a personal level.
Long content with no breaks in sight
Screens have rewired our brains — it’s as simple as that. Short attention spans are prevalent when we use screens, and even more so on the web with the millions of things going on. Don’t make your blog unnecessarily long if it doesn’t need to be. Be concise, and add valuable content, not wasteful content.
Matrix falling code-like text
Large headlines, smaller sub-headers, bullet points, easy to read fonts and images should all be used throughout your content. It takes a hard-core enthusiast to brave a tidal wave of size 10 Times New Roman without indents, paragraphs or sub-headers — this should be reserved for postcards and emails from grandparents.
When you’re just using guesswork on what’s working and what’s not
A simple tracker or analytics software program is an essential for a Webmaster if you want to increase traffic and conversions. Simply seeing where the bulk of your traffic comes from, and how long your audience is reading different sections for, can easily show you strategies that work, and what to scrap.
Being overly dry
Not all industries are fun and games, but you do need to ensure that your blog content is at the very least interesting for your target market to read. Having a company blog where you can release interesting stats and special deals is a great way to keep your customers informed.
Hoping visitors will know what to do
Just like those 1800 infomercials, you need to give a call to action that is blatantly obvious. Make it obvious where to click for more info, or to your “Products” page. Online users expect an intuitive design, and an “easy to follow” process. Make it easy for them, and they will thank you for it.
Take a note of these strategies, and ask yourself which ones you could improve on. These can all be acted on immediately, and aren’t difficult to implement, but the boost to your bottom line may surprise you.
As an established SEO company in Brisbane, Bambrick’s Search Engine Optimisation experts are well-versed in strategies that enhance our clients’ online visibility. If you’re interested in optimising your site for SEO, including setting up a blog page that enables you to regularly post blogs and keep your website content fresh and up-to-date, give us a call on (07) 3216 1151, or complete our online contact form and a team member will get back to you as soon as we can.