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Today, almost every company in the world has a website. A staggering 455 Million websites, and rising, are built using WordPress. This means that the WordPress market share is now around 35%. You don’t exist in the online world without a website. That said, the online market is highly saturated with various websites, which consumers comb through daily.
In most cases, they’ll abandon a website straight away. But why is that? Over the years, consumers have developed certain expectations, needs, preferences, and demands when browsing websites. Websites that don’t meet certain criteria are left abandoned.
Put, consumers want interactive websites. Therefore, if you plan on creating your website, you should remember that little fact before proceeding. Otherwise, your website won’t get as much organic traffic as you’d hoped.
Online consumers have seen pretty much everything many companies have to offer regarding website design. That’s why it’s time to get creative. With that in mind, here are a few tips for building interactive and engaging websites.
Include relevant content
Content is the foundation for your website. However, not just any content will do. Irrelevant content is why consumers will not engage with your website. Therefore, make your content highly relevant.
You can achieve this by researching your target audience to understand their needs and expectations. Furthermore, make your content informative, educational, and entertaining so that consumers have a valuable reason to engage with it. After all, content is valuable to consumers because it gives them something without asking for anything in return.
Lastly, use different content formats. Relying on articles alone can be good, but articles are not everyone’s cup of tea. Try various other formats, such as images, videos, infographics, webinars, etc. The important thing is that you strive to publish original content as much as possible.
Social sharing buttons
Good content attracts consumers’ attention, and they want to share it with their friends and family, especially on social media networks. Make that sharing process seamless to make your website more interactive and engaging.
The best way to do this is to add social sharing buttons on your website. This doesn’t apply to just content. In fact, you should have social sharing buttons on all other pages, including product pages, if you happen to sell something on your website. If you have a WordPress-powered website, you can add social sharing buttons as a plug-in. If not, you must incorporate those into the web design early.
However, if you want to do it independently, you might consider taking a few online IT courses to help you specialize and acquire specific skills. This is also a two-way street, as consumers engage with your content on your website while you engage with them on social media. That’s why you should link your website to popular social media platforms.
Include interactive activities
There’s not much to do on a website besides exploring content or browsing through products or services. There’s not much interactivity there unless you make it more interactive. By including interactive activities, such as polls, quizzes, surveys, stories, and so on, you can make a seemingly dull website much more interactive and engaging.
Online consumers like these sorts of activities, and they will participate if the activity looks engaging enough. Having a WordPress-powered website helps in such matters. For example, WP allows you to modify your website design on-demand instead of changing the code yourself or hiring a developer to do it for you.
WP website allows you to use either a third-party platform or a plug-in. Through these interactive activities, you can gather valuable information about website visitors and their preferences. You can even use that data to grow and segment your email list as a lead-generation strategy.
Leverage Gamification
Simply put, gamification refers to implementing game-like elements in a non-game environment. It’s a psychological trick many website owners leverage to boost interactivity and conversion rates. Here’s an example: Consumers spin a virtual wheel filled with promotions and discounts and win a corresponding reward.
To claim their reward, they must sign up for an email newsletter. This is an excellent way to encourage consumers and visitors to engage with your website. It’s also an excellent way to lead them down your sales funnel or encourage them to explore your website further.
Such seamless yet fun elements on your website can get the consumers going in terms of engagement. After all, a discount is considered valuable these days. When using gamification, ensure it’s tasteful and well-designed to encourage consumers to interact with it instead of forcing them to bounce off.
Leverage user-generated content
When consumers engage with your website in any way, especially if they comment on your content or provide feedback, it’s a good idea to show appreciation. That way, you show that you value that engagement and encourage consumers to engage even more. The best example of this is leveraging user-generated content.
For instance, you can write blog posts based on user comments or reviews. This signals consumers that their effort didn’t go unnoticed and is appreciated. Another example of user-generated content is to create a testimonial page.
That way, you allow consumers to express their experience with your website and their opinions. Positive user reviews can also serve as a powerful marketing strategy, as word-of-mouth recommendations can go a long way for new websites. Consumers tend to trust such reviews as much as they’d trust personal recommendations from friends or family.
Creating interactive and highly engaging websites can be challenging. Numerous websites are out there trying to do the same. However, with some creativity and innovation, you can make your website stand out and encourage consumers to engage with it.