How to Keep Your First Time Website Visitors?
This is a post on how to improve your website.
The main challenges for any website are to get traffic to your website, then to get your first time visitors to stay and to come back again.
Now how do you design of your website correctly so your first time visitors will stick around?
To answer that you need to know how and why a visitor will come to your website for the first time.
Common ways someone will come on your website for the first time
There could be a number of ways why someone will come to your website for the first time. Let me name a few.
A lot of people will find your website from a search engine search result because they are looking for something.
Other visitors will come to your website because they are following a link on another webpage and they are interested to read more about the subject of the link.
Some people will come to your website because someone has recommended your website in an email or from the social media,
Some visitors will visit your website because you left a comment on some blog, and reader of your comment want to check out about you. Remember when you leave a blog comment your name is usually a ling to your website.
Many would visit your website because you’ve given them your business card, or you have your website address in your email signature, or from some brochure from the offline world.
Why are people coming to your website anyway?
To answer the above question you need think as your visitors would. What’s bringing visitors to your website in the first place?
Whatever the means someone is coming to your website for the first time, there are some reasons as to why they are doing so. They may want to find out what your website is about, what it looks like, but I think the most important reason someone has landed on your website is because they want to find out whether your website has that thing (usually information, but it could be a product, image, audio or video, file, software, etc) which they are looking for.
So what does a first time visitor to your website do immediately upon landing on your site?
I would say, they will be immediately looking for signs to determine what your website is about and if it’s going to have what they are looking for. For most people this would be by looking at the general appearance of your website and looking at the header of your website – your blog title and tag line, and if your website is a blog the heading of your post. Your visitors are going to decide within the next 10 seconds based on the content of your header (or what is above the fold) if they are going to stay or leave your website.
What’s a website header for?
Therefore a good website needs to tell its visitors immediately what it’s about right there in the header. The header must answer questions like: what content are they likely to find on your website, what products or services you have on offer and remember to mention how they are going to benefit from your website. Do that by improving your header, be very clear upfront about what your website is about by having your slogan or Unique Selling Proposition (USP) in the header and be very specific about what you offer.
The next thing that will entice your visitor to stay is a compelling headline or blog post title that ignite your visitor’s desire to read on. That about writing more intelligent blog post title – but we are entering the domain of copywriting… and I’ll leave that for later.
Finally, if your header isn’t sufficient to communicate everything your website is about, then it is a very good idea to have an about box right in your sidebar there above the fold the explain what your website is about is more details than the header can. And remember to put in there some strong call to action if you can.
So, if you don’t have a well thought out header that precisely answers your first time visitor’s need to know what your website is about or has that which they are looking for, you are going to lose the right people who come to your website because you didn’t communicate with them correctly right from the start.
Action
If you’ve got a website or blog: go back to it and check your header, your tag line or slogan. Does it clearly describe what your website is about and what you are offering? If not, put some minutes aside to think about it and then modify your headline if there is need for it.
Questions you may answer in your comment
- How did you decide on your blog title?
- Have you considered targeting specific keywords in your blog title
- Why did you choose the colour you did for your blog?
- Would you change your blog title or tagline after reading this post?
If you are visiting here for the first time, I want to tell you that you can subscribe to my newsletter. I really want to use my newsletter to keep you up to date with my latest tips and notify you of new blog post releases. So fill your name and email address below and click Subscribe Me.
If you’ve liked this post, please click the Like button below, share it with your friends on Twitter and bookmark it.
Incoming search terms:
- use the articles in our directory on your website to provide your visitors
- absolutive use the articles in our directory on your website to provide your visitors
- lnd use the articles in our directory on your website to provide your visitors
- fgr use the articles in our directory on your website to provide your visitors
- first visitors to websites
- how to check the first visitors in a website
Tagged with: blog title • Search Engine • tag line • website design
Filed under: Better website • Tips
Like this post? Subscribe to my RSS feed and get loads more!
Welcome, my name is Ben Wan. I help people get started online by building their website. I also train them to run their own website.
Solar Energy Facts and News Website
Eco-Office for Rent near Perth
I’ve started searching the solar-e.com website using a few long tail keywords – such as those that can be found in the home page header or sub header.
After checking how successful these searches are I can adjust the heading and sub paragraphs to ensure they are in line with potential long tail keyword searches. It’s now important to get the initial accurate keyword information. Julia
[Reply]
Hi Ben,
Not so sure that the heading of your blog will attract most viewers. They say that “content is king” and it’s really your content that will keep your visitors and make them want to return. As your blog provides a lot of valuable information for free you are quite likely to appeal to those that like your content. I think that it’s also important to maintain consistency across your blog. And the design/layout must be easy on the eye.
Hammy recently posted..Remember Hiroshima
[Reply]
Yes, I agree with you, ‘content is king’.
Here, I’m trying to address the issue of people leaving your website before they even read your content. The jargon for that is bounce rate.
From your comment, I realise the ambiguity of this post title. I could have expanded the title to: How to Keep Your First Time Website Visitors from leaving your website in 10 sec.
Ben Wan recently posted..What’s Alexa Ranking
[Reply]
I think your blog will appeal to a lot of newbies just starting out and that is a good thing. I do advice just sharing what you have learned and know to have work.
Rose recently posted..What reading level is your blog
[Reply]
Hey Ben,
you are so right.
The header, and everything above the fold will be the biggest influence on the reader. Especially if he didn’t come searching for something through Search Engines, but just stumbled into the blog.
I think it is great to have something personal above the fold. I have the comment invitation and some people have little bio widgets. Anything that will show you are actually a human that cares about the visitors.
Brankica@Social media fan recently posted..Sweet Sunny Saturday 1
[Reply]
Ben Wan from Website Technical Support Reply:
January 18th, 2011 at 6:43 am
Hi Brankica,
Yes, I think this is important specially for people who’ve found your blog from the search engines or StumbleUpon, they don’t know you and will decide if they are going to stay or leave. I think a Bio or About this blog at the top right Widget is important. I’m going to implement that soon.
After re-reading this post, I’m thinking I need to re-do my tag line.
Ben Wan@Website Technical Support recently posted..How Important is it to Connect with Real People Online
[Reply]
Your pretty right about the tag line thing Ben.
When I first launched my website, I had a funny tag line, I thought it brought a little laugh to my visitors, to lighten up the site a bit, because with all those grammar lessons it had, the site looked kinda boring & dull.
However, many of my visitors didn’t get the joke, and instead contributed more and more to my bounce rate.
When I simply changed my tag line to “Learn German online for free”, I noticed the bounce rate had decreased by a very considerable rate. And as an added bonus, my site ranking for that keyword did improve as well!
Amr Boghdady @ Learn German Online for Free recently posted..Dative Case German
[Reply]
Ben Wan from Website Technical Support Reply:
January 18th, 2011 at 6:44 am
Hi Amr,
Your a living proof that the tag helps. Now takes a lot of thinking to get it right and when you do – bingo, your visitors stick around.
Ben Wan
Ben Wan@Website Technical Support recently posted..How Important is it to Connect with Real People Online
[Reply]
Hi Ben,
USP is definitely important. I spent a lot of time not too long ago customizing my headline. I used to have a big, ugly banner where the opt-in form is now. And I changed my logo and tagline to stand out more.
Great tips, I really like reading blog posts about how to help your blog/website stand out in the crowd.
Thanks!
Elise recently posted..Time Is Fun When You’re Having Flies
[Reply]
Ben Wan from Website Technical Support Reply:
January 18th, 2011 at 6:55 am
Hi Elise,
Yes, definitely the USP is important and it it can be incorporated in your Tag line so much the better. I went and check your website and pay attention to the details, I must say, it’s very well done.. nice colour and nice bio, and thank you message. I’ve learn from you and off I’ll go to improve my own website.
And also I want to redo my own blog title and tag line as well.
Ben Wan
Ben Wan@Website Technical Support recently posted..Welcome to my blog
[Reply]
Hi Ben,
Clear and powerful points here.
As you note most readers look at your header and tag line when determining if they’ll stick around. Pay particular attention to what’s above the fold. Figure out the 1 action you desire your readers to take. Opt-in? Include your subscriber box there. Connect on social networks? Leave social media icons above the fold. The idea is to give your readers as few choices as possible. Direct them to your call to action!
I switched up my header recently. I hadn’t been clear enough in stating what my blog offered. I knew this because the number of people subscribing to my list had dropped even though traffic was increasing. My presence expanded yet I wasn’t making an impact on my target market.
The smallest changes make the biggest difference. Simply editing my header and tagline brought me increased targeted traffic and now the visitors are sticking around for increased periods of time. The power of clarity.
Thanks for sharing your insight Ben.
RB
Ryan Biddulph recently posted..3 Catastrophic Mistakes I Made as a Home Based Entrepreneur
[Reply]
Ben Wan from Website Technical Support Reply:
January 19th, 2011 at 3:53 pm
Hey Ryan,
Welcome here, and thanks for leaving a quality comment. I think the idea of giving your readers as few choices as possible is similar to the principle behind the squeeze page.
Yes, a small change in the heading or tag line can make a big difference, that’s why it’s important to stop and brainstorm these well.
Ben Wan
Ben Wan@Website Technical Support recently posted..How Important is it to Connect with Real People Online
[Reply]
While I think the header is important I place greater value on the heading of the post. If someone lands on your blog more often than not it’s because of the post’s heading and so that’s what they will focus on. So it’s the heading that first get’s their attention, after that it’s the first couple of sentences of the post. Get that right and they may just read it all the way through.
After that there are several plugins that may keep them interested in what your blog has to offer.
Sire recently posted..Reviewing Two More Auto-Responders MailChimp Still Wins
[Reply]
Ben Wan from Website Technical Support Reply:
January 19th, 2011 at 4:00 pm
Hi Sire,
You’ve raised a very important question, which is more important the blog’s Title and tagline or the title of the post itself?
I think you are right as well when you say that the blog’s title is vitally important as well.
Thanks for bringing that up, this really adds value to this post. I think for that reason, I don’t use the top feature for this blog. Let’s get straight into what the visitors came here for and let them interest with other things later.
Your comment and that of Ryan above gives us enough to think about in order to make our blog more effective.
Ben Wan
Ben Wan@Website Technical Support recently posted..How Important is it to Connect with Real People Online
[Reply]
Sire Reply:
January 19th, 2011 at 4:37 pm
To me that’s what blogging and commenting is all about. It’s about adding value to the general conversation. It’s like being in a room full of friends. You’re not just going to spout any BS, you want it to be relevant to the general conversation, otherwise everyone is going to think you’re a big dork.
I reckon I may have to look at my header. At the moment it’s just says Wassupblog, which is after all the name of the blog. I have to think about what the blog offers, if I can pin that down then I may change it to reflect the general aspects of the blog itself.
Sire recently posted..Sometimes It’s Better To Just Not Give A Shit
[Reply]
Ben Wan from Wordpress Technical Support Reply:
January 19th, 2011 at 6:16 pm
Hi Sire,
After your comment I’ve gone and edited this post with new information I’ve picked up in the comments. This post is challenging even to me because it requires me to question whether my blog title is effective or not.
This post is about finding more effective ways to grow your readership, and reduce bounce rate.
Now while you think up about changing your blog title remember to include some search Keywords in there. Move from a vague headline to something more specific and precise. When you think about it: it’s hard work to communicate all these: what your blog is about, what are the benefits of reading your blog, what you are offering in a short and concise way.
Good brainstorming.
Ben Wan
Ben Wan@Wordpress Technical Support recently posted..How to Make Your Website Accessible to the International Audience
[Reply]
Sire Reply:
January 19th, 2011 at 8:45 pm
Thanks so much Ben, more work for me to do
Sire recently posted..The Good The Bad & The Ugly of Lists & List Building
Ben – You’re absolutely right. A good website has to tell the visitors that comes to it’s pages what it’s about at once. And what better way to do that than with a catchy header. Great advice, and thank you for sharing.
[Reply]
HI Ben, it’s me again. See? Your article is already working on me.
Anyway, another great tip I got from you and I just want to say, Keep up the good work.
[Reply]
I believe that the overall design of one’s blog can give the first impression. Therefore we have to be careful of our design preference as well the organization and impact of its content.
Thank you Ben for this important reminder.
[Reply]
Ben Wan from Wordpress Technical Support Reply:
January 25th, 2011 at 3:59 pm
Hi Walter,
You are right, it’s call matching the visual with the content, my friend Rick LaPoint says, if it’s a news website, it should look like BBC, or CNN and the like, if it’s a children website, it should look like one, etc….
Ben Wan
Ben Wan@Wordpress Technical Support recently posted..How to Make Your Website Accessible to the International Audience
[Reply]
Hi Ben
Some very important information in this post. After all we want visitors to come and stay don’t we?! I believe it is important to have an “About Me” where it can be seen too. When I land on a blog for the first time I find it easier to relate and comment if I know who I am talking to.
Also you are right about keeping your visitor. Need to have appropriate header tags and headline. But the provisor is that the post then needs to live up to the expectation of the headline. Otherwise you could have disappointed visitors who won’t be back!
To answer your questions: Yes my readers know what my blog is about by my header and my choice of colour was easy……what could it be other than the lovely lavender to enhance the ambience of my blog
Patricia Perth Australia
Patricia@lavenderuses recently posted..A Gardener’s Guide to Growing a Business
[Reply]
Ben Wan from Wordpress Technical Support Reply:
January 25th, 2011 at 3:58 pm
Hi Patricia,
Yes I think the About Me in the sidebar has got it’s purpose, see I’ve added one to my blog now, and an end note in the footer as well.
Yes, it’s very clear what your blog is about, and if you have multiple interest, it might be a good idea to write about the other interest on some other blog, like you are doing in your guest posts.
Ben Wan
Ben Wan@Wordpress Technical Support recently posted..How to Make Your Website Accessible to the International Audience
[Reply]
Hi Ben,
This is my first time on your blog, your post header interesting me.
1. How did you decide on your blog title?
I am usually doing keywords research first and then decide about post title that I will write about.
2. Have you considered targeting specific keywords in your blog title?
Absolutely! Because I also like to get well rank for specific keywords on Google.
3. Why did you choose the colour you did for your blog?
Honestly, I have no reason to choose that colour for my blog. It’s just I got a free theme and I would like to finish its design as fast as I can. But now I have a reason that I would like to change to white colour because I think it would be easier to read and may keep visitor stay longer on my blog or website.
4. Would you change your blog title or tagline after reading this post?
I think not, but I may change its colour and design soon.
Thank you for great post, Ben.
Rose @ Samui Art Gallery recently posted..“Water Lilies” – Famous Paintings by Claude Monet
[Reply]
Ben Wan from Wordpress Technical Support Reply:
January 25th, 2011 at 3:55 pm
Hi Rose,
Welcome to my blog. Thanks for contributing to the conversation by answering some of the above questions. It seems very clearly you have an SEO background because that’s how you are giving your blog a title with keywords in it. You’ve got quite a nice blog yourself, and it seem your headline/header is quite effective at communicating what your blog is about. Well done.
I’m looking forward to see you again.
Ben Wan
Ben Wan@Wordpress Technical Support recently posted..How to Get the Maximum out of Facebook Comments Plugin
[Reply]
I completely agree that branding your site is just as important as having good content, the first thing people look at is what the site is and their eyes catch any noticeable images/branding before diving into the content. This is also why too many distractions are bad.
Justin Germino recently posted..Why you shouldn’t avoid blogging mistakes
[Reply]
Ben Wan Reply:
February 14th, 2011 at 11:20 am
Hi Justin,
Welcome to my blog and leaving a comment. I are right about branding, and I’m working on this at the moment.
Reducing distractions to the bare mininum is another excellent idea as well.
Ben Wan
Ben Wan recently posted..The 3 Biggest Mistakes Online Business Owners Should Avoid Making
[Reply]
Hi Ben
I am visiting your blog for the first time. Think you have done a nice job here.
It is a very interesting thing about how to keep first time visitors on your site. I agree that you don’t have many seconds to convince people to stay around.
Thanks for sharing.
Thomas recently posted..Do you want to work at Google
[Reply]
Ben Wan Reply:
February 14th, 2011 at 11:15 am
Hi Thomas,
Welcome here, and thanks for taking the time to comment. I’ve visited your website and I like it.
I hope to see you around again.
Ben Wan
Ben Wan recently posted..The 3 Biggest Mistakes Online Business Owners Should Avoid Making
[Reply]
Hi Ben,
This sure is an informative post for me. I only have a few articles published for now, but of course I would like my readers, especially first-time visitors to at least read an article or two in my blog.
As for now, I think I’m quite satisfied on my blog’s appearance. Eventually, I will find a header that would suit me as well as my readers. I think you do understand the dilemmas a starting blogger (without any prior experience whatsoever in blogging) encounters – mainly information overload and too much to do. Also, add the fact that I do this part time.
Thank you for sharing with us this nice post!
Johanna @ GIJoh.com recently posted..4 Simple Tips on How to Keep Yourself Safe Online
[Reply]
Ben Wan Reply:
February 14th, 2011 at 11:23 am
Hi Johanna,
Yes, I would say once you figure out who your target audience is, you can start to match your look and message to this audience taste and expectations.
About information overload, I think my lastest post on it will be helpful for you.
Ben Wan
Ben Wan recently posted..The 3 Biggest Mistakes Online Business Owners Should Avoid Making
[Reply]
Hi Ben,
Nice post.
It is true. A visitor needs to see some value in your website or blog.
Was good to meet you last night.
Alem
[Reply]
Ben Wan Reply:
February 14th, 2011 at 11:25 am
Hi Alem,
Welcome here and Thanks for taking the time to visit and leaving a comment.
I’m looking forward to working with you.
Ben Wan
Ben Wan recently posted..How Important is it to Connect with Real People Online
[Reply]
Think you have done a nice job here. Thanks for sharing.
[Reply]