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When setting out to create a successful website, you should always be mindful of user engagement. <\/span><\/p>\n But what does that mean, exactly?<\/span><\/p>\n When visitors land on your site, you want them to read your content, interact with your forms, and click-through on your <\/span>calls-to-action<\/span><\/a>. <\/span><\/p>\n That\u2019s essentially user engagement in action, but this term goes much deeper than that. <\/span><\/p>\n To be successful, you should know how to define maximum engagement and how to boost this critical website factor to earn more leads and revenue in the future.<\/span><\/p>\n Put most simply, user engagement is when visitors to your site appreciate your content enough to stick around, absorb, and convert. <\/span><\/p>\n Most importantly, when user engagement is high, you\u2019ll find that your audience becomes more loyal. You\u2019ll notice more return visits and <\/span>higher conversions<\/span><\/a>, because your website simply <\/span>works.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n There are various types of engagement when it comes to website visits. Here are a few to give you an example. <\/span><\/p>\n When a visitor lands on your website, reads your homepage and then begins clicking-through to the other pages of your site, that\u2019s user engagement.<\/span><\/p>\n The person is actively learning more about your business and offerings. <\/span><\/p>\n The more informed the person becomes, the greater the chances that he or she will buy from you. This is why increasing website user engagement is vitally important to your success. <\/span><\/p>\n Otherwise referred to as active participation, this form of user engagement describes the actions of your audience as they complete quizzes, answer polls, take surveys, <\/span>interact with chatbots<\/span><\/a>, and otherwise engage with your website\u2019s interactive content. <\/span><\/p>\n These elements not only enhance engagement, but they\u2019re fun and give your visitors a reason to spread the word and return for more. <\/span><\/p>\n If visitors like your blog, they may hit the Facebook button to share your posts with their friends. The very act of hitting your social buttons counts as user engagement. <\/span><\/p>\n Notice how <\/span>HubSpot<\/span><\/a> presents lots of options for site visitors intent on sharing the brand\u2019s content across the web. These buttons are sure to enhance user engagement across the website and the brand\u2019s social profiles. <\/span><\/p>\n Offering a media gallery page can give visitors plenty of content they can peruse to their delight. However, even if it\u2019s just the images on your homepage, make sure you maximize the quality of all visual-oriented content, as fuzzy or otherwise poor-quality imagery just won\u2019t do.<\/span> Your web pages should load instantly for visitors if you hope to keep them on-site and engaging with your various web elements. Even a <\/span>one-second decline<\/span><\/a> in load speed can harm user engagement and conversions. <\/span><\/p>\n Google Analytics offers speed suggestions under the heading Site Speed. <\/span><\/p>\n You can also use a tool like <\/span>GTMetrix<\/span><\/a>, which will also give you site speed suggestions if your site happens to load slowly.<\/span><\/p>\n f there is room for speed improvement, put effort into that first, You could have the most amazing website in the world, but if it loads too slow it may as well not exist at all. <\/span><\/p>\n Too much confusion can lead to higher bounce rates, which is the opposite of user engagement. If your layout has too much going on, switch to a simpler design. Your menu should also be center-stage and easy enough for anyone to figure out. <\/span><\/p>\n Use plenty of white space so your content is easy on the eyes and always use readable fonts and text sizes. <\/span><\/p>\n When it comes to tech giant Apple, you\u2019d be more apt to call it black space, but the concept is the same. Let your menu stand out and provide just enough imagery to wow your audience into making a navigation decision. <\/span><\/p>\n Your site visitors should be able to find the information they crave within two or three clicks, at the most. <\/span><\/p>\n The bottom line is that if your website is too difficult to navigate, your bounce rates are going to rise and user engagement will plummet. <\/span><\/p>\n A best practice is to provide a simple navigation menu and make good use of page and blog post categories to make information organized and constantly accessible. <\/span><\/p>\n For best results, also include a search box so visitors can always find what they need instantly.<\/span><\/p>\n Links should have descriptive anchor text, and they should be specific and relevant to their respective landing pages. Most of all, links should work, so test them to make sure they lead somewhere before publishing. <\/span><\/p>\n Studies show that pages with <\/span>1,000 to 2,500 words<\/span><\/a> tend to experience the highest user engagement. It makes sense. The more words there are, the longer site visitors will spend reading. <\/span><\/p>\n Don\u2019t expand your text with fluff, but do your best to provide quality, informative, and actionable content that provides value to your visitors\u2019 lives. That\u2019s the type of content today\u2019s site visitors are more apt to engage with. <\/span><\/p>\n Few people are going to take the time to read a block of text, especially one that\u2019s up to 2,000 words in length. <\/span><\/p>\n For better results, break your content up using relevant and keyword rich subheadings, bullet points and numbered lists, and lots of white space between concise paragraphs. <\/span><\/p>\n You can also break up your content with relevant images and videos, further adding to the value your content provides. <\/span><\/p>\n Think of all the people who will skim your site\u2019s content rather than read it. Format for those people and you\u2019ll generally come out okay with plenty of user engagement in the process. <\/span><\/p>\n Amazon uses related purchases to keep visitors browsing and buying. You can do the same with relevant pages and blog posts.<\/span><\/p>\n At \u00a0<\/span>Crazy Egg<\/span><\/a>, we\u2019re currently working on a blog redesign to keep visitors engaging with our content page-to-page and post-to-post. <\/span><\/p>\n Adding a chat box to your homepage can help visitors find help anytime they run into issues. Chat boxes shouldn\u2019t be intrusive, but they should be there if needed. <\/span><\/p>\n Include a photo and name to your chat box representatives to induce comfort. That way, users won\u2019t think they\u2019re talking to a robot the whole time. <\/span><\/p>\n Just make sure that you notify visitors when no one is available to accept live chat inquiries or you may end up irking your visitors. <\/span><\/p>\n For best results, analyze your chat box transcripts regularly to determine how your agents might improve when interacting with future web visitors. <\/span><\/p>\n Use a mobile responsiveness testing tool like <\/span>Google\u2019s Mobile-Friendly Test<\/span><\/a> to determine if your site offers an intuitive experience across all devices. <\/span><\/p>\n Many of today\u2019s mobile friendliness testers will tell you why your site\u2019s not user-friendly and how to improve for greater user engagement. <\/span><\/p>\n Whether a person is using a desktop, mobile phone or wearable tech to access your website, the information that visitor needs should always be easily found. <\/span><\/p>\n Always put the most critical information above the fold so it can be clicked, read, or else otherwise accessed on any device.<\/span><\/p>\n Never assume that your site visitors know what you want of them. <\/span><\/p>\n Whether it\u2019s submitting a form, entering their email address, or clicking a button to learn more, state those instructions in clear enough language that anyone can understand. <\/span><\/p>\n Your CTAs should stand out so they\u2019re always noticed with commanding language that directs the conversion. <\/span><\/p>\n You now have several ways of improving your website to keep user engagement high. In the meantime, here are ways you can discover hidden gems that will allow you to boost visitor interactivity even higher over time. <\/span><\/p>\n If you aren\u2019t in the habit of gathering information from your website leads, start now. The only way to find out why your visitors aren\u2019t engaging with your site is to ask them. <\/span><\/p>\n From your best customers to new leads entering your marketing funnel, everyone\u2019s opinion matters. Start releasing surveys and polls and questionnaires and contests to help you uncover improvement ideas for your website that aren\u2019t immediately apparent. <\/span><\/p>\n But <\/span>be careful<\/span><\/a> not to overwhelm your audience!<\/span><\/p>\n Of course, the best way to gauge visitor interactivity and user engagement is to crunch the numbers. Google Analytics and other platforms can give you invaluable insight you can use to boost engagement across every page of your site. <\/span><\/p>\n Google Analytics has a handy feature aptly called \u201cEngagement.\u201d Once logged in, hit the dropdown Behavior and click on Engagement. <\/span><\/p>\n Once you choose the timeframe you\u2019d like to view, GA will give you metrics like session durations, the amount of sessions, page depth, and page views. <\/span><\/p>\n Of course, clicking on Behavior>Overview can also give you the number of page views your visitors have engaged in since landing on your website. <\/span><\/p>\n If your bounce rate is high, that means that people are leaving the moment they land on your site. <\/span><\/p>\n That doesn\u2019t bode well for high user engagement. In fact, it spells the opposite. An elevated <\/span>bounce rate<\/span><\/a> means that your site is either ugly, not user-friendly, or it\u2019s otherwise a pain to use. <\/span><\/p>\n There is a caveat here, however. In some cases, a high bounce rate merely means the web page has done its job quickly. For instance, a visitor may land to find your phone number. <\/span><\/p>\n Though the person bounces, they might still convert. Therefore, take high bounce rates with a grain of salt and always in conjunction with other critical metrics, such as conversion rates. <\/span><\/p>\n Obviously, the longer visitors are spending on your site, the more they\u2019re engaging with your content. <\/span><\/p>\n This metric is an excellent indicator of how user-friendly your site happens to be. If your site has a high average time on site, user engagement is likely high as well. <\/span><\/p>\n They say that a person needs to see your brand seven times before they\u2019ll convert. <\/span><\/p>\n The more people return to your site, the higher your chances of making them a customer. Therefore, if you have many return visitors, your site must be doing something correctly. <\/span><\/p>\n Don\u2019t forget, the more user-friendly and enjoyable your site is, the higher your chances of enticing your visitors to buy from you. <\/span><\/p>\n More conversions almost always means that your site is becoming more visitor-centric and enjoyable to interact with.<\/span><\/p>\n Google Analytics offers Real-Time analytics, which means that you can view visitor data coming in as it\u2019s happening. <\/span><\/p>\n You can also use a tool like <\/span>Crazy Egg<\/span><\/a> to watch how your visitors are actually interacting with your website – as they\u2019re reading,clicking, scrolling and otherwise engaging. <\/span><\/p>\n Crazy Egg makes use of heat maps<\/a>, which let you know where visitors are hovering their cursors, clicking on buttons, filling out forms and more.<\/span><\/p>\n The great thing about heat maps is that you can see which areas of your site are paid the most attention and where roadblocks may occur. <\/span><\/p>\n You can also determine which areas of your site might be the most confusing for visitors, and how you can improve your site for even greater user engagement moving forward. <\/span><\/p>\n For instance, if you notice that most of your visitors only scroll halfway down the page, you know to bolster your content starting at that spot. <\/span><\/p>\n This is invaluable research that is gleaned as it happens, helping you boost website engagement in untold ways.<\/span><\/p>\n While Crazy Egg\u2019s heatmaps and user recordings allow you to see real visitor interactions as they\u2019re occurring on your website, you can also A\/B test various elements in real-time. <\/span><\/p>\n The best part, other than there\u2019s a <\/span>free 30-day trial<\/span><\/a>, is that you don\u2019t need to learn a lick of code. You simply select the headline, image, video, text, or other element you want to test and you\u2019ll receive live and invaluable data. <\/span><\/p>\nWhat is User Engagement?<\/span><\/h2>\n
Types of User Engagement <\/span><\/h2>\n
Reading & Absorbing Content <\/span><\/h3>\n
Visitor Comments & Discussions<\/span><\/h3>\n
Social Shares <\/span><\/h3>\n
![\"increase-user-engagement-website-hubspot\"](\"https:\/\/ceblog.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/12151548\/increase-user-engagement-website-3.png\")
<\/p>\nWatching Videos & Viewing Images<\/span><\/h3>\n
\n<\/span><\/p>\nWhat is the Best Way to Increase User Engagement on Your Website?<\/span>
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Make your site faster to load<\/strong><\/h3>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
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![\"increase-user-engagement-website-site-speed\"](\"https:\/\/ceblog.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/12151546\/increase-user-engagement-website-2.png\")
<\/p>\n![\"increase-user-engagement-website-gt-metrix\"](\"https:\/\/ceblog.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/12151557\/increase-user-engagement-website-5.png\")
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De-Clutter Your Layout<\/h3>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
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<\/p>\n3. Streamline Your Site\u2019s Navigation<\/strong><\/h3>\n
4. Improve your linking structure<\/strong><\/h3>\n
5. Lengthen Your Text<\/strong><\/h3>\n
6. Break Up Your Content<\/strong><\/h3>\n
7. Display related content<\/strong><\/h3>\n
![\"increase-user-engagement-website-crazy-egg\"](\"https:\/\/ceblog.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/12151602\/increase-user-engagement-website-7.png\")
<\/p>\n8. Add a Chat Box<\/strong><\/h3>\n
9. Be Mobile Friendly<\/strong><\/h3>\n
![\"increase-user-engagement-website-mobile-friendly\"](\"https:\/\/ceblog.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/12151559\/increase-user-engagement-website-6.png\")
<\/p>\n10. Be Clear About What You Expect<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Building the Ultimate User Engagement Strategy <\/span><\/h2>\n
Gather Email Addresses<\/span><\/h3>\n
Surveys & Questionnaires<\/span><\/h3>\n
Analyze the Data, Test & Tweak Your Website<\/span><\/h3>\n
User Engagement Metrics You Need to Track<\/span><\/h2>\n
Engagement<\/span><\/h3>\n
![\"increase-user-engagement-website-behavior\"](\"https:\/\/ceblog.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/12151606\/increase-user-engagement-website-9.png\")
<\/p>\nPage Views<\/span><\/h3>\n
Bounce Rate<\/span><\/h3>\n
Average Time on Site <\/span><\/h3>\n
Return Visits <\/span><\/h3>\n
Conversions <\/span><\/h3>\n
Pro Tip: Watch Your Users Navigating in Real Time<\/span><\/h2>\n
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<\/p>\nAfter Knowing How Your Users Interact, Start Testing<\/span><\/h2>\n