When it comes to websites and branding, engagement is kind of a big deal! How enthusiastically do people react to your message? How much of your page or content are they reading? Who is hanging around and getting involved?
If the engagement of your website visitors is the key factor to the success of your page, then how do you build up that interest?
Here are a few quick tips for building engagement and winning hearts.
Finding the right people
Not everyone will find the same thing engaging! Where one person may see an exciting, eye-catching logo and palette, someone else may just see an eyesore. So, the first thing to look out for is defining the user.
Identifying your ideal client is a great way to make sure that your message is received the way you expect. And user personas are a great way to do it. I’ve gone into detail on how to take advantage of user personas in a previous blog, which you can read here.
Once you have the right person in mind, build a brand that connects. Aligning values, talking to issues they care about, and using language and visuals that they relate to are all great ways to target your website to the right person.
But always remember that the more you reach out to a single person, the more likely you’ll alienate someone else. Don’t be afraid to be bold, but don’t expect to please everyone!
Don’t build barriers
It would be best to assume that everyone is always busy and possessive of their time. People are busy and happy to click away from your website at the first hint of a chore. So, if you put up small barriers that make it even slightly harder to use your website, their engagement can take a steep downward turn.
Don’t make your website with a fundamentally different layout than the norm; stick to the beaten path and express your brand within the scope of what your users will expect to experience. That’s not to say that your layout should be boring or monotonous. Just keep the critical elements in places where people naturally expect to see them. That goes for burger menus, contact details, calls to action, and accessibility elements.
Surprises can be a great way to wow your future clients, but it’s really important to avoid frustrating them too.
Storybrand your way into their hearts
What’s more engaging than a story where you’re the protagonist? The storybrand style of design is a wonderful way to build engagement with your future clients.
Walk your ideal client through their hero’s journey with you as the guide, and you can tackle their problems together. When you start to frame their problems in the right context, your reader will feel heard and understood. You’re the perfect listener, and you have some great ideas to help them reach their goal.
By the time you get to the end of their journey and offer them your service to help them reach new heights, they will be more engaged and ready to get involved.
If you want to read more about using storybrands to build up engagement with your clients, try this page.
Bring out an inspiring call to action
With the rest of your website targeting the right people, removing barriers, and telling a story, the final step is to make a call to action that resonates with your ideal client’s values.
Keep in mind that your CTA isn’t always just the end goal for your website engagement; it should be a step to sign people on, but it also should lead to new things for them to experience. A strong CTA can be the difference between a happy client and a brand cheerleader.
Keep up the momentum off-site
While it’s essential for your website to feel like a complete experience to really engage people, the brand messaging doesn’t end there. You can continue to engage the people who are already invested in your brand through social media, email messaging, hosting events, and running workshops.
Once they’re in your brand ecosystem, presenting your potential clients with exciting content that they really care about will keep you in their minds.
Are you ready to build your custom website that engages your dream clients?
At Studio Sondar, we’re all about telling interesting stories with our web design. If you’re ready to Identify and engage your dream clients, we’d love to be a part of your journey.
If you have any questions, comments, or useful tips about engaging people, we’d be stoked to hear them!
