Many business owners build a website and wait for visitors to come. But visitors won't come if all you've built is a snazzy site that's big on aesthetic appeal.

Your site's visitors need more.

They need compelling content in order to stay on your site to sample what you have to offer. How can you create a website that attracts prospects and customers?

 

1. Format your text. Make sure your web pages are easy to read. Web visitors scan rather than read word for word. So use short paragraphs with relevant, descriptive headlines. Use bold text and bullet points for clarity.
2. Engage with your copy. Is your message clear? Your home page should tell what you do and who you work with as well as the benefits you offer. Speak to the challenges that your audience faces and offer solutions. This is the number one reason why web visitors click away - they don't find anything on your site that speaks to them directly or compels them to stay.
3. Have a call to action. Many website owners end their web pages without telling their audience what to do next. Should they click on a link? Lead them deeper into your site by having them go somewhere.
4. It's in the design. A good looking site is a big part of the equation in creating compelling content. Visitors scan the overall look and feel of your site before they decide to settle down and read your copy. All this may take only a fraction of a second. But it registers nonetheless. Are the colors appropriate for your kind of business?
5. Say it with pictures and audio and video. They say a picture is worth a thousand words. On a website, pictures and words complement each other. Consequently, it's important to use only relevant images that enhance and make the text come alive. So if your website is about real estate in Winnepeg, Canada, you wouldn't want to use a picture of a beach in the Bahamas.

Using other interactive elements on your site such as audio and video are also powerful tools to engage your prospects and customers.

Build your website with the abovementioned five steps to creating compelling content in mind. Your content will be more engaging and you'll get web visitors to further explore the rich, full content of your site. It's a surefire way to make your business successful as you engage visitors and lead them down the path of retaining your services or purchasing your product.

 

About the author
Lena Claxton is a new media expert for Forbes.com and the co-author of “How to Say It: Marketing with New Media ” (Penguin, 2008.) You can contact her at lena@newmediamavens.com or at 704-492-7326.