How to increase a website engagement rate for SEO (in less than an hour)

In this article, I will describe the anatomy and elements of an engaging website, and then we will talk about how to make that happen in less than an hour. Let's go.

Do I really need to increase my website's engagement?

Google likes it, your customers like it, and your marketing team probably likes it, so why not? Why else do we want users on our website? Engagement creates leads and leads lead to sales. And that's pretty much what all webmasters want.

Elements of an engaging website that impacts SEO

To increase a website's engagement rate, we first need to learn what counts as engagement. An engaging website has these things happen often.

Clicks

Well, the definition is kind of in the name: when users click on clickable content, that's an engagement.

Page views

When a user views, copies, or just reads a page, that's an engagement.

Time on site

When a user puts time into reading a page, using an online tool, or using a specific feature that your website is offering, that's engagement.  

Scroll Depth

It tracks how far down a visitor checks out your web page; the more he/she goes, the better.

Inserting Data

Filling out a form, writing a comment, or giving feedback as a voice or media that all count as engagement.

Social Share

When a user shares or talks about you on social media, whether they are providing a link to you or not, it's an engagement. It's good to remember to use social links in our web development process.

How do we increase engagement for SEO?

Now that we know the elements and structure of an engaging website, let's discuss how to improve them. I will discuss each tool and talk about how to improve a website's engagement rate for SEO.

Content and website's engagement rate

Content is the pillar of any website's engagement rate. It's why users open a page: They want to know how you can help them with a problem. Either they want to save time or effort using your services or just want to know something. Either way, your content needs to be accurate, high-quality, and relevant to the title that your page is branded with.

How to improve the content of my website

• Understand the audience: Take time to create a persona for them, write down their pains and needs, and address them.

• Use clear language: Avoid complicated sentences

• Add visuals to your content: Use images, videos, infographics, and charts to better explain your content. 

• Add internal and external links
• Update old contents

If you have had your website for more than 6 months, you probably have some content that is getting outdated; put the effort into updating it. You don't need to change everything. Just add some paragraphs at the end of the content <3

UX and website engagement rate

UX is short for user experience. It's about improving end-users interaction with your company, services, or web pages.

For example, an old way of talking and metering your UX is how many clicks it takes for the user to go from one page to another. Imagine if your user is on the about-us page and wants to go to the warranty information of one of your products. How many clicks does it take?

Of course, UX is not just about clicks; it's about positioning, color, speed, size, and the text of your elements. Let's talk about how you can improve your UX in less than one hour.

How to improve the UX of my website to improve the website's engagement

Reduce dropdown levels if possible

Try to merge or change the location of your menu dropdowns to make them more accessible with fewer clicks. 

Optimized speed

Use web pictures, compress your images, and use compression and caching in your web server; if you use a CMS like WordPress, there are high-quality extensions for this task. 

Test your website on some mobile devices

Act like a tester. Open your website on multiple devices and click on everything. Note the bugs or glitches you see and notify your software agency or developers. 

Enhance readability

Process the texts of your website with AI tools and Readability tools online and ensure you are writing as understandable as possible for your website's visitors.

Live Chat

Using a live chat indicates that you can be accessed relatively fast; it builds trust and attracts users who prefer talking to a human and might leave your website otherwise.

How to Improve Live Chat on Your Website to Boost Engagement

Choose a chat tool that can be configured fast

We are using Tawk, but you can use any other alternative that you like. Just search for free live chat tools on websites. 

Customize the Chat Widget

Choose the color that matches your website theme and set your working hours. 

Use automated responses

If you have a previous history of talking to customers in WhatsApp or email, use that history to make some FAQs and automated responses so customers can get their answers even if you are not online.

Use storytelling to increase the website's engagement for SEO

Everybody loves a good story. Tell story that pin points your customer's pain and I guarantee that will increase engagement.

Define your brand's story.

 Read about businesses' mission and vision statement and then adapt and write yours on the about-us page.

Share the history of your team member (with pictures or videos)

Talk about who is working for you and who they are. People love to know who is handling their projects. 

Use testimonials

testimonials is one of the most important parts of your branding puzzle. 

Personalized experiences

You can learn a lot about your visitors by just looking at their IP or the page they're visiting. Make suggestions to them. Here are some tips to help you implement this technique.

• Congratulate certain local holidays based on IP or page.

• Change your slideshow or theme on certain holidays.

• Use Google Analytics or other tools to understand your customers better.  

Add social links

One thing that we, as business owners, like is for our customers to talk about us. There is no better place than social media for that. So, implement these tips for social media on your website.

Choose the right social media

Take a moment to think about who your customers are and what social media they probably use most. If you are just starting out, do not use more than two or three social media.

Do not work on all of them

Dividing your attention into more than two or three social media can affect your content quality.

Use social media Icons, not names.

Use what your customers are familiar with; use the icons they know and use daily. You can even use the theme of social media in certain parts of your application that are about integrating with the specific social media.

Link to active profiles or don't link at all

Linking to a dead social page just shows that you are not active and out of touch with your clients, and it will backfire. Don't do it.

Check the links on mobile, too.

Needless to say, you should always check your updates on multiple devices.

Use Multimedia elements for website engagement

There is a Persian saying that goes, "Hearing about something is nice, but seeing the thing is something else." Use multimedia so your users can see and feel your content.

Tips to improve SEO and engagement via multimedia

Add high-quality pictures for your main pages

Check out your about-us, contact-us, and home page, and replace any picture with a high-quality but optimized picture.

Use videos to describe a certain service page

Choose a service or piece of information already on your website, shoot a short 1—or 2-minute video that highlights the topics on that page, and update the page with it.

Use infographics

Search your site for a process or a step-by-step tutorial that you asked your users to follow. Then, create the steps and use websites like flaticon.com to get pictures for each step. You can also use AI tools. Then, share the infographic on that page.

Gamification for SEO

To be honest, this one takes a bit more than an hour to understand and implement, but I try to make it short. Gamification is all about making the user experience enjoyable. Even if they are not using a fun or pleasurable service. Here is how to do it:

How to implement gamification to improve website engagement

Follow these instructions:

Give badges and achievements to users

Imagine a user just signed up on your website; give them a newcomer badge! And tell them you are three article readings away from the knowledge seeker badge! They don't have to be serious or precise; just make them fun.

Consider using a progress bar for loading pages

Adding a progress bar for loading will make your website look fun and endurable in loads.

Have leaderboard

It depends on what your website offers, but you can make using a certain service or being active in a certain part of your system more rewarding by ranking users based on it! For example, "The top commentator of Falmincde is John DOE!" Remember to take privacy matters into consideration when doing so.

Provide small gifts

It doesn't have to be huge rewards; just give out something like badges, freemium subscriptions, discount coupons, and the like.

Testimonials and social proof

Some people like your content, but they just don't trust you. If they did, they would probably spend more time on your website. Here is how to use testimonials and social proof to address that issue.

How to Use Testimonials and Social Proof to Increase Engagement Rate for Your Website

Follow these tips:

Collect testimonials

Contact your previous customers. If you don't have one, offer free services to someone just for having their testimonials; it's worth it.

Place some testimonials on the home page

I know it may seem a bit forward for some people at first, but it's not. Even famous brands do it. Pick a few of them and put them on your main page!

If you have a certificate or social proof, show it

Did you win any awards or have any certificates related to your services and website? Then show it. Create a section and talk about It. Make it a downloadable document, and let people see it. It will make it easy for them to trust you.

Ask for users feedback and put them on your website (with their permission)

Having a section dedicated to user feedback can build trust even more. 

Conclusion

Today, we discussed what makes a website engaging and how to do it. The important thing behind all these tips is to know your customers and check out your competitors. Remember to contact us if you have any problems following these implementations. Just click the contact-us button or start a live chat <3

FAQ about improving website engagement and SEO

1- Do I need to pay for any of the tools you mentioned?

No, you don't have to pay for any of the mentioned tools, but if you are not a developer, then you should pay someone who built your website developer or software expert to help you implement these tips.

2- How can I measure the effectiveness of my engagement improvements?

Tools like Google Analytics can help you measure many things, such as bounce rates and conversion rates.