BOSHspeaks – Moving Your Messages-11 Ways to Make Your Content Click 3
On average, a visitor is most likely to just scan a website and will spend less than five seconds reading any given page, once they arrive.
If your goal is to inform and educate your visitor about your product, service or brand, you will definitely need to keep them on the page for longer than five seconds.
According to a study on reading behaviour, by Dr. Jacob Nielsen, your audience will simply not read and retain your message in such a short span of time.
We do know, however, that when people participate on your page, you are more likely to elicit a response — hopefully, one that matches your website’s purpose and one that is favorable to your brand.
As a content creator, I help my clients come up with innovative ways to develop messages that involve the reader. Each message is aligned with the client’s overall marketing goal. While focusing on a desired outcome, we also come up with creative ways to deliver each message.
So think about it…what action do you want your visitor to take on your web pages?
Using click communications, we call the visitor to take action. You can inform, educate and engage your readers by providing several calls to action throughout your website.
Click communications literally moves your visitor and your message towards the desired action of a CLICK.
11 WAYS to move your messages with C L I C K C O M M U N I C A T I O N S
C L I C K to ASK
1. Asking is the first step. Use click communications to request a certain action or collect feedback. Provide opportunities for members of your audience to make an inquiry or comment. Use web forms, surveys and polls, comment windows and review buttons to extract information from your visitor. You can then better respond to their needs and begin to form a new relationship.
C L I C K to CONNECT
2. Invite your visitor to connect with you on a variety of your favorite social networks. There are so many now to choose from. Familiarize yourself with the most popular and useful social media channels that link your visitor to your brand and to like-minded advocates. Easy access icons can be customized and made available anywhere on your website or on social media pages.
C L I C K to ACCESS
3. Provide open access links to free information, product samples
and previews, discounts and gifts. Everyone likes to get something for free, which is why there is so much being offered online these days! Savvy marketers use giveaways to get visitors to make that first click. This is often the first step towards building brand loyalty. Coupons, downloadable files, slides, and audio or video, can be accessed by your visitors and shared from your site.
C L I C K to SUBSCRIBE
4. Make it easy for your visitor to receive information with a subscribe option. Build your contact list and begin to communicate on a regular basis with those who really want to pay attention to your message. Subscribers invite you directly to their inbox where there exists a greater opportunity for exchange. Automation can help you deliver your relevant information with very little effort.
C L I C K to VIEW
5. Attract attention to your site with messages that move. Any visual element adding to the color, style, mood and expression of your message will lure your visitor. In addition, multi-media platforms enhance the user experience. Choose a variety of images on your site that stamp a consistent visual for your brand. Technology today provides swift use of multi-media to engage your audience with video, slides, presentations and event calendars.
C L I C K to FOLLOW
6. Allow others to follow you online. Following can help build your audience and bring like-minded people together for more conversation. By following your followers, starting and carrying on dialogue, you also gain huge insights in to your target market and their behaviour. Using simple plug-ins can connect your followers with each other on a variety of social networks.
C L I C K to LISTEN 
7. Move your message with sound for a listening alternative to the written word. Audio files, podcasts and internet radio combine editorial, interviews, commentary and music to entertain or educate. With so much available content online competing for the attention of your visitor, audio can help you shout out in a crowd. Free and instant access to your listen and learn audio files and web promotion for your program is easy with iTunes.
C L I C K to SHARE
8. Get mileage for your message by allowing everyone to share your information. Use share buttons on your blog or web pages to quickly grow your audience and expand your reach. Mentionable methods include social book marking, dig, recommend, follow, tweet, buzz up and email. Share buttons, used in combination, can make your message viral in an instant.
C L I C K to READ
9. Give your visitor a reason to return by providing continuous updates and current news regarding your product, brand or business activities. Blogs that include fresh, well-written, useful information and cleverly crafted content, engage and entertain your audience. A professional content creator can help you design and re-purpose messages to work with any and all delivery channels on the web.
C L I C K to JOIN
10. Invite your visitors to join groups and events where you share information, present, chat and debate. Building community enhances digital dialogue, results in more global conversation and helps to position you online. A variety of global groups can be found via searchable topics of interest. Bring together like-minded individuals for new introductions, meet-ups and online networking.
C L I C K to SEARCH
11. Don’t play hide and seek. Instead, make all of your information searchable and easy to find. Your visitors are more likely to read specific content that is targeted to their individual needs. Provide easy access through a search window and deliver the right content to the right reader. Organize your content in categories and use keywords and tags to help make it quickly accessible.
Does your website move your messages?
How do you get your visitors to C L I C K?
