Don’t Waste Interest: 5 Ways to Keep Visitors Engaged After They Browse Your Site

If you’ve been following along with our 10-part Website Health Series, you’d be well aware by now that there is a lot that goes into creating a website that converts—but what you might not know yet is that your job doesn’t end there. 

Of course, your website is a huge part of what makes your online business successful: it helps you attract the right clients, communicate your value, share information, increase your overall visibility, and make you look credible…

But there’s one essential thing we haven’t yet discussed:

What happens after someone visits your website?

Because, to be frank, not everyone is going to inquire with you the first time they visit your website. 

And that’s not necessarily a bad thing! 

Even if you had the best website copy, the most beautiful website design, and the easiest website to navigate, there are still tons of reasons why someone might not inquire—most of which have nothing to do with you at all. 

Maybe they don’t currently have the budget. Maybe they’re not ready to move forward with their project just yet. Maybe they’re planning for their year ahead. Maybe they’re not sure what kind of solution they need from you just yet. The list goes on and on… 

Think about it: if every single person who visited your website inquired about working with you immediately, you wouldn’t even be able to keep up with the sheer volume of work.

(And if that were the case, you’d definitely need to raise your prices. But that’s a conversation for another day.)

Even if a viewer doesn’t decide to inquire at that specific time of their first website visit, that doesn’t mean they aren’t interested in working with you.

As we said: there are plenty of reasons why someone may not be ready to take your desired action NOW, but that definitely doesn’t mean there’s no chance they won’t make that decision sometime in the future, whether it’s 12 days from now or 12 months from now.

That’s why you’ll need to make sure you don’t lose their interest.

Inviting your readers to continue their relationship with you AFTER they spend time scrolling through your website is just as vital to the success of your business as having a conversion-friendly site is.

They’re already there, immersed in your brand—they’re simply not ready to make a decision yet. But you want to be there, top of mind, when they ARE ready to make one, so you’ll need to ensure they have plenty of ways to stay connected with you.

#1 – Prompt them to download your lead magnet

Email marketing is THE best way to continue your relationship with your visitors because it makes for a much more personal connection. 

By creating a lead magnet—aka an element of free value (like a PDF guide, a tutorial, a checklist, a video lesson, a sample, or a template) that someone trades their email address for—that is strategically aligned with the services you offer, you’re giving your readers a chance to opt into something much less binding than submitting an inquiry or creating an account.

You’re also providing them with the perfect opportunity to learn from you and get to know you better while providing yourself with valuable information about who is interested in a given topic (something that will greatly benefit you if you ever launch a new product, create a new service, or make a resource relevant to it!).

Now feels like a great time to invite you to download our free Website Launch Checklist! If you’re liking this blog series, you’ll LOVE this checklist about everything you need to get your website launched properly. 

>> Click here to download the Website Launch Checklist!

#2 – Ask them to subscribe to your newsletter

Speaking of how beneficial email marketing is: if you have a regular newsletter, you’ll definitely want to make sure there are plenty of places on your website for potential new subscribers to opt in.

There is no better way to stay at the forefront of a potential client or customer’s mind than to show up in their inbox on a consistent basis.

We recommend adding an inline form opt-in in the footer of your website, on your homepage, on your About page, and on your Contact page—as well as creating a landing page specifically for your newsletter!

Another great way to get more people on your email list is by adding a pop-up form to capture your readers’ attention as they scroll through your site. (Click here to learn how to do this in Showit!)

We also love when creatives add a landing page for their newsletter,  because it’s an awesome place to share what your newsletter is about, how often you send it, and why someone would want to subscribe. 

Insider Tip: Don’t overthink Opt-Ins. Snag an add-on to your website and the work is done.

And, if you have them, you can also share reviews from your subscribers to entice new ones to sign-up or share past newsletters you’ve sent to give potential new subscribers an idea of what they’d be signing up for.

#3 – Share relevant blog posts for them to read

You already know how much we love blogging as a form of strategic content marketing because the benefits are seemingly endless—one of them, of course, being how it influences a viewer’s time spent on your website.

When you have lots of blog content for people to browse, you’re effortlessly able to keep their interest much longer than someone whose website doesn’t have a blog.

Blogging also lets readers learn more about how you sound, what it could be like to interact with you on a more personal level, and it lets you show off your expertise; all of which could be factors that may positively influence someone’s decision to work with you.

We recommend putting a section of “featured blog posts” on all of the core pages of your website (Home, About, Services, and Contact) as well as your Portfolio, Gallery, or Resources pages, if you have them. 

When deciding which blog posts to showcase on each page, consider what your readers might be thinking about / wanting to learn about when they’re browsing that specific type of content. 

While scrolling your homepage, your readers likely have big-picture questions, such as: 

• Who are you?
• What do you do?
• How can your services help me?
• What’s the benefit of working with you?

On this page, it would make sense for you to share blog content that helps your new viewers better understand the answers to what they’re wondering. 

Once they get to your About page, it’s clear that your readers are interested in learning more about why you might be a good fit for them. The blog posts you share on this page can be a bit more personal, like ‘reasons to work with me’ or ‘why I got started’, or ‘inside my client process.’ Help them get to know you & your brand voice to have a brand experience better!

When browsing your Services page, your readers are likely much closer to making a buying decision. 

So, in sharing blogs on this page, we recommend choosing posts that address their objections, offer information about the benefits of your services, showcase your expertise in your field, or provide insight into which decision may be right for them (ex: a DIY resource vs. a done-for-you service, etc). 

Then, when your reader makes it to the Contact page, they’re deciding if they’re either going to inquire or not. 

With the blogs you share on this page, you could either convince them, with posts about how necessary your specific solution is, or what makes you the right person for the job, OR you could choose to provide them with useful, educational content that they can then use and implement on their own, if they’re not quite ready to work with you yet. 

On your Portfolio or Gallery pages, we recommend sharing case studies about your project to give readers a glimpse into what it’s like working with you and what their end result can potentially look like. People love experiencing the BTS of something they’re considering investing in.

#4 – Invite them to “save” your content on Pinterest

Not only is this a great tactic to include as a call to action in all of your blog posts / helpful content—but it’s also a perfect way for you to get more visibility. 

When someone saves your posts to Pinterest, it’s a win-win situation: they get to save the content they found helpful so they can refer back to it later, AND you get the benefit of your content being shared with anyone who follows them, as well as anyone who may be searching for that same content.

#5 – Encourage them to follow you on social media 

And, finally, the easiest way for readers to continue their relationship with you is for them to follow along with you on Instagram, or TikTok, or wherever you’re the most active online.

This is a very low-stakes way for someone to casually keep in touch with you—but it’s not necessarily the most effective, measurable, or conversion-friendly. 

So, when you post on social, you’ll want to be conscious of how what you post has a direct effect on the actions your followers take. If you want to get REAL RESULTS, you’ll have to put some real effort into creating a content strategy that works. 

And, good news: that’s how we’re bringing Showit’s Website Health Series to a close. 

Want our advice on what makes the best content strategy, designed for conversion?

Head over to the final post in our 10-part Website Health Series to learn everything you need to know about creating a content strategy that keeps the business flowing, keeps your community engaged, and keeps making you money. Head to Part 10 for the final check-up to having the fittest website on the web.