Use Content to attract and keep website visitors

I've said before that content is the most important thing to have on your website. Content is still King on the internet as long as it meets the desires of a new generation of readers. With good content you can attract visitors and keep them coming back.

So what sort of content should you have, and how can it work best for you?

To answer this question we need to think partly about the target audience your site is aimed at.

I'm looking here at internet users who have not heard of you before, people who come across your site as the result of a search or link, but who have no relationship with you already. One way we can think about these users is by identifying them as being in one of three categories based on their needs and behaviour: hunters, browsers and grazers.

Hunters

These users are hunting for a specific piece of information and arrive at your site because they think it has the answer. They most likely found you through a Google search and will scroll down whatever page they land on looking for the relevant fact as quickly as possible.

Hunters will bypass your fancy homepage animation and your careful descriptive text as they want to find their answer as quickly as possible. To enable this, you need good page layout with plenty of short headings and subheadings that accurately describe what follows. Bullet points, graphs and photos are other ways of presenting information quickly.

Example: Yahoo! Answers, Google images

Browsers

Here I'm not talking about your browser software but the attitude of the second group of people who might come across your site. They are 'browsing' in the original sense of the word: looking around, investigating, following links that catch their eye, reading what is interesting and skimming over what isn't.

A person in this category may be performing some research into a topic or product for purpose or pleasure, and they have a broader interest and more time than a hunter so they will read more carefully. To satisfy a browser you should provide relevant, organised content that offers links to more detail where possible.

Example: Wikipedia, RealEstate.com.au, ABC News

Grazers

People here are looking around the internet with no greater purpose than interest. They'll play games, fill in quizzes, catch up with their friends on Facebook, share links with each other and maybe read something more serious if it strikes their fancy.

These people want something to do online, something that interests them. If you can provide them with an experience they can't get elsewhere, especially if it's community based, you'll attract these visitors and keep them.

Example: Facebook, New Grounds

The purpose of categorisation

Identifying your target users and splitting them into these categories can direct your approach to content and design. Depending on your site and its purpose, any of the three markets can make it popular and lucrative.

Put in some thought, do your research and implement changes to make the most out of your website content.

[image by striatic]