Does Your Page Content Make Readers Curious? Three Ways to Encourage Your Site Visitors to Keep Reading

Author: April Hall
Internet Copywriter

While it may be true that curiosity killed the cat, I don’t think there has ever been a documented case in which curiosity killed an internet user… In fact, curiosity is one of the best ways to promote your web page and encourage viewers to move from initial landing pages into other areas of your site.

It really isn’t so hard to believe that curiosity is such a great motivator, is it? I mean, isn’t the urge to know more what keeps us glued to the movie screen for the latest Will Smith summer blockbuster? Isn’t it curiosity that makes us stay up reading that Oprah Book Club novel even when we have an early meeting in the morning? Our human nature drives us to satisfy our curiosity, which means that web development companies need to to tap into this motivator to help drive their page views.

Here are three ways to help your website use curiosity as a way to increase page views:

1. Create interesting content. This is really a no-brainer. Your readers will only have the urge to learn more about your company or products if your content is interesting and relevant. Ask a lot of questions throughout your site’s pages, and provide tid bits of information that internet users will find unique. Of course, you don’t want to sum up everything you have to say in a single page; otherwise, what’s the motivation for users to click around anywhere else? If they are hungry to learn more, they will begin searching around your available on site links.
2. Create eye-catching landing pages. Since these pages are the first glimpse that new visitors to your site will see, make them as interesting and aesthetically-pleasing as possible. This means more than simply making them user-friendly, with nice pictures and clear formate. It means that new visitors need to immediately identify with the page content. Your landing page needs to demonstrate to them in about the first three seconds that your site is interesting, unique, and worth exploring.
3. Make good use of intra-site links. Linking to other articles or blog entries on your site is a great way to increase page views and to improve your search engine rankings. Not only do search engine crawlers value additional “clicks” around your site, but the more visitors learn about your company and what you offer, the more likely they are to make use of your services. Haven’t you ever gotten lost in learning information about a company, only to discover that you have navigated well away from the original landing page? Just make sure that your hyperlinks include more than a single word, and try to link on words that are likely SEO keywords, in order to grab even more search engine traffic.

What are some additional ways you have used curiosity to spur page views and encouraged readers to stay glued to your site? Perhaps some subtle allusions to what information lies just around the corner? Or maybe a hint at what will be on your site tomorrow?