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How to Engage YOUR Audience and Keep
Them InterestedSara Whitford
LookoutPublishing.com
About Me• I live and work in Emerald Isle.
• I’ve been developing websites since 1996.
• I fell in love with WordPress back in 2010 and I think it’s the greatest thing that’s happened to website development EVER.
• My favorite accomplishment is that I’m Mom to a very cool 14-year-old named Isaac.
• I have a historical fiction series that hangs out on the bestseller lists at Amazon.com.
In this presentation…
We’re going to talk about how to:
• Identify your target audience
•Grab their attention
•Keep them engaged
We will talk about how to get the right visitors to your site,
but first, an important question…
Who is your audience?• Teenage boys or baby boomers?
• Well-heeled or budget-conscious?
• Men or women?
• Families or singles?
• Traditionals or progressives?
How are they visiting?
•Mobile or Desktop?
•Does it matter?
How much site traffic comes from Desktop vs. Mobile Devices?
From stonetemple.com Digital Marketing Research
How about actual time spent on individual websites on Desktop vs. Mobile?
From stonetemple.com Digital Marketing Research
–StoneTemple.com Digital Market Research
Mobile drives more traffic worldwide, but desktop users
spend more time on site.
But why?
Here’s a little story about two friends getting dinner out after a day of shopping…
A Tale of Two Restaurants…
FACT: Mondays are Build Your Own Burger for only $5 at Hibernian Pub
Their burgers are 🎶AH-MAZ-ING!🎶
Mary, the friend who is driving
knows this, but there’s a
problem…
It’s not Monday. It’s Thursday.
And Mary doesn’t remember what kinds of specials
they have on Thursday nights.
“No problem!” says her friend, Julia. “I’ll just
visit their website and
find out!”
The site is mobile-
responsive. That’s good.
She clicks on the
menu icon.
Next, she clicks on
Menu.
Uh-oh… Julia is 42. She hasn’t admitted
to herself yet that she needs
reading glasses.
(And she’s not going to spend all day
pinch-stretching the menu to read it.)
“Their menu is tiny!” she
says.
“Where else did you have
in mind?”
“I really am in the mood for
pub food,” Mary replied.
“Search for other pubs.”
Julia goes to another
website for a restaurant called Tralí Irish Pub.
When she gets to their
menu…
Hmm…
Hmm…
BINGO!
Julia’s heart leaps!
They haveShepherd’s Pie!
😍😋
“We have to go here,” Julia says.
Nice work, Tralí!
Let’s shift gears for a minute…
Website Speed Matters• A slow-loading site can kill your chances to reach people on
the mobile web.
• If they do stick around long enough for your site to load, you might very well have eaten up a big chunk of their data allowance for the month.
• Optimize images (file format, Photon, use right image size for location)
• Avoid unnecessary bells & whistles. (Just because you can do something on your website doesn’t mean that you should.)
First Impressions
What’s front and center?
What’s front and center?
Highlight “Social Cred”
Highlight “Social Cred”
Keep them interested.
Let’s go back to the restaurant analogy…
Let’s go back to the restaurant analogy…
Examples of SomeWorthwhile Subscriptions
• CVS
• Hobby Lobby
• JoAnn
• Bookbub
• Dr. Axe
• MyDesignDeals
Newsletter Content Ideas
• Value-added content
• Blog posts
• Video
•Discounts
•Helpful tips
TerranceTalksTravel.com
Automated Content
•Post-by-post
•Summary emails
How to get subscribers…• Decide on what service to use
1. Default WordPress Subscriptions option
2. MailChimp
• In-store, in-business sign-ups
• Pop-up (like Longhorn Steakhouse)
• Facebook Call-to-Action (CTA) button
• CTA box in prominent areas on site
Gee, Sara… All of this is great information,
but it’s dependent on someone already
knowing about my business or visiting
my site. 🤔
How to attract visitors• Think about how you’d have promoted
your business in the days before the World Wide Web.
• Yoast SEO
• Keyword research is key!
•Google Business/Bing Places
First Place on Google 🤓
How to attract visitorsAdvertising
•Google AdWords
• Facebook Ads
• Pinterest, Twitter, Instagram
•Mutual linking between related businesses
How to attract visitors
• Blogging
• YouTube
• Podcasts
• Infographics
How to attract visitorsSocial Media
• Remember, not ALL social media is useful for all businesses.
• Regarding Twitter…
• Regarding Facebook…
• Regarding Instagram…
• Regarding Pinterest…
Everything boils down to this…
Make your online presence something
that adds value to your potential customers’ lives and they’ll value
you and your business in return.
Thank you for listening.
l o o k o u t p u b l i s h i n g . c o m
