Are You Satisfying Your Readers?

Before I start, I would like to know. Are you satisfying your website readers? Do you know what they want? These are questions you should be asking yourself as a webmaster.

I often browser the internet for something that I want to find information online and often turn up unsuccessful. I find myself saying, “This is not what I wanted” or “What the hell is this???” because of the type of information I find on that webpage.

This now lead me to think, Are you satisfying your readers needs? I will be providing some tips on how to satisfying your readers needs and have them coming back to your site.

Know what your readers want
Do you know what your readers want? This is probably one of the easiest question to answer. Let me help you to see this clearly.
For example: If you have a site/ blog about “How to be a better golfer”. Obviously your readers want tips on golf. If your site/ blog is about “Dog Training”. No doubt your readers want tips on training their dog.

You therefore know what your readers want right away if they come to your webpage.

Capture readers with content
You can have readers coming to your site everyday for tips or even multiple times per day. Content is the key to a successful webpage. As I stated in one of my previous post, “One great page with good content is worth more than a thousand pages of junk.” So it’s best to write unique contents for your webpage.

Interact with your readers
If you are a blog owner and have great tips about golf, whenever your readers make a comment on your post it is always recommend to say thanks. Let them know that you care about them and the reason why you made your blog is to help them.

Make a contact page so they can get in touch with you. You can even have a request corner. Readers make request for you to write a post about tips for new golf players. Writing a great article will make that reader subscribe to your blog and even spred the word about your blog.

Readers love to search
Include a search form on your blog. Sometimes your visitors won’t necessarily be able to find what they’re looking for just by clicking through your categories or going page-by-page. This is particularly true as the amount of content within your blog grows. A search form will provide your new and returning visitors an easy tool for exploring your blog’s contents. Also, make sure it’s easy to find. The default WordPress theme includes the search form as the first item on the navigation side-bar, making it easy to find. I recommend keeping it near the top of the page along with your other basic navigational links.

Make your blog user friendly
I don’t like visiting a webpage that is complicated and takes me around corners before I can find what I am looking for. Categorize (or tag) your blog posts. This will provide your readers a quick way to find posts.

Keep them coming back
Make your RSS feed link easy to find. Keep it “above the fold”, preferably at or near the top of your page. Presently my RSS subscription box is the first thing below the search form in my navigation bar on the right. Also ensure that you use an eye-catching RSS feed icon (or a similar variation of it) that is easily recognizable by visitors to your blog.

Your webpage outlook
Use a theme other than the default layout that comes when your blog is installed. A default theme makes your blog appear amateur. There is a plethora of free themes available for WordPress. I use Thesis which is the best WordPress theme. It is very easy to customize.

In Conclusion
Remember when you write contents for your webpage always keep your readers in mind. Don’t write for Search Engine Optimization.

I hope these tips help you in writing contents for your webpage.