Getting shoppers to stay longer has four main areas you can leverage
The longer a visitor stays on your site, the more likely they are to make a purchase. Google also counts this as part of your engagement site rank. Google calls staying longer “Dwell Time”. It used to be just “Time on Site”. I assume they want to differentiate between the active time when shoppers are live on the site and the time when they just walked away or opened a new tab. That’s a pretty important distinction when you think about it. But I digress. How do you get shoppers engaged with your site so they stay longer? First, let’s look at how they got to your site.
New visitors may have very different journeys.
New visitors are experiencing your site for the first time and they’re the bulk of your site traffic. Let’s look at where they started and why.
- Search: They were looking for something and your site came up in the search as a good place to find that something. Getting your SEO dialed in is the only way to make sure organic visitors come to you when they ask Google for anything. These visitors came with the expectation that they would find what they were looking for.
- Ads: They saw an ad and it sparked interest. Either they were already looking for what’s advertised or they became curious. Either way, they also came with an expectation that they would find what sparked their interest.
- Referral: They were at another site and they saw a reason to go to your site. They clicked on a link because they needed more information or were curious. They came with an expectation of finding whatever the link promised. (I know this sounds repetitive, but it’s important.)
- Recommendation: Either they saw something you sell and want to learn more, or they know someone who said you were a place they should visit. These customers are probably the most flexible about what they find.
Four different paths to your door—groovy, but how do you get them to stay longer? The first thing to do is, and this is obvious, make sure they find what they are looking for. You need to meet their expectations, after that, you can show ’em a good time.
Does Your Site Do This?
It can with Stylaquin! Stylaquin is the easy to add Shopify app that transforms your website. Stylaquin makes shopping faster, more engaging, and more fun. Stylaquin shoppers stay longer, view over 85% more products, come back more often, and buy more when they do. Find us in the Shopify App Store.
How many times have you seen an ad and thought “Cool!” only to click on the link and not find the thing you thought was cool? You end up at the home page or a general landing page and then you have to dig for it. The journey you sent them on went from interesting to frustrating. Just getting someone to your site isn’t the same as giving them a good experience on your site. If you want them to stay longer, you have to give them a good experience. Think of it like being a good host. If you go to someone’s house for a party and they make you look for the other guests, track down a beer, hunt down a place to sit, and then don’t talk to you. Do you stay? Do you come back? I mean, maybe if the beer’s cold and the view’s nice…
Show ’em a good time!
Once you have earned their trust and attention by meeting their expectations, then you can have fun with them. The folks who love shopping will usually poke around a bit. How do you intrigue them? You know I love showing off a best seller or three. Hard to miss by offering to show new visitors what everyone loves.
Create intriguing collections
Collections are easy to create and don’t need to appear in the top nav. Say you create a collection of accessories that look great with jeans, you may not want to gum up your top nav with that, BUT you could add it to the bottom of every jeans copy block. Think about the things that could go with what you’re selling and what other interesting things you have to offer. The new customer journey begins when a new visitor comes to your store for a thing, then what?
Add a Styling Board and a Wishlist!
The Stylaquin Idea Board keeps customers engaged in two ways: it’s an interactive styling board where shoppers can collect and curate all the things that interest them; and it also acts as a wishlist that shoppers can return to. Find us in the Shopify App Store.
Repeat visitors are money
Once you get a visitor to come back, you’re in clover. You got a second date! They liked you and came back for more. Chances are they had a good experience on your site, and now they are more likely to buy from you!
If you want an easy way to get more repeat visitors to your Shopify website, give Stylaquin a try. Stylaquin engages and delights shoppers so they have a fun and memorable experience. Stylaquin shoppers are about 3X more likely to come back than non-stylaquin shoppers, and they have a significantly higher conversion rate when they do. It’s the easy and inexpensive way to create online engagement.
