In this day and age, businesses need websites in order to generate interest among potential customers. As more people go online to buy the things they want and need, a website can help keep them engaged long enough so they consider making a purchase.

That said, time is an important element in digital marketing. The longer visitors stay on your site, the more likely they are to convert. For sure, user retention can be a good indicator for how well your website converts leads into paying customers, so you will need to find ways to keep visitors glued to your web page as long as possible.

Let's look at four of the best ones:

1. Improve your loading speed

User experience can make or break your website. And obviously, no one likes a website that takes forever to load. For most people, waiting for more than three seconds for a web page to fully load is a big turnoff. You will see a sharp increase in your bounce rate if your site loads like a snail, so make sure to check your site for files that need to be compressed. Having too much content will only weigh your website down, so it's best to enable file compression. You might also need to reduce HTTP requests and simplify the code.

2. Assess your web design

Apart from the loading speed, the design of your website can also be a crucial factor for retaining users. If you have too many graphic elements and a confusing interface, people are more likely to leave than to navigate further. You wouldn't want that, so make sure to evaluate your website based on its overall appearance. If the colors clash, the placement of interactive content doesn't make sense and you have a hard time knowing where to go next, then you might want a complete overhaul.

3. Create engaging content

But even if you have a website that loads in a jiffy and allows for a better customer experience, you still won't retain users if the content you are posting doesn't provide them with information that matters. Writing great copy and blogs is one way to keep your audience from bouncing away. It takes skill as you need to craft engaging verbiage, but you can always get help from an experienced digital marketing company such as Black Fin Internet Marketing that provides content writing services.

4. Provide rewards

One great way to improve your user retention is to provide users some eye candy in the form of special offers, discounts and freebies. After all, who doesn't like to avail themselves of a free trial or a free ebook download? With properly timed pop-ups and well placed CTAs, you can keep your audience long enough to become an avid fan of your brand.

Building a website is one thing, but being able to give people a reason to stay is another. Knowing these four keys should help you increase your website’s retention rate and, more importantly, generate enough interest to boost sales.