What keeps you hooked?

[JustinG]

Well, I am a webdesigner myself and I sometimes have a hard time knowing what the user likes to look at.

I have created sites for some clients and they get there stats back and visits are 30 seconds to 5 minutes tops. I was wondering what you all do to keep them looking and making there visits longer.

[jeremy]

content has more more to do with retention than design. good content = longer visits.

one thing designs can do is scare people away. so make sure your designs work on all browsers on all platforms. i use firefox on linux, so when i go to a website with flash 8, i leave in about 2 seconds.

also, targeted visitors lead to longer visits. so, when you are advertising your site, only advertise on websites that are similar to yours. that is why search engine traffic is the best of all. if someone is actively looking for content, and you have that content on your website, then that will be a quality hit.

[Tyler]

I'll have to agree with jeremy that content is the major factor here. After all, you could have the most beautiful and captivating site out there, but with little to no content, what does the user have to stick around for, really?

Also, what types of sites are you designing? Page visiting times will vary drastically between genres. For example, a law firm with basic company information will obviously have less visiting time than a forum with a lot of content.

[Sam]

as stated before, content is the key to succes.

[Anthony]

Content is King, however...

A nice looking website, that's easy to read, navigate and look at will really bring the content out a bit more, and make it more than just text and type.

Content and Design go hand in hand, and while many people still disregard design and appeal towards the content, the content wouldn't be readable with a god awful design.

Just something to think about :)

[kaizan]

Content and intuative interaction. Get your scripts right and your content so when a user somes to the site, they have what they need presented immidiatly.

Also... focus groups.. nothing bette...

[Idle Play]

I guess it also depends on the visitor. If I Google something and want some information on something quickly I want just that. If I hit sites with flash intros, in your face graphics I tend to click back and pull up something that has the information in your face instantly. I guess having a design that presents the information well, quickly is the key to a good site.

[Targowski]

Obviously, for some websites, its a bit harder to keep your visitors staying long, but for large content packed and user accessible / friendly websites I'd say there's alot of factors that play in keeping a visitor.

Wealthy content that is written well with a hint of humour and good, interesting, taste is what people like. Nobody is going to spend an hour reading a five page article bought from a distributor for $1.99. You need to make sure you think in terms of "what's the bottom line", you don't need an exceptionally boring ammount of details to have a good article.

Also, people like when you can make them laugh. Its just how it is :p

[darkcrunk]

Well .. mostly it would be interesting content, probably accompanied by images or flash presentations :)

If your site is a bit light hearted, you can add one those those flash based games :D

[rjp]

Honestly visit times are small for most people on the web.

I don't know about you but I am all over the place reading something here or there.

I think your clients might have expectations that don't meet with the reality of the 'net.

[Submerge]

rjp is spot on, most people who visit a website stay between 0s-30s. It's what the next majority of users who are most important. On one of my sites the second majority is 5min-15min, which is pretty good after you catch the interested visitor. Just aim for anything over a minute and you're doing well.