Industry: Travel
Content: 2-3 blog posts per week with inline images, pull-quotes
Highlights: 23% more sessions, 13% longer time on page
Fact: If your blog content isn’t easy on the eyes, you’re going to lose readers. It’s a harsh reality, but even if the writing is great, web browsers aren’t going to stay on your site if it’s just a wall of text. You need interesting visuals to capture customers‘ attention, get them to digest your message and consider how your business can help them.
Once our clients start to hit goals for organic search traffic numbers, they ask what else we can do to improve engagement and really get their visitors to move deeper into the sales funnel. We advise them to up the ante with the overall look of their blog content.
Challenge: Increase on-site engagement
A travel company we provide content marketing services to wanted to increase its on-site engagement, so we recommended two improvements:
- Inline images
- Pull-quotes
These two features make text more readable to web users. They split up paragraphs to create natural breaks in the page to slow readers down, direct their attention to the most important information and provide context. Here are a couple of use cases when inline images and pull-quotes can significantly improve a written article:
1. You’re referencing data: Include charts and graphs to give a visual representation of the report or study you’re covering. Remember the golden writing rule: Show don’t tell? This is where it’s applicable.
2. You’re highlighting a great line: If there’s a solid quote, data point or line of copy, show it off. Calling out high-impact information can be the motivation to continue reading.
Strategy: Step up the visual appeal of blog posts
It was a no-brainer for the travel company: People want to see images of the destinations they were reading about to get a better idea of what to expect if they purchase a trip.
The content writers added inline images of the locations or attractions highlighted in each post. We’ve seen that visuals increase willingness to read up to 80 percent. A related picture gives visitors a clear image to connect with, but it also provides a pause in the narrative to re-engage readers.
Inline images and pull-quotes contributed to the 13% increase in the average session duration
In addition to the images, the writers inserted pull-quotes where relevant to highlight interesting facts about the destinations and subjects they were covering. This ensures the most fascinating tidbits of information that will capture readers‘ attention are at the forefront of the content, rather than buried in a paragraph of text.
Results: More engagement, traffic & conversions
After a month of publishing blogs with pull-quotes and inline images, it was obvious that visitors were paying more attention to the content:
– 11% drop in bounce rate for blog readers (meaning readers were staying on the site and clicking deeper after they read content)
– 7% increase in pages visited per session (meaning readers were visiting other pages)
– 13% increase in the average session duration (meaning visitors were staying on the page longer and looking at other information)
Why is engagement so important to a content marketing strategy’s success? It means people are coming to your site and finding value. It suggests they’re interested in learning more about your business and acting on that instinct.
In the case of our travel client, stronger engagement metrics came hand-in-hand with organic traffic growth and a higher conversion rate. Sessions increased 23 percent and conversions jumped 13 percent for the month.
This isn’t the only company to see success from a blog makeover. Businesses across industries have similarly experienced an uptick in engagement metrics and visits when they take a critical eye to the appearance of their websites and make the content they’re investing in look sharp. It’s a basic strategy: Look your best and people will notice.
