The invisibility effect makes it tough to communicate offers to website users. People who browse your site are only interested in their own issues and have trained their eyes to glide over ads, signup forms, and other promotional items they come across.
Every website costs money, so it must earn enough to pay for itself. The Internet is free only because enough users click on the offers that website owners make and consequently; we need to find new ways to communicate with site visitors so that more of them notice our offers.
Hello Bar
Most of us accept that website ads are a fact of Internet life, but we need to have a choice. Hello Bar places a textual advertising bar across the top of a web page. It is a good choice for webmasters because most sites don’t use it, so users notice the bar. It doesn’t block content, so doesn’t annoy people in the same way as a popup or overlay ad does.
You can set up your Bar to link to your most valuable article, a special offer or your email subscription page. Hello Bar is very simple to install and customize because it is a simple few lines of Javascript. If you have a WordPress site, there is a HelloBar plugin that makes it even easier to install.
The basic fully functional version is free, though you can upgrade to remove the Hello Bar branding. The premium version also lets you use different bars on different pages of your site, so has a higher conversion rate.
Interstitial Ads
Pop-ups annoy everyone, and nobody wants to see them. An increasing number of people are installing software to block popups or even any ads at all. One very effective way up to now has been to use interstitial ads which use an overlay ad that hides the page content until the user clicks on the ad. These overlay ads are even more annoying than popups, so Google has taken this annoyance onboard and will penalize sites that use interstitial ads to mobile users.
Most interstitial ads out there come from email autoresponders, but you can install a free WordPress plugin called Interstitial Ads to set them up on your blog.
The plugin includes full customizability, and you can choose to disable it for mobile users.
At the moment you are probably safe to show interstitial ads to desktop users. They are popular because conversion rates are high. They do get around the invisibility effect, but at the cost of annoying your visitors.
Competitions
The WiiFM effect (What’s in it For Me?) is highly motivating wherever it is used. If you give away something that has obvious value, then visitors’ eyes will pause as they pass over it.
Contest Friend is a free and simple-to-use WordPress plugin. You can use the software to encourage visitors to sign up as email subscribers because it has integrations with email marketing automation providers. There is a weighted entry facility that gives more chances to those who share your contest on Facebook and Twitter, and there is no limit to the number of competitions you can run.
Increased Interactivity
Even a 12-month old baby can swipe through images on a tablet, and more interactivity is a great way to grab visitors’ attention.
You can easily make your images interactive by using a free WordPress plugin called Amazing Hover Effects. This plugin lets you make any image on your site respond to mouse hovering by displaying text or other mouseover effects.
Improved Site Design
Site design can be very powerful. If your site stands out because of its design, then you have already cleared the invisibility effect barrier. Pictures are important and this Be Blogging post discusses the importance of using relevant images, but standing out needs more than great photos.
How does the ordinary blogger achieve comment-worthy, mind-boggling design? He or she uses a simple theme builder like Divi.
Divi has to be the queen of responsive theme design programs. It is elegant and straightforward enough for even the most visually challenged website owner to use. There is a multitude of options that are a breeze to apply, so you can build an outstanding and clean website yourself and escape the invisibility trap.
The only downside to Divi is that you need an Elegant Themes subscription, which will cost you $69 per year.
How Will You Get over the Invisibility Effect?
There are five ways here you can sue to make your site more visible. Four of them are free, so you might ask why they are not more widely used. Site design does have a cost, and most serious bloggers’ first investment is in a professionally designed theme or theme-builder.
Visibility is about being different and installing these free plugins will certainly make your site stand out. What are you waiting for?
How To Get The Most Attention For Your Blog And Business
Originally posted on November 29, 2016 @ 7:22 pm
