This article is contributed by Vadim Kirichenko.
If you run a website or blog, then chances are that you want to try and get as much traffic as possible to your site and then keep your visitors there by showing them what they came to see and engaging them with your quality content.
But don’t assume that ‘content’ needs to mean writing alone. Content really means anything that fills your site and makes it worth exploring and there are a lot of ways you can make your site worth the time that don’t involve writing large reams of text. Videos are one great example of alternative content, while images too (such as info-graphics) can be engaging all on their own. Perhaps best of all though, but seldom used, is the humble web app.
A web app is an application created using HTML5, JavaScript, PHP or even Flash, that provides an interactive element for your site rather than just a static block of text or images. Essentially then this is a mini utility much like a mobile app, but the difference being that it runs inside your browser and so can be accessed from pretty much any device.
The Benefits of Web Apps
So first of all, why bother with web apps? Well apart from making your site seem a lot more high tech and impressive, using web apps can help to hold the attention of your viewers for a long time and keep them on the page potentially much longer than a piece of content could. A game might be addictive, while a service might require a lot of input from the user, and so in either scenario they’re going to be there longer than they would be to read a piece of text. Likewise they will also be more likely to return (how often do you read an article twice?) and as it’s a more novel experience they’ll be more inclined to write about the app or share it. And because it gets people clicking and interacting with your page it may increase their chances of clicking an ad or buying a product.
Ideas to Implement
So far so impressive, but what kind of apps can you use on your site? Here are some ideas…
Games: If you want to add something creative, fun and addictive to your site then a game should do nicely. And even if your site isn’t a ‘fun’ site as such, you can use games that are devised as brain training, to prove a point, to enhance an article or to test the readers’ retention. Use the unique advantages of your medium and add more interactive elements to the way you convey information.
Quizzes: Quizzes and questionnaires have great potential to go viral, because people love talking about themselves. Furthermore this is a way to give your audience content that is aimed specifically at them and much more relevant as a result.
Applications: There are plenty of web apps you can create to serve a useful purpose and enhance your users’ productivity. For instance you can provide content or contact management software, calculators, converters or more.
Social Apps: With the whole web becoming more social, why not provide a social element to your site? This can be more than just a comments section – why not allow your visitors to contribute to your content, or to find people to discuss it with? Chat rooms may not be in vogue at the moment, but when used well they still have a lot of potential.
Author Bio: Vadim Kirichenko is a web designer and says that web application development is the new advancement in web technology, and it aims to keep web technology user friendly.
Image Credits:
- shortcut to web application image courtesy of MorgueFile
- web applications image courtesy of ksablan (Kevin Sablan)
Related articles
