6 Techniques to Make Users Continue Reading on Your WordPress Site

As a blogger or content creator, driving traffic to your website is crucial for success. But how do you keep users engaged on your WordPress site for longer periods? In this article, we will discuss various techniques to make users continue reading on your website and improve user engagement, reduce bounce rates, and boost your website’s SEO.

Create a “Read More” Button

One way to keep users engaged on your website is by using read more buttons. By truncating your posts or pages, only a portion of the content is displayed, and the user can click the read more button to view the rest of the content. To insert a “Read More” button on your WordPress site, follow these steps:

1. Log in to your WordPress dashboard.
2. Click on Posts or Pages, depending on where you want to add the read more button.
3. Create a new post or edit an existing one.
4. Click on the spot where you want to insert the read more button.
5. In the toolbar, click on “Insert Read More tag” or the “More” icon.
6. Save or publish your post.

Use Excerpts

Excerpts are a summary or an abbreviated version of your post or page. It appears on your homepage, archive page, or search results page, giving users a brief overview of the content. Users can then click on the post title or the “read more” button to view the rest of the content.

To create an excerpt on your WordPress site, follow these steps:

1. Log in to your WordPress dashboard.
2. Click on Posts.
3. Create a new post or edit an existing one.
4. Below the post editor, locate the “Excerpt” box.
5. Enter a summary of your post or a brief introduction that highlights the key points.
6. Save or publish your post.

Use Pagination

Pagination is another technique you can use to break up longer posts into smaller, more manageable sections. This involves dividing your content into several pages, breaking it up into “pages,” which are typically numbered at the bottom of the screen.

To use pagination on your WordPress site, follow these steps:

1. Log in to your WordPress Dashboard.
2. Click on Settings.
3. Select Reading.
4. Under “Blog Pages Show At Most,” set the number of posts or pages to display per page.
5. Save changes.

Use the Jetpack Plugin

Jetpack is a popular plugin that comes with a range of features to help enhance your WordPress site. One of its features is the content options module, which lets you display summaries of your posts on your homepage, category, and archive pages. Users can then expand the post to read the full content.

To use the Jetpack plugin, follow these steps:

1. Install and activate Jetpack plugin for your WordPress site.
2. Click on Jetpack in your WordPress dashboard.
3. Select Settings and enable the “Content Options” module.
4. Save Changes.

Use Accordions and Tabs

Accordion and tabs allow you to collapse or expand sections of your content with one click. Users can click on the accordion headlines to reveal the content within. Tabs permit you to display the content in a compact form. Users can click on the tabs to view the content in different sections without having to scroll through the whole page.

To use accordion and tabs on your site, you need to:

1. Install and activate the Accordion plugin from the WordPress plugin directory
2. Create or edit a post or page.
3. Click on the “Add Accordion” button to insert the shortcode for the accordion.
4. Customize the accordion as needed.

Use Content Teasers

Teasers are short pieces of content that highlight a particular aspect of your post or page, designed to pique the user’s interest and encourage them to read the full content. You can add these teasers at the end of your posts or on your homepage.

To use teasers on your WordPress website, you need to:

1. Install and activate the Teaser plugin for WordPress.
2. Create or edit a post.
3. In the post editor, select the “Teaser” icon from the menu.
4. Add the content you want to use as the teaser.
5. Save or publish your post.

Conclusion

By making your posts more engaging and encouraging users to continue reading, you can reduce bounce rates, improve your website, and boost your SEO. Start by implementing some of the techniques above and track the results to see what works best for your website. With time, you’ll notice an improvement in user engagement and website performance.