Understanding Bounce Rates: What They Mean for Your Business
Most people panic about bounce rates without understanding what they're actually measuring. Thereâs this tendency to think high bounce rates always indicate a failing landing page, or worse, a failing business. Thatâs not always the case though.
Itâs worth remembering that just because someone left your landing page doesnât mean your campaign is over. Bounce rate in its simplest form refers to the percentage of people who leave your website after viewing one page. The key phrase there is âafter viewing one pageâ.
It makes sense if youâre thinking about building out a brand experience, but even then, there are plenty of pages on websites - even eCommerce ones - where high bounce rates are totally expected. For example, if you have a resource centre and a visitor lands on your PDF download page and gets the PDF, then leaves your website, itâs still considered a bounce - even if they spent 10 minutes browsing through your resource. Thatâs why itâs not always a negative sign that someone left your website after viewing only one page.
Bounce rates can tell you how interesting or helpful the entry point to your website was for the visitor though, which is nearly always useful when youâre running a lot of marketing campaigns. In fact, most marketers look at bounce rates as an indicator for how well their landing pages are performing. And thatâs where it can get tricky.
Depending on how much information is loaded into each landing page and how much visitors can explore through just one page, low or high bounce rates can mean different things for businesses. There are all sorts of industry averages when it comes to bounce rates, but youâll know when your landing pages arenât doing well by listening to what visitors are saying. They might leave feedback or just never return again.
Sometimes, they might even drop off when filling in forms because they found them too difficult. And other times, they might be bots. The big thing with bounce rates isnât about making sure theyâre low or high - itâs about understanding why people are bouncing and then refining your landing page experience so the numbers make sense for your business goals.
Key Elements of a High-Converting Landing Page
Far too many landing pages have that airbrushed look about them. You know the kind I mean - clean, sleek, full of pixel-perfect squares and promising headlines that flutter in one ear and out the other, leaving nothing behind except a touch of guilt for bouncing. Everyoneâs spent so much time worrying about perfection that theyâve forgotten why people bother to land on their page at all. The way I see it, the thing that sets a high-converting landing page apart is a bit much less visual.
Sort of. Itâs more about clarity and trust than perfection. Itâs tempting to think itâs all about beautiful design. Or some secret sauce in the copy.
But most of us are sick of being sold to, and anyone who has bothered to check your page out is probably looking for information. Not just any information though - something specific, something they can believe. An authentic testimonial from someone who has used your product or service. A quick snapshot of the top features and benefits that you offer (not a perfect service description either).
A clear and easy way to get in touch with you or find out more if they want. I must admit I struggle sometimes with this idea myself because it feels counterintuitive to be less perfect if you want more conversions. But Iâve found that overthinking it is always worse than putting something together quickly and simply that just gives people what they are looking for.
The only thing I find consistently makes a difference is good copywriting - not copywriting that tries to be persuasive, but copywriting that tells the visitor what is happening in every part of the page without being overly explanatory or clever about it. Ultimately, the point of a landing page isnât to make your business look like itâs up there with the best of the best (even if it really is). Itâs not your elevator pitch or sales presentation on steroids either.
A high converting landing page gets out of its own way so customers can get where they are going quickly, with no detours along the way.
Optimizing Page Load Speed for Better User Experience
People tend to think it's all about massive images slowing things down, but really there are all sorts of little gremlins that have crept into your landing page and are now sitting smugly in the dark caverns of your internet - being unseen and clogging up the flow. They're like the micro-plastics in the ocean, virtually invisible but everywhere, unless you do something about it. There are apps available online that can help you identify what the issue is, but again, when is somewhat helpful too much. The internet, like all things at our disposal, can be full of tools to help us get better results, but sometimes all this data confuses us or we simply don't know what to do with it.
It's kind of complex and for a lot of people they need to pay someone else to work it out. A bit like knowing you're allergic to gluten but not being able to work out how many forms it's in. So let's keep it simple.
Page speed is sort of important because slower loading pages lose half their visitors after 4 seconds of load time. And two thirds won't come back to your site. That's huge.
And even if they do come back - Google will penalise you and push your site back in its rankings if you have slow load time. Slow load times are found with code heavy landing pages - so keep it simple as simple HTML loads quicker than CSS or Javascript.
Crafting Compelling Headlines and Copy
I Think most brands and marketers seem to treat copywriting like a final touch-up instead of the main event. They're still using dull, robotic headlines and predictable hooks that have long passed their expiration date. Theyâre not entirely wrong.
After all, web copy needs to be concise, logical, easy to understand, and have a sort of rhythm to it. But the internet is saturated with basic content - almost like itâs afraid to have an opinion or personality. There are far too many web pages that can be described as âa snoozefestâ - and you want to avoid this mistake. You donât want your readers (and potential customers) running for the exit - taking your bounce rate up with them.
It seems like maybe you think it's risky not to play it safe - but sometimes, an important part of great copy is being bold enough to say what you mean. A landing page headline has one job - and thatâs to tell visitors exactly what theyâre getting into. If there was ever a time when clever puns or jokes were a good choice for a page headline, we can sort of assure you that time has passed.
Clear is always better than clever - especially when it comes to landing page headlines and hooks. Now hereâs where things get tricky - words work differently on different people (you know this already).
What sounds incredibly interesting to one person might put someone else off entirely. So while youâre trying not to write boring copy, also remember that value-based personalisation is key in building trust with new audiences. More or less.
This means using language that resonates with their priorities, preferences, values, and needs (sometimes more than your own brand values). This makes personalisation both easier (because you now know who youâre writing for), but also infinitely more difficult (because âpersonalisedâ doesnât mean âpersonalâ).
The Importance of Visuals and Layout in Engagement
Most people assume that visuals are simply there to break up the text, give us something pretty to look at, or add a decorative touch. But theyâre more than that.
Theyâre an integral part of the experience and are as important as the copy. And perhaps even more so in many instances. The reality is that visuals and layout arenât just embellishments, but essential ingredients for creating an immersive user experience and guiding visitors towards action.
They help build your brandâs personality, evoke emotion, shape perception and influence behaviour in ways that words cannot. Where words can be interpreted differently, images convey a clearer message and help create a lasting impression. When they work together seamlessly, it creates consistency and builds trust. While it might seem like a simple thing to do - just pick out a few stock images or illustrations and pop them into your landing page - itâs far from easy to find exactly what you need.
Thereâs a whole lot of things to consider such as how they fit with your brand, messaging and style guide. The same goes for layout, as it has a direct impact on readability, accessibility and comprehension. Sort of.
People will first notice how your landing page is arranged before they begin reading your copy. It helps determine where you want your visitorsâ eyes to go and directs them towards your call-to-action (CTA). Good visual hierarchy keeps them focused on what matters most without getting lost or overwhelmed by too much content - whether text or visual - while also ensuring that everything is accessible to all audiences including those who may have certain disabilities or impairments.
A/B Testing: Finding What Works Best for Your Audience
A lot of people come at A/B testing with this idea that if you just pit two things against each other, one will emerge the clear winner every time. People want to believe that if you put Button A next to Button B, one will get more clicks and off you go. And it sort of can apparently happen that way sometimes, but not always. What usually happens in reality is usually you need to know your audience quite well before testing anything.
It seems like you need to have a fairly clear hypothesis of what it is they want from your page or site. You need a sense of what will make them respond. Itâs a delicate process, too, because sometimes even the smallest change - like the colour of a call-to-action button or its placement - can tip the scales. Thatâs why it helps to be mindful of what youâre testing so you donât muddy the waters.
I think what makes A/B testing tricky is fairly that itâs almost impossible to stop experimenting once you start - thereâs just so much scope. You start with something as basic as font size and then end up questioning whether your entire sales funnel is a bit rubbish (it probably isnât). Plus, people often overdo it and test a million things at once only to end up overwhelmed by data and none the wiser.
In my experience, A/B testing works best when used mindfully - with purpose and clarity. Choose one thing to change, test it and give yourself time to observe outcomes. If you find yourself switching between different parameters every other day, slow down and take a step back.
It also helps to tell yourself that not all experiments will yield results and thatâs perfectly alright - some things are bound to stay the same.