While it may sound like a dance craze that’s garnering a million views on YouTube, the “landing page bounce” has serious connotations for every business owner with a website. Bounce describes a web visitor who stumbles across your company’s landing page but then, uninterested, literally bounces away.
Content is king on the Internet, and finding quality content writers for hire is your first step toward creating a website. But, think of content as the filet mignon on your menu and your landing page as the hors d’oeuvres. If people leave your restaurant because the appetizers are unappealing, it doesn’t matter how good your entree is: you’ve lost business. If someone’s bounced off your site because they didn’t like your landing page, they haven’t placed an order, they haven’t signed up for email and they certainly haven’t become a repeat customer.
Is bounce always bad?
Your website’s “bounce rate” is, according to Google Analytics, the percentage of your visitors who only view one page before exiting your site. A high bounce rate doesn’t always mean bad things. It can mean you only have a single-paged website, for instance, or that your landing page is just really all inclusive. But, if you’ve got a bad case of bounce, and it seems to correlate with poor sales, it may be time to redesign.
- Grab their attention – In this day of shortening attention spans, your landing page has only seconds to grab the interest of potential visitors. Use those seconds wisely. Your first page needs to be clean, crisp and visually appealing. Strike a balance between interesting images and text. Too much verbiage says, “Boring!” while too little announces, “I’ve got nothing to say.” Either message can drive visitors away.
- Make it clear – If your landing page does nothing else, it should clearly state who and what you are. Your company name should take center stage, and, unless that name also defines your business — “Mel’s Plumbing,” for instance — you should clearly state what you have to offer, as well.
- Show them around – Your landing page is the portal to the rest of your website. If your visitors can’t find your products, your order page or your FAQs, they’ll find another merchant or provider who doesn’t make them work so hard. OneXtraPixel suggests providing different navigation options to accommodate different browsing styles, listing menu options on every page so that browsers don’t get lost, and using descriptive labels for navigation tabs, such as “continue shopping” or “need help?”
- Don’t drive them away – Bright yellow and fuchsia may be your favorite colors, but pink letters on a canary background are almost impossible to read. Geometric patterns, oscillating wallpaper and flashing lights are also annoying. Browsers may leave your site rather than wade through the flack. Continuously looping videos are another no-no. One run-through of a customer testimonial can be interesting and informative; an unceasing bombardment can be torturous.
You can stop the bounce. Like those lovely French tartlets and brandied mushrooms, an appetizing landing page will grab your visitors’ attention and lead them eagerly to the next course.
Kate C is a freelance writer available on WriterAccess, a marketplace where clients and expert writers connect for assignments.
