Are people landing then leaving your website?
Today’s internet users are quick to make judgments about whether or not your website can help them. In fact, it takes less than a second for users to form their judgement, and if they decide to hang around, then the average visitor will spend just 54 seconds on each page.
While the length of time users spend on your website will vary depending on things like the device they use or what industry you’re in, the goal of any website is to engage visitors and have them explore your offer. However, if you have a high bounce rate, this suggests that something isn’t quite working for your audience.
What is bounce rate?
When visitors land on your page and then leave before having a look around, this is known as a bounce. You can find the bounce rate for both your overall website and individual pages over on your Google Analytics Dashboard.
The longer people spend on your website, the more chance they have of converting. This means you want to aim for a low bounce rate, which will indicate that your website is engaging and giving people the information they’re after.
It’s important to note that a percentage of visitors might leave because your page actually answered their questions, so there’s always going to be some level of bouncing. This rate also varies naturally between different industries and what you want to achieve from your website. To give you an idea of a healthy bounce rate, the current average across all industries in 2021 is 47%, which spikes to 75% for B2B and drops to 38% for energy.
This means that nearly half of all website visitors are landing and hitting the back button, leaving you with a large amount of untapped revenue potential. But how do you go about persuading people to explore what you offer when the average visitor only reads 20% of page content?
Answer your visitors’ questions
If you want to make the most of your traffic and marketing campaigns, then you need to engage your audience right from the get-go. The best way to do this is to answer these four questions as soon as you can:
- Who is your target audience?
- What problem do you solve?
- Why should they choose you?
- What do you want them to do next?
These questions can be instantly answered by the headline and call to action on your landing page. Let’s take a look at how to make these as engaging and informative as possible.
Website headlines
Whether it’s for your homepage, blog post or even an email, the headline is the hook that draws your audience in and tells them what kind of content will follow. This is what shapes their first impression of your website and encourages them to keep reading, setting the tone for the rest of their visit.
In fact, headlines are so powerful that one study found 59% of shared URLs are never actually clicked. This means that the content you write is only as good as your headline, and here’s how you can craft one that’s powerful enough to keep your audience engaged.
1. Answer your audience’s questions
Most importantly, your headline needs to let readers know who your target audience is, the problem you solve, and what makes you unique.
2. Short & sweet
Headlines should be kept short for instant impact. This means they need to be specific, getting straight to the point about how your products or services can benefit your reader.
3. Creative & catchy
Using adjectives and techniques like alliteration can help make your headlines more engaging and attract your readers’ attention.
4. Ask questions
A great way of engaging your readers is to ask them questions. This allows you to address them directly, pique their curiosity and get them wondering about the answer.
Call to Actions
You’ve hooked your audience with your headline, now you need them to take the next step along their customer journey. This is where your call to action (CTA) comes into play. Usually taking the form of a button, hyperlink or plain text, CTAs are signposts that prompt visitors to take actions like subscribe, purchase or share. These are essential for conversions, but how do you write them?
1. Use strong action words
CTAs need to be clear and concise, so get straight to the point with strong verbs and imperatives. Don’t worry about getting creative — clarity is key here, telling your audience exactly what you want them to do next.
It’s also a good idea to avoid having any other links near your CTA, otherwise visitors won’t know which action they’re supposed to take.
Examples:
Buy now
Get in touch
Sign up to our newsletter
2. Evoke emotions & enthusiasm
Use your CTA to evoke an emotional response from your audience. These will be slightly longer, but can be more engaging and might suit your brand’s tone of voice better for a more consistent experience.
You can do this by creating a sense of belonging, using adjectives and making promises. Exclamation points are also great for adding energy and enthusiasm.
Examples:
Join our family!
Ready to find your dream home?
Let us help!
3. Create a sense of urgency
An effective way of encouraging people to take action is to create a sense of urgency. You can do this by highlighting when offers are going to end, or using phrases like ‘while supplies last’. If a customer is interested in your products or services, they won’t want to miss out.
Examples:
Buy now and get up to 50% off! Sale ends Sunday
Free gift while supplies last
4. Emphasise the benefit
Make sure your audience knows why they should take action. You can do this by making it clear what’s in it for them and by emphasising your USP.
Examples:
Let’s start your free trial
Discover the benefits of natural skincare
5. Use persuasive language
Use inclusive language that engages the reader and lets them imagine what will happen when they click your button. Other persuasive words can also help emphasise the benefit (free, bonus, new) or create a sense of urgency or gratification (now, limited, instantly).
Examples:
Show me my results
Download your free ebook now
Test your headlines and CTAs
Remember, you don’t have to create one perfect headline or CTA. Try creating a few and use A/B testing to see what works best for your specific offer and target audience. This data will let you see which style is most effective at reducing your bounce rate and increasing visitor engagement.
As a starting point, take a look at your landing page and ask yourself the four key questions that customers want answering:
- Who is your target audience?
- What problem do you solve?
- Why should they choose you?
- What do you want them to do next?
If you can craft a headline and CTA that answers them all, then you’ll be able to make a great first impression and engage your audience from the moment they land.
