5 Strategies Professional Web Writers Use to Reduce Bounce Rates

When visitors come to a page on your site and leave immediately from the same page without interacting, that’s a bounce.  If your website has a high bounce rate, you could have a problem, because bounces often represent users who couldn’t find what they were looking for on your site. “Really,” says Inc.com contributor Matt Quinn, “it’s the most basic expression of dissatisfaction with your site users can give you.”

The Bounce, Unmasked

In those fast and furious first glances of the page users hit through a Google search or re-tweeted link, they’re are on a mission to discover: “What’s in it for me?” and then “What’s the next step?” The answers must pop out on the page within a few seconds, or else they might bail.  Amongst competing site owners, it’s a race to the call-to-action.

Maybe your site does have exactly what your target user is looking for, nestled quietly on the third sub-page of an ambiguously titled category hiding below the fold.  Too bad too few users have the patience to excavate your site for it, especially if they’re just looking for a phone number.

The Content Writing Solution

If you think a high bounce rate could be affecting your site conversions, check out Google Analytics to discover the hard numbers. Anything above a site-wide 50 percent bounce rate is reason to be concerned. That’s where a professional web writer comes in.

Professional web writers optimize page content to ensure users know exactly what the site offers, and know exactly how to get it.  They deliver answers to users’ questions in compelling, targeted language that suits the web experience. Their content works hard, and looks delicious while it’s at it.

The Professional Strategies

These are 5 strategies from the professional web writer’s toolbox for reducing bounce rates on business site pages.  Consider whether your site maintains these best practices; are you doing all you can to keep users interested?

1. Write for readability

Readability is the ease with which content is read and understood by users. Sounds like a “duh”, right? Get this: SixRevisions.com chief editor Jacob Gube considers readability one of the most challenging aspects of writing for the web, because content must be trimmed, clarified, and delivered for a wide audience to digest quickly. This ain’t a copy-paste of the literature from your print brochure. The web format demands concise, jargon-free content that gets right to the point.

2. Use web conventions

Professional web writers understand the best way to create a clear and obvious path for users to find the content they need is to abide by trusty web layout conventions, such as navigation across the top of the site. “Users expect certain things to be in certain places,” says CrazyEgg contributor Sharon Hurley Hall. With a deep understanding of web formatting and usability, professional web writers can anticipate what users expect from a site’s navigation experience.

3. Optimize tag lines

“Tag lines are a great way to translate purpose,” says SearchEngineWatch.com contributor Nick Eubanks. Professional web writers use their marketing expertise and succinct communication skills to craft bite-sized tag lines and messages that get right to the point, compellingly.  The user’s expectations are addressed within seconds of hitting the page.

4. Know the target user

Professional web writers conduct deep target audience research to establish personas-fictional characters amalgamated from a target user-to guide language, navigation, and content placement choices for a page. Personas give professional web writers a rich understanding of what a user will respond positively to, and what they expect from an experience with a website.  With personas at hand, professional web writers can craft highly intuitive content that seamlessly guides the user through a journey on your website.

5. Keep content and design fluid

Like an illustrated children’s book, a website tells a story through complimentary visual and textual presentation. The more fluidly these elements come together, the more satisfying the story will be from first glance. Professional web writers know how to create a cohesive content/ design framework for optimal navigation ease of use. Users don’t have to work hard to find what they want.

Have you checked out your website’s bounce rate lately? Contact Us today to discover the hard facts through the power of Google Analytics. It might be time to take these strategies to work for higher profits, and lower bounce rates!

References

Eubanks, Nick. “Reduce Bounce Rate: 20 Things to Consider.” 18 January 2013. Searchenginewatch.com

Hall, Sharon Hurley. “7 Reasons Your Bounce Rate Is High (And How to Reduce It).” 10 February 2012. Blog.Crazyegg.com

Quinn, Matt. “How to Reduce Your Website’s Bounce Rate.” 31 January 2011. Inc.com