But How Will This Affect My Bounce Rate?
I’ve been advocating for a new kind of sales page, here on sharpen.page:
- Start the page by describing the struggle, so your visitor says “I feel understood!”;
- Use your knowledge of the Four Forces of Progress, including the Struggle of the Moment force, to craft a sales page that will help the visitor through their deliberation to go forward;
- Be inventive in how you write your headings, by either empathizing with their current struggle or by stating, outright, that you understand their main job-to-be-done;
- Go the extra mile to help out your visitor make progress, even if it means helping them figuring out how to do it themselves without buying anything;
- Use a long page to give you multiple ways to hit the right language, to connect with their situation;
- Play down your product’s features, play down your service offering’s extras, and instead only concentrate your communication on the “job” your product or service will be “hired” to do.
This approach creates some sharp, unconventional landing pages:
So if this would be moving you away from familiar features-first product pages, or these-are-all-the-services-I-offer freelancing pages, you’re likely asking yourself the question:
But what will this do to my bounce rate? I get the feeling I’ll get fewer visitors sticking on my site with a page like this. I’ll be pushing more people away…
Your Bounce Rate Will Get Worse
There’s no way around it, you’ll lose the short optimization game. Your bounce rate will get worse (it will go up). If you’re here, however, I’m thinking your bounce rate might not be spectacular.
This type of sales page will do the following to your stats:
- Your bounce rate will go up. More people will see your site, turn around, and leave. (“Not this, not now”)
- Your time-on-site will be weird. More people will leave right away, yet some people will stick around longer. They’ll dig deeper. (“This is speaking my language!”)
- You might see an increase in your return visits. Or you might see an increase in new visitors. That’s because people will be back, but using a different device.
But You Will Be Repaid in Trust
If your page really helps your visitor make progress, your page will get bookmarked.
If you used the idea that everything you have on your site helps your visitor for distinct, connected jobs, that even your newsletter gets “hired” for a job-to-be-done, you will get noticed, and those visitors will be back. They’ll spread the word.
You’ll have gained their trust.
So set yourself up for a longer game. The bounce rate won’t be the metric you’ll be measuring. Instead, you’ll measure yourself against whether your products, your services, are organized in a mesh that thoroughly helps your visitors make progress.
Stay sharp!
Be on the lookout for an upcoming article answering the question: “But how come these other companies have product pages highlighting features and benefits? They seem fine.”
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Pascal Laliberté
@pascallaliberte