The history of branded content in the online world is fascinating, having evolved from a curiosity to a must-have for digital enterprise. Content provides education, demonstrates authority for the brand publishing it, builds trust with readers, and as a cherry on top, adds a nice SEO boost as well.
Keep that in mind as we discuss our next concept: Bounce rates.
Google Support offers a nice explanation of bounce rates as they apply to site owners:
“A bounce is a single-page session on your site […] such as when a user opens a single page on your site and then exits without triggering any other requests to the Analytics server during that session.”
Understandably, high bounce rates are the kiss of death for businesses like online retail, and they can be a serious issue for any site owner interested in generating traffic. So, what does this issue have to do with content marketing?
Restructure Content Marketing to Reduce Bounce
Typically, bounce rates and content marketing aren’t linked within the marketing solutions matrix. However, it is possible to reduce bounce rates through revamped content marketing as long as two goals are met: Increased content outreach and content optimization that helps direct the right visitors to the right material.
Aggressive Marketing
A necessary part of any solid content marketing strategy is employing a variety of channels to engage readers. This means getting aggressive with promoting your new material and should include the following:
- Owned media, including your website, social media pages, and any other channels at your disposal
- Earned channels, such as organic search, social media influencer partnerships, and customer testimonials
- Paid media, such as purchased ads and sponsored customer posts.
Each channel represents a market segment of possible interest to your brand. If revamping your content marketing strategy is the goal, aggressive promotion throughout multiple channels is a good place to start.
A/B Test Ad Copy
Of course, if you want to reduce bounce rates, just ramping up your marketing presence isn’t enough. Brands that want users to stay on-site have to understand what motivates visitors and why they’re visiting in the first place.
To accomplish this, the headlines, subheadings, and ad text of your new marketing campaigns (as noted above) should be tested until they resonate with consumers. Test a few out, record their performance with tools like Google Analytics, and retest to compare. Understanding the language that drives user behavior is a cornerstone of content marketing and can play a big impact in whether or not users stick around your site to read more.
Optimize Keywords
And while we’re on the topic of bringing in more qualified users, always keep user intent in mind as you adjust your content marketing strategy. Visitors who arrive through organic search may be bouncing because the keyword queries tied to your site weren’t what they were expecting. This may mean that the keywords and SEO strategy you’re using are bringing in the wrong kind of traffic.
Fortunately, your content marketing library offers a rich source of potential SEO that can be easily edited to include more relevant keywords. This results in better-targeted traffic that is less likely to bounce.
Connect Your Marketing Channels
Although it’s impossible to reduce bounce rates completely, you can improve your situation by optimizing your content marketing strategy. Make sure your content is well-crafted, tested with your target audience, and well-marketed after the fact. The best content will help connect your marketing funnel by directing users to your landing pages and CTAs, but keeping users on site by reducing bounce is the first step of the process.