High bounce rate on landing page: first screen

A visitor who clicked an ad or a search result already has a job in mind. They look at the top of the page for the same nouns, the same product and the same next step. If the headline names something broader, they cannot match it to what they clicked for, so they leave before scrolling. Two other things do the same damage. A large image or video can keep the headline blank while the visitor waits, and a banner or pop-up can cover the headline and the button on a phone. All three look the same in analytics: a visit with nothing after the first page.

• The headline and the ad line: do they share the product name, the job and the price?
• The phone first screen, untouched: is the headline readable without closing anything?
• Time until the headline shows on a slow phone connection, with the page reloaded.
• Pop-ups and cookie banners that cover the main button on the first load.
• A video or animation that starts before any text is readable.

Match the words, not the mood. Write the ad line and the search term at the top of a page, then read the first screen as if you had never seen the product. Check whether the nouns that name the job, the product or the price appear in the ad line. A search for shift scheduling that lands on a headline about teamwork has no shared noun, so the visitor has no reason to keep reading. Usually the fix is the product name and the job, moved to the first line and written the way the visitor typed them. A simulated test compares the pasted ad text with the top of the page.

A large hero image or an autoplaying video often loads after the rest of the first screen. For a moment the visitor sees an empty box where the headline should be. The fix is the order of loading: text first, then images, and video only after the headline is on screen. To check it, reload the page on your phone over mobile data with nothing touched, and time how long the headline takes to appear. The browser in a simulated visit records relevant JavaScript errors and failed or slow app requests on the step where they happen, so a stalled hero shows up next to the request that stalled.

On a phone, the cookie banner, the newsletter pop-up and the app install prompt are often the largest things on the screen. Each one can sit over the headline and the main button, and each one asks for a tap before the visitor has read anything. Take a screenshot of the first screen on a phone with nothing touched, the way a stranger first sees it. If the headline or the button is under an overlay, that overlay is the cause, and no headline change will help. Move the overlay to the bottom, make it smaller, or wait until after the first scroll. Then run the simulated visitor again to see whether it reads the headline before it decides.

Why visitors leave

Each new ad, keyword or headline is a new job the first screen has to match. After every headline change, paste the new ad line and search term into a fresh simulated test, and read the first-screen comparison before you look at sign-ups. Test the phone version whenever a banner, pop-up or hero video changes, because desktop tests do not show the overlap. The test shows the first screen, not revenue, so keep the rate check in your analytics.