This is the second year that Zoomin has conducted an in-depth analysis of how users consume, engage, and use technical content. In the Technical Benchmark Report for 2024, we provide critical Key Performance Indicator (KPI) benchmarks such as the percentage of returning users to documentation, search click-through rate, and content engagement rate, among others. Collected and analyzed from 97.6 million sessions across 136 countries, these benchmarks can help you evaluate how your content is performing against the industry standard. It will help you understand ‘what good looks like’ when it comes to user behavior, and offer practical tips to improve your content performance.

The report can be used as a practical guide to fine-tune your content strategy and meet user needs and expectations, as well as to reveal both your strengths and potential areas for improvement. When we see how users interact with documentation, we can craft content that fits exactly what they’re looking for - making everything more intuitive, smoother, and right on target with their expectations.

Let's explore some of the key takeaways and the implications on your content strategy. 
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‍Improving the user journey leads to greater content discovery and retention

According to the benchmark data, the average session duration is 4.8 minutes and the average number of pages per session is 5.2. This reveals that while users consume a lot of content, they also want to find precisely what they need quickly. By making navigation as seamless and enjoyable as possible, we can ensure users not only find what they're looking for but are also encouraged to return.

30% of benchmarked users were returning visitors, which proves the value of providing high-quality, relevant content that builds customer loyalty. 

Reflect on your current content strategy and design:

• How are you accommodating fast-reading content-seeking users, or users who prefer non-linear navigation?
• Do you provide regular updates, engaging release notes, and personalized content collections that can turn occasional users into loyal advocates?

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Transforming the users’ search experience

Search functionality in technical documentation plays a crucial role. In navigating documentation, users depend on effective and precise search tools, as evidenced by 93% of successful searches and a 55% click-through rate.

By investing in sophisticated search capabilities such as semantic search, the ability to set up curated search queries, and search results clustering, you can significantly improve how efficiently users can retrieve information. This, in turn, leads to higher user satisfaction and a more intuitive documentation experience. 

Considering the importance of search functionality, it is essential to evaluate the current systems and strategies you have in place:

• How are you currently measuring your search performance? 
• Do you have visibility into the top search terms that your users are using? 
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Empowering users through self-service

Among the highlights of the report is the significant increase in self-service rates from X% last year to 89%, as well as the jump in case deflection rates from X% to 58%, which indicates users increasingly prefer to resolve their issues independently.

Technical documentation plays an essential role as a first line of support for users in this trend towards self-service. By ensuring that your content is comprehensive and self-explanatory, you can empower users to find the answers they need without escalating to direct support. This not only enhances user satisfaction by providing them with the tools for autonomy but also significantly reduces the support workload. 

Consider your current approach to self-service support:

• Is your content covering the frequently asked questions that end up in Support tickets? 
• What is your current explicit case deflection rate? 
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Are you ready to answer these questions and get our suggestions on how to leverage the insights from "2024 Technical Content Benchmark Report" to guide your technical documentation strategy? Check out the full “2024 Technical Content Benchmark Report”.