There are different ways of growing an online business and boosting sales. As a digital marketer, your focus is on improving the performance of a website.
Although there are many different factors to review regularly, bounce rates are some of the most important.
Why should you keep bounce rates low?
Bounce rates measure the number of users who only visit one page on your website and leave the site without taking any action. They’re calculated using a standard formula and the result is expressed as a percentage.
So what’s a low bounce rate? This varies from website to website and also depends on the page type. The average bounce rate is anything between 26% and 70%, so you’ll want to aim for percentages on the lower end of the scale.
Why? Because if your bounce rates are high, that’s usually a sign of poor engagement. Your website visitors may not be finding what they’re looking for, or the content may not be relevant or persuasive enough.
What causes high bounce rates
First of all, you need to determine why visitors are leaving your site. Analytics tools only give you numbers, so you’ll have to figure out the reasons for using other tools. Some useful research tools include website feedback and surveys, heat maps, and recorded sessions.
This should help you formulate a hypothesis about why website visitors are leaving the page. You can use this as a starting point to make changes to your page or site. Often, high bounce rates are related to:
- User-friendliness
- Content
- Clarity
8 Ways To Reduce Bounce Rates
1. Make your pages load faster
Website visitors want what they want, and they want it fast. Page load times keep getting lower as customer expectations increase. Right now, aim for 1 to 2 seconds.
2. Check for technical problems
Some common technical issues that can affect bounce rates are:
- 404 errors, which can leave users frustrated as they don’t find what they’re expecting.
- Faulty or unresponsive navigation or links.
- Poor mobile design.
The last point is critical, considering that more than 54% of all Internet traffic comes from mobile devices.
3. Make it mobile-friendly
This means:
- Ensuring the page loads fast on mobile. This can be done through caching, minifying resources, compressing images, or designing a simple site that only loads on mobile.
- Ensuring videos and images are displayed smoothly.
- Removing pop-ups.
4. Improve website security
This is especially important if you manage an eCommerce site or any website where users are expected to enter personal data or make transactions. Nowadays, HTTPS protocol and 256-bit SSL encryption are the minima expected.
5. Improve website credibility
You may have a secure website, but credibility isn’t limited to that. Other trust signals improve user engagement and conversion rates, such as:
- A clear guarantee policy.
- Contact details.
- Certifications and awards.
- Customer reviews.
- Social proof / Testimonials.
- Case studies.
- High-quality photos.
- An updated blog.
- Good brand storytelling.
6. Do a content audit
A content audit can help you find irrelevant or outdated information that should be removed or rewritten. Every piece of content should add value, be informative, clear, and compelling. You should pay special attention to call-to-action copy and product pages.
It’s also important to evaluate your social content and identify the best performing posts. You can then use that to create a new content strategy based on what already works.
7. Review your keywords
The keywords you use to attract traffic to your website should reflect what users are looking for, on their terms. In other words, you should review your keyword strategy to ensure keyword intent matches the content of each page.
The best performing keywords are accurate and deliver high value. Keyword value is defined as the intersecting point between:
- Traffic goals.
- Conversion goals.
- Persona characteristics.
- Brand value.
8. Eliminate distractions
Sometimes, the reason why visitors don’t take action is that there are too many elements competing for their attention. Review each page making sure the purpose and next steps are crystal clear. Other elements to watch out for include:
- Large pop-ups that interfere with content.
- Chat windows or widgets that open without the user clicking on them.
- Elements that play music or that blink.
- Videos on autoplay.
This doesn’t mean you should get rid of all of them. Use discretion and the insights you get from research tools to determine if they’re helping your bounce rates decrease or not.
Conclusion
Keeping bounce rates low can help generate more engagement and improve conversion rates and sales. Follow the tips listed in this article to get started on the road to better bounce rates.
Author Bio:
Ray Brosnan is the co-owner of Brosnan Property Solutions, a property maintenance and facility management company based in Ireland. Brosnan Property Solutions also offer domestic and commercial services. Ray and his team manage most of their own digital marketing. To learn more please visit – https://brosnans.ie/facility-management/
