When it comes to all things business, a high percentage is usually a good thing. Though in terms of your bounce rate – aka people immediately exiting your site when they land on it – you should be aiming for the lowest percentage possible.
A bounce rate of 55 percent or lower is considered excellent. Though, this will vary depending on the nature of your business. Even if your bounce rate is ‘average’ that still means almost half of your customers aren’t sticking around.
So how do you go about improving your percentage? Here are 5 ways to reduce your bounce rate to tell you more.
Redesign Your Website
It might be a daunting prospect, but in the world of business, you need to be ruthless. So if your website design is dated, cluttered, or simply not attracting many visitors – you need to take action.
Most people mistakenly believe they can create a website in five minutes because they’ve heard it on a commercial. Though there’s a huge difference between creating and creating something good.
Unless your website looks professional, your bounce rate is unlikely to reduce anytime soon. If that sounds like you, then a hiring web designer should be your first port of call.
Optimize Page Load Time
A good page load time is under 2 seconds. It takes longer for websites to load on a mobile device and websites that take up to 10 seconds to load have up to a 123% probability of the user bouncing.
Now is a good time to test how fast your website loads on different devices and browsers by timing it. Be sure to clear the cache so you are getting a ‘first time load’ experience. If your website is slow to load then excessive imagery, ads, or popups you’ve installed could be to blame.
Here is a perfect example of a fast loading website, check metrics of https://www.where-am-i.me/ and compare how they handle external and internal assets for faster loading.
Improve Navigation
It might be fun to go visit a maze, but it certainly wouldn’t be as enjoyable to find yourself in one without warning. That’s exactly the experience you are giving your users if the navigation is poor.
Your users should be able to find different products or services with ease. This can be facilitated with a clear, logical menu design. You can also use plenty of internal links over key phrases to direct users too.
If you have low visitor numbers on certain pages, this can often be the result of poor navigation too.
Implement SEO
Search engine optimization (SEO) is all about using relevant words and phrases on your website. Not only can SEO help to bring visitors to your website, but it can also ensure they stay on it too.
That’s because, if someone lands on a website and the content is not what they were expecting, they will soon leave. But, if your website does feature all the content, products, or services you link them to through SEO, then they will find the result helpful. This means they won’t make a hasty exit, reducing your bounce rate in return.
To Sum Up
Bouncing might be fun on a trampoline, but it certainly isn’t where your website stats are involved. The more you can make your website a relevant and enjoyable experience for your users, the more likely they are to hang around.
It’s always worth looking to eradicate every possible aspect that is increasing your bounce rate. After all, the more people who leave, the fewer conversions your business will receive.
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