Let’s start with the basics. What is bounce rate? Bounce rate (as defined by Google Analytics) is the percentage of visits that only go to one page before exiting the site. Bounce rate measures the quality of your visits and a high bounce rate usually indicates that your entrance page isn’t relevant to your visitors.

Sites with a high bounce rate struggle to keep visitors long enough to convert into customers. You want your visitors to spend a good amount of time clicking on different pages, reading additional content and moving their way toward a conversion. Your ultimate goal is to reduce your bounce rate by looking for ways to keep visitors on your site.

Here are some things to consider when reducing your bounce rate:

Poor Design & Content

Poor website design not only represents the graphic s on your site but also the readability of your content. Content needs to catch the reader’s attention and keep it. If your site lacks an attractive design, it can directly impact how visitors feel about the quality of your business. It’s also important to use colors and patterns that help to point your reader’s eyes towards the important parts on your page.

Mobile- Friendly

There is nothing more important these days than having a mobile-friendly site or at least a site that is usable through mobile devices. Websites that can be accessed and understood through a smartphone or tablet without frustrating customers is ideal.

Clear Navigation

Provide your site visitors with simple and clear paths of direction to the content they are looking to find. For example, “Contact Us” or “Services” should be easy-to-navigate so your visitors don’t become frustrated and leave. Also, it should be clear what users should expect to find or are expected to do while on the page with an obvious “call to action.” For example a contact form like, “Request a quote” or “Sign up for our newsletter” should be on the homepage.

Slow Speed

This may seem like an obvious reason, but if your site takes too long to load you will lose potential customers. A slow site leads directly to user experience and can negatively impact your bounce rate, search rankings and conversion rates.

Avoid Distractions

A website with autoplay video or audio can be really distracting and annoying to a visitor. It may not be worth it to them to find a way to stop or mute the audio and it may be easier just to leave the site. Avoiding these types of distractions will help to improve your bounce rate and ideally, increase your conversion rates.

Provide a Clear Message

This is another important point when considering keeping your visitor’s focus and attention. Remember, you only have 2-3 seconds to impress a visitor before they move on. Taglines are a good way to relay what your purpose is. Another way is to place your site’s purpose in an obvious, readable place like in the header or in the top of the sidebar.

Offer an Internal Search

Web users have become increasingly used to utilizing a search tool. If your site offers hundreds of items for sale, or many pages full of content, search functionality will improve your visitor’s overall experience. Make sure to make this functionality obvious, so visitors don’t have to actually search for your search box.

Is your bounce rate too high? Do any of these points of consideration apply to your site? At IQnection our web marketing, design and hosting teams all work together in improving the success of our clients’ sites. Contact us today.