7 Quick Checks to Improve Your Bounce Rate
August 5th 2013 | By Steve Grant
‘Bounce rate’ measures the rate at which visitors leave your website from the same page that they enter from. It is ideal to have a low bounce rate, as it shows that people are spending time on and engaging with your website.
The average bounce rate for websites is about 40 to 50%, so if your analytics show that your bounce rate is higher than this, you need to take steps to reduce it. Really you should aim to get your bounce rate as low as possible.
How to Improve your Bounce Rate
The following initiatives will go towards getting your bounce rate down:
1. Make Sure Pages are Quick to Load
Your website should take only a few seconds to load. Any longer and you risk losing your visitors to other sites – they will simply ‘bounce off’.
2. Create Relevant Landing Pages
Most traffic will enter into your website via the home page and for this reason your home page should be well-designed, impactful and contain relevant images. The same goes for other pages that contain a high amount of inbound entry traffic. Specific landing pages work well if they are relevant, well-designed and have targeted copy. Always make sure that landing pages refer to any messages used in the marketing activity that drove visitors to these landing pages, such as PPC or banner adverts.
3. Avoid Pop-up Adverts
Avoid using pop-ups as they distract visitors and can turn them off causing them to go elsewhere.
4. Make Sure Your Navigation is Well-Designed
If your website is not easy to navigate, visitors will be quick to leave. Keep it simple and remember that you need to cater for mobile visitors too.
5. Ensure Good Copy
The copy on your website needs to be clear, relevant and persuasive to make your web visitors take action. Break it down into easy to read sections so visitors can quickly scan it and find what they need. Website visitors take literally seconds to decide whether they will stay and engage on a page or leave a website altogether, so your copy needs to capture attention immediately.
6. Include a Search Box
A search box on a website is essential. If visitors cannot obviously find what they are looking for through the usual web navigation channels, they will want to search for it instead. The search box needs to be prominently displayed and easy to use – and designed to deliver relevant results.
7. Target Outbound Links Correctly
Any links to offsite content should open in a new window so that the visitor isn’t taken away from your site.
The bounce rate should be regularly monitored as it can be a good indication of any issues with your website. Generally the bounce rate can be greatly improved by looking at the website design, usability and copy. Landing pages are a good way to make the user experience more relevant and specific to a particular marketing activity and the bounce rate for these pages should be closely observed too.
If you need help analysing or improving your website bounce rate, get in touch.