Normally a high rating is something positive, the higher the better. But for the bounce rate on your website it’s the opposite. When it comes to bounce rates, keeping it low is a good thing.
What does bounce rate mean?
When visitors to your website bounce it means they leave soon after they enter your landing page. Like a bouncing ball they go in and out again before you have had a chance to convert them, to hold their attention with interesting content or get them to respond to a call to action (CTA).
Why is your bounce rate important?
Your website is there to entice customers, to get them to buy, sign up, develop a relationship with your brand. In other words, you want them to stay and take action. Reducing your bounce rate helps to boost your site’s conversion rate. Knowing how to reduce bounce rate and structure your website’s conversion architecture can help you to develop targeted content that will grow your business. And that in the end is what it is all about.
Research has shown that the average time users spend on a website is 15 seconds. To know how to reduce bounce rate you need to hold on to a visitor’s attention for as long as possible. This means we need to give them as few excuses as possible to leave the website. Today, the main reasons for leaving a website are:
1. The visitor doesn’t get what he expects
2. The visitor leaves because your site isn’t usable
3. The visitor leaves because he doesn’t know what to do
4. The visitor leaves because he suspects you are not being genuine
5. The visitor leaves because the website doesn’t inspire or impress him
Being aware of these main reasons you can now already review and improve your website, making sure your user doesn’t bounce because of the above reasons.
1. Create multiple landing pages
The more landing pages based on high-value keywords you have on your website the better. More landing pages provide more opportunities to convert visitors into leads. A landing page is super focused and has one very clear call to action. There is as little additional content as possible on a landing page that distracts from this CTA. The great thing about landing pages is that the more you have, the more will show up in a search. If a searcher comes across a search result that takes them straight to one of your landing pages, you essentially cut out the extra step of a visitor entering your home page and needing to click several times to get to that same landing page. The searcher gets to the information he is looking for straight away and when you only have 15 seconds to grab his attention this is key.
2. Design for multiple screen devices
Make sure the design of your website displays well on all devices. More than 95% of your market is on a mobile device these days and it is therefore key that your website works well and displays well on every device imaginable. In fact, mobile-friendliness is a ranking factor in Google. This means that if your site is not mobile-friendly, no matter how wonderful your content may be, it won’t rank well in the search results. WordPress is ideal for creating and managing websites that need to work well on each device. We have actually dedicated a whole blogpost to the benefits of WordPress here.
3. Get to the point
Once your visitor is on your website and you have his attention, he needs to know what to do. Don’t lose him because of a weak or unclear CTA. A great CTA should have a clear message and pop out, so pay attention to combining the right design elements such as text size, colour and even animation. If your CTA is clear and enticing your conversion rate will improve. You can create CTA’s that don’t require the visitor to commit financially. Consider offering a free trial or offering a personal call back for custom advice. These CTA’s can go a long way to holding the visitor’s attention and provide a commitment-free introduction to your brand or service.
4. Come across as trustworthy
A research study by Consumer Web Watch found that 4 out of 5 users say that being able to trust the information they read on a website is important. If you don’t have a brand that is widely recognized then you have to establish trust in different ways.
The tone of voice you use in your web content is an important element in establishing trust. Connections to social media such as Facebook and Twitter can also help. These are names everyone is familiar with and if you are connected to them you probably have nothing to hide. Displaying customer reviews also increases trust. Offering a help function on the website and displaying contact details communicates that you genuinely want to be of service. Last but not least make sure you get an SSL (secure socket layer) for your site. An SSL is a security protocol that establishes encrypted links on your site. When you have set up an SSL your HTTP address becomes HTTPS so visitors can see if you have this in place.
5. Know who you are talking to
First impressions are often lasting. It is likely that if this first impression was bad, the user won’t return to your site. So everything on your website should be done to impress, inspire and get your visitor or user to respond to your CTA. To do this successfully you have to know your target audience. Everything about your website could be absolutely perfect but if it doesn’t strike a chord with who you are reaching out to then your bounce rate will remain high. Know the demographics of your target market and the reasons they buy. Once the persona of your ideal customer is clear you can determine the right tone of voice, design elements and calls to action. Everything about your website should be designed to impress this persona and capture his attention. Don’t design to try and please all.
Now, with these tips on how to reduce bounce rate, try and stop visitors from bouncing you should have a better chance of holding their attention for more than 15 seconds. Mastering the art on how to reduce bounce rate is essential for a successful online presence. But remember, making these improvements won’t keep your bounce rate down for good. High-quality content that is relevant for your target audience needs to be published on a regular basis. Developing a content strategy and editorial calendar is essential for keeping your visitors interested for as long as possible.
Call us for more advice on improving your website on +852 2555 7220 .
