What is Bounce Rate?
Bounce rate is a term used by Internet marketing professionals to measure the percentage of single page visits before leaving your website and browsing any further. It is calculated by the number of bounces divided by the number of visits (entrances) multiplied by 100 to give you a percentage. This percentage provides valuable data to help you analyse your website.
What does this mean?
Your website is there to provide your audience with information and if the information they are looking for is not there, then they will look elsewhere for that information. Therefore a higher bounce rate typically means that you are not targeting your potential customers and enticing them to navigate further. Your main aim is to reduce your bounce rate which means that your visitors are staying longer on your website which can turn into conversions, whether it is sales, leads or increase in traffic.
Why is my Bounce Rate so High?
There are different factors that could affect why your bounce rate is high and by understanding the reason behind it can help you determine if it is really that bad.
Website coming soon. Building a functional website to be launched on the internet takes time, there are many businesses out there that typically launch a landing page that states ‘coming soon’. This can produce a high bounce rate as visitors tend to leave once the see a website that is not quite ready. (website was not ready at time of writing this article)
Websites main goal. The purpose of some websites is not to have the visitor browse endless amounts of content, but instead confront them into taking action by calling a phone number to speak to a consultant about products or services.
Websites with ads. Many websites have banner ads plastered all over them. By clicking on affiliate banner ads that pay per click or lead, it can give the website a higher bounce rate.
How can I improve?
Improving your bounce rate is the single most important aspect after your website design. Some of the ways you can improve include:
Provide original and valuable content. Your visitors have found their way to your website, so it is here where you need to provide content that is informative and valuable. They may not be ready to make a purchase, keep the audience engaged long enough to make them realise that there is more to your website that just the front page.
Make it easy to navigate. You can have the best contents on you website but it means nothing if your visitors can’t find them. Ensure you have adequate links to your content that makes it easier for the user to navigate around your website. Someone reading a blog about cleaning a wall might be interested in a particular product, instead of have them navigate around your website; have a link to the article. Some of the best websites actively incorporate these techniques.
Limit distracting ads. A study has found that 91% of people say ads are more intrusive today than 2-3 years ago. People feel overwhelmed and interrupted by bad online ads but don’t mind the good ads, therefore the type of ads on your website can affect your bounce rate. Place static ads to sides, avoid multimedia ads that auto-load and avoid pop-up ads.