Do you ever feel like your website is getting plenty of traffic, but nothing positive seems to result from it? If this is the case, I recommend checking your bounce rates as its more than likely that they are above average and teetering on high.
But what are bounce rates and why should you care? In short, bounce rates relate to the number of people who visit your website, only look at one page, and then leave. They mean that somethings not quite right with your content and that your web pages aren’t giving customers any reason to stick around or take further action.
This, in turn, can result in lower conversion rates and a heap of “empty” traffic. You obviously don’t want this, so in the below guide, I delve into how to improve your bounce rates and explain everything there is to know about this metric.
What are Bounce Rates and Why are They Important?
Let’s look at bounce rates first so that you can understand what they are, ideal percentages, and how to calculate them. This will allow you to monitor this metric easier and take a look at it for different areas of your marketing strategies such as local SEO and PPC.
Bounce Rates – One-Page Wonders
Bounce Rate = The number of people who visit a page on your website, do nothing else, and leave.
I get that this definition is a little vague and we need to be clearer. So, let’s look at two examples:
- Visitor A clicks on a link to your website from a Google search. They look at the content on that page for 10 seconds and then close their browser.
- Visitor B clicks on the same link from the Google search. They look at the content for 5 seconds and click on an internal link on that page to a product page.
Out of these two scenarios, Visitor A would contribute to your bounce rate because all they did is view web content on one page and nothing else. Visitor B only spent 5 seconds on the page, but because they took further action, i.e. clicking an internal link, they wouldn’t contribute to your bounce rate.
So, the core premise of bounce rates is that the user hasn’t navigated away from the initial page they entered your website on.
Why do They Matter?
Now that you know what this metric is, it’s important to understand why it matters so you can then look at how to improve your bounce rates.
It’s pretty logical when you think about it – what did your business gain from visitor A clicking on that search engine result, viewing that one page, and then closing your site? Nothing. High bounce rates generally equate to lower conversions.
Of course, there COULD be indirect benefits from that website visit, so we don’t want to disregard any website traffic that doesn’t have a direct result. For example, that person could return to your website the next day and make an enquiry. But, for the most part, high bounce rates mean empty website traffic and nothing positive for your business.
What is considered a good bounce rate?
When looking at how to improve your bounce rate, lower is better, i.e. you want to aim for a lower percentage. But what is a good benchmark? Figures show that a good benchmark is anywhere between 26-70% but this can be dependent on your industry, and the type of web page.
For example, blog content generally has a higher bounce rate than eCommerce pages/websites simply due to the nature of the content. I recommend aiming for bounce rates of below 70% – if your bounce rates are nearing 90%, there’s cause for concern, but anything below 70% and you’re on the right track.
6 Tips to Improve Your Bounce Rate
You’ll find that most of the time, high bounce rates are a result of one or two issues that can be quickly corrected. This includes technical problems such as slow loading speeds and 404 errors. Your content also has to give the user the opportunity to do other things, and this is where CTAs and internal links are vital.
1. Make sure your website is mobile-responsive
Did you know it’s estimated that mobiles make up over 58% of global internet traffic? With such a huge figure, it makes sense that poorly optimised websites are often a main cause of high bounce rates.
It’s essential that your website is optimised for mobile usage and that it has a responsive design. If you are using an eCommerce platform or website builder, there should be an option to view your website from a mobile perspective.
Check it – does the layout look ok? How does the primary navigation work? Does the content fit properly on a smaller screen size without horizontal scrolling? Nail your mobile site design and you should see an improvement in bounce rates.
2. Eliminate any technical issues
Technical issues are also often a cause of higher bounce rates and you can see more info on technical SEO In our Ultimate Free SEO Guide.
For example, broken links, 404 errors and other issues that mean a customer can’t physically leave the page they enter your website on could be negatively skewing bounce rates. Consider undertaking a technical SEO audit to check for these errors.
3. Look at features that could disrupt user experience
Higher bounce rates can be a result of a disrupted user experience. For example, perhaps a particular web page you have includes a pop-up to sign up to your email newsletter. This can be a great way to boost engagement, but it can also be disruptive.
Many people will find features and pop-ups like this annoying and if they get bombarded with them, they may simply close the website out of frustration and thus increase bounce rates. Look at features you use like this and consider how they could detract from the user experience – you must weigh up their benefit compared to this impact and decide if they are worth it or not.
4. Make sure your content matches search intent
When your web page content doesn’t match keywords and search intent, users will become confused and annoyed and ultimately bounce rates will be increased.
If I search for a specific term on Google, I expect the link I click on to contain information pertaining to that term – not something that’s vaguely similar or of a similar subject matter.
Know your keywords, understand your customer’s search intent, and match your web page content carefully to those things. This will make sure visitors are getting what they want and are more likely to be invested in the content they see.
5. Improve page loading speeds
How frustrating is it when you click on a link from Google and the resulting website takes an eternity to load? If this happens for me, I don’t stick around – I get annoyed, return to the search page and find another website and I’m sure many people do the same.
Consider using the Google PageSpeed Insights tool to check your page speeds and look for issues that are slowing your website down. This could be poorly optimised images, unnecessary code, or mobile-optimisation issues. Improving page speeds can result in an improvement in bounce rates.
6. Use internal links and CTAs strategically
How do you expect website visitors to check out other pages or take positive actions if there are no links to other pages, or text telling them what to do?
This is where internal links and CTAs (Call to Action) are important when looking at how to reduce your bounce rates. Every webpage as a bare minimum should ideally contain primary navigation that allows visitors to reach other important pages on your website.
You should also strategically place internal links into the web page content. These should be links that relate to the subject of the page but could also direct the visitor further down the sales funnel. The more internal links you include, the more likely the visitor will check out more of your website.
Internal links are covert, but you can be overt too with CTAs. Visitors are far more likely to take action and do something else if you explicitly tell them what you want them to do! Try and include one or two clear calls to action on your web pages.
Clever use of internal links and CTAs can help improve your bounce rates.
Keep People Engaged and on Your Website Longer to Reduce Bounce Rates
Understanding how to improve your bounce rates is an important step in your digital marketing strategy. As you can see from the above tips, it can be a relatively simple fix.
Oftentimes, technical issues, loading times, and design features can contribute to higher bounces rates and these can be sorted without extensive work or a complete website re-design.
Once you have lowered your bounce rates, you can look at other areas of your marketing such as local SEO, PPC, and organic SEO. If you need assistance with any of this, or you are struggling to reduce your bounce rates, please get in touch and we can help. We also have a range of free webinars packed full with useful digital marketing information and tips.
