By When your website has a high bounce rate, it can be tough to think of a solution.
It can be especially difficult if you’ve put a lot of effort into your site, but the Google Analytics numbers are not on your side.
If your bounce rate is high, it is likely your website isn’t performing correctly. However, don’t worry, this means you have the opportunity to improve your website and user experience.
What is a bounce rate?
Although it is quite complex, the simple definition of bounce rate is the number of people who are going on your website and then leaving straight away.
What is a good bounce rate?
There isn’t a set percentage that classes as a “good” bounce rate; it can be dependent on individual business goals and the website. However, a high bounce rate (usually 70% or higher) with low conversion rates, is extremely problematic.
Although it is better to have a lower bounce rate, a high bounce rate doesn’t necessarily mean there is a problem.
If a user has come to your site searching for information, such as your normal business hours, it is not unusual for them to bounce immediately after. In this case, your user has got the information they came for, so it can count as a conversion.
However, the issue is when people land on your website and bounce without converting. It is down to you to discover why your bounce rate is high and what can be done to reduce this.
How to reduce the bounce rate of a website
By identifying issues on your website and fixing them, you can work on reducing your bounce rate. Not only does this mean you are improving the usability of your website, but you also have the opportunity to increase your conversions too.
Here are some tips on how to reduce the bounce rate of your website.
Improve your page load time
Problems can often come to light before the user has had a chance to view pages of your website properly.
If your site takes a long time to load, the user will leave and choose another site that gives them what they are looking for quicker.
When focusing on load time, your website must load quickly on multiple platforms.
Sixty-four per cent of smartphone users expect pages to load in less than four seconds, so before thinking about your content, it is crucial to have a fast page load time to keep the user interested.
Don’t overwhelm the user
You may find that your web page is perfect for showcasing your offers, reviews, and other relevant content to the user. However, you mustn’t crowd material into the sidebar of your page.
By overwhelming the user with pop-ups, advertisements, offers, and award information, they will be tempted to leave your website, which, in turn, increases your bounce rate.
When adding content that you believe is relevant into a sidebar, make sure you’re doing it in a way that increases the user experience. It is really important to ensure that the user can have enough time to read and understand the page before pushing other content.
Optimise your content effectively
If your content is not addressing the needs of a user, they are not going to stay on your website. For this reason, you must understand the search intent of your audience and optimise your content accordingly.
When writing blog posts, ensure you don’t have huge blocks of text and an enormous number of images. Not only does this make your content difficult to read, but it also isn’t visually appealing to your audience.
By splitting your paragraphs into shorter sections, it will be easier for users to read on all devices and keep them engaged for longer.
Keyword research plays a huge part in what supporting content you are creating. However, don’t attempt to pack your copy with all the keywords you have found. This makes your copy unnatural and can be off-putting to a user.
Use a strong internal linking structure
Having a solid internal linking structure will encourage users to click to other parts of your website, which could result in a conversion.
However, it is important not to cram your content full of internal links. If you have a link in every other sentence, it can be overwhelming to your audience and put them off reading any further.
When adding internal links to your site, relevance is key. If you can naturally link to commercial pages from your blog posts, then do so, but don’t randomly add irrelevant information to create an internal link.
Similarly, if you have an “evergreen” blog post that goes into great detail about a topic that would be interesting to your audience and market, then you can link to it from other pages.
When adding your links over anchor text, make sure the text is natural with the rest of the copy and doesn’t look unusual.
Optimise your website for different platforms
It is crucial that your website is optimised for different platforms. As users are increasingly accessing the web from their mobile phone, you must have an optimised and smooth website, or users will bounce and go elsewhere.
Give the user an easy experience
Although this seems simple, your site navigation should be extremely easy for people to use. If your site is complicated and difficult to understand, users will immediately leave and go to another website.
It should be effortless for your user to navigate between pages; they are in control, and if they can’t find what they want quickly, they will go to another site.