The bounce rate, or exit rate as it is sometimes called, represents the percentage of visitors to a web site who enter the site and leave – ‘bounce’ – without continuing to view more pages. It is debatable what is considered a bad bounce rate; however, of course, we all want to score low. How can you reduce your bounce rate successfully?
Optimise page load time
The most common assumption if your bounce rate is high is that there are problems within the content. This might be true, but often the problem lies within a slow page load time. 47 per cent of users expect a page to load within two seconds or less – if yours fails to do so, the user won’t get as far as the content. On-page optimisation is essential in reducing bounce rate, and especially so with regard to mobile devices. Slow-loading pages are the primary cause of shopping cart abandonment.
Smart formatting
Think of your web pages as magazine pages rather than novel pages. We are all drawn to flick through a magazine – the articles are short, with the information bite-sized and interspersed with photographs. This is what keeps us moving through the pages. The key is that we are not overwhelmed with a deluge of uninterrupted text, which is what you are aiming for on your pages. Well-organised information holds your reader’s hand and leads the way. Use headers, bullet points and sub-headings.
Bounce rate v on-site time
Look within a wider context – is the problem within a specific page or your entire site? This can be quite complicated to analyse. Google has more information and there are web designers in Reading, such as http://www.starwebinnovations.co.uk/, that can help to unravel the issues for you.
Don’t bombard with promotions
We all know of a high street shop where the sales assistant pounces, will not leave you to browse and talks at you endlessly. You run out of the shop before you have even noticed that gorgeous merino sweater that you would have gone on to buy. The same is true when you cram every spare pixel of space on your monitor with promotions.
Relevance, relevance, relevance
It is blatantly obvious but if the page is not exactly relevant to the reader’s enquiry, the reader will not hang about.
