Your website is gorgeous, creative, inviting, engaging; but how does one determine if your website visitors agree?
There really are some amazing websites out there, and so there’s the grim, basic, and boring of the globe wide web.
Unfortunately, the latter doesn’t quite perform well (no surprises here).
And when an internet site doesn’t perform well, it’ll likely secure itself a high bounce rate.
Let’s back-track a little; you may be wondering, what's a bounce rate?
A bounce rate reflects the share of tourists to your website or landing page who don’t engage therewith the website or landing page.
This means they don’t take any action – perhaps they don’t click on a link, click on any items in your menu, don’t send research, fill out a form, or buy something. It can mean your website or landing page isn’t converting.
If the visit to the page is mere to the first-visited page of the website (or, within the case of a landing page, a single-page visit), that’s when a user bounces.
Essentially, they arrive on your page and leave.
Let’s say someone reaches your page from a Google search. They then hit the rear button only seconds later – this can be a bounce.
Now, why are bounce rates important?
A bad bounce rate can tell you a lot about your website, or the landing page you're sending people to.
It could signal the website isn’t performing well, that one particular aspect (or multiple aspects) on the website are broken and wish to be fixed, that the standard of the online page or website is lacking severely (people are excellent at spotting out a poorly designed website from an honest one) or that the caliber of your audience doesn’t quite align along with your site.
How are you able to tell if a bounce rate is bad?
Well, if the proportion is high, we've got a foul bounce rate. we would like the bounce rate to be as low as possible.
Wondering a way to calculate a bounce rate? you'll do that in Google Analytics. Google states that it calculates bounce rates by dividing ‘single-page sessions by all sessions or the share of all sessions on your site during which users viewed only one page and triggered only one request to the Analytics server.’
That’s why optimizing every page of your website is super important.
Want to lower your bounce rate? Consider the subsequent points:
- How high is that the quality of your page? Almost everyone seems to be online nowadays, meaning we’re often exposed to websites. People, whether or not they know absolutely nothing about web design, can pick a dated, cheap or uninviting website, from a well-designed, well-considered, and user-friendly website.
- is that the usability of the page up-to-scratch?
- You’re targeting the incorrect audience. OR you’re not adapting your website to the wants, aspirations, and skills of your audience.
- does one have a powerful call-to-action on the page?
- is that the website easy to navigate?
- is that the website’s design clear, concise, and aesthetically pleasing?
Side note: Believe it or not, a high bounce rate isn’t always a nasty thing.
If the aim of your website is solely to tell visitors (one single page of content that doesn’t require clicking), then a nasty bounce rate isn’t bad.
Perhaps visitors are immediately discovering the knowledge they're after, after visiting the primary page of your website (without the requirement to click through and engage).
If you wish people to interact together with your website in how, shape, or form (this is extremely often the case), then yes, a high bounce rate may be a bad thing.
If you’ve recently made changes to your website and find the bounce rate has actually increased (or stayed the same) as a result of these changes, then something hasn’t quite worked.
If your website isn’t delivering, this might also mean that, perhaps, certain traffic sources aren’t getting what they need or need from visiting your site. you would like to satisfy their expectations.
Perhaps you have got an advert running on Facebook that leads people to your website or landing page, but your bounce rate continues to be high. There’s a clear stage that the messaging within the ad isn’t accurately matching or reflecting what the page should include.
It goes without saying, but if you would like people to induce excitement about your website, and thus, get engaged, become involved, and find CLICKING, then something has to change.
You could revamp the website’s interface, invest in some sleek, modern design, or maybe perform a full rewrite of the website (a copy is everything!); the choices are endless.
Handy BridgeWeb Tip: Don’t confuse Exit Rates with Bounce Rates.
Exit rates reflect the proportion of website visitors who depart a particular page (even if they didn’t initially visit that individual page).
Let’s say someone arrives on the house page of your website. They then click through to your ‘About Us page. After reading the ‘About Us page, they exit. this implies the exit rate on ‘About Us’ goes to extend.
Essentially, any page on your website with a high exit rate needs addressing.
Handy BridgeWeb Tip: Check which pages on your website perform best, and compare these to your worst-performing pages. what's engaged on those pages? what's different about your best-performing pages, as compared to your worst-performing pages?
Want to be told more about lowering your bounce rate? Get in-tuned with us today!
