Bounce rates – What you need to know

Intro

Like any issue, you need to understand what the problem is before you can fix it! The bounce rate is when someone enters your website, be it through the home page or an internal page and leaves without viewing any further pages on your site. This is your websites bounce rate.

Where to find it

You have probably noticed that percentage on your Google Analytics report. This is your websites bounce rate. For example, if you have a 65% rate then that means that 65% of people visiting your website only view the page they have entered your website on. To combat this, you should use quality relevant content that keeps your end-users engaged. You can talk to our staff for further advice on that.

How does that effect my website

There are two schools of thought; the optimist would argue that the user has simply entered your site and found exactly what they are looking for and not required any further information. This can often be the case in a well run Google Adwords campaign specifically targeting a particular service your business has to offer. The pessimist however will argue that the visitor to your website has entered on a page and had a bad user experience with the landing page thus failing to see the need in navigating and ultimately engaging in any further pages or elements that your site has to offer.

Set targets

The most interactive and efficient sites will still bounce – That’s a fact. The level or percentage at which you are happy with is all important. For example, a website promoting a hotel will usually want to try and keep its bounce rate low, & aim for the user to interact with different pages. Also, they would understand that the customer might want view amenities they have to offer, therefore resulting in a conversion such as a form fill, phone call or an online booking.

What to do next

Establish what you want your site to achieve, and the journey users will take once they have entered. At Web & Roll the website purpose and customer journey are established during our extensive 6 step build process. Once you understand this. You will have a fair idea as to how much interaction you want your users to have with your site and can look at your bounce rate goals based on this. If you are looking to retain users and reduce bounce rate, you should consider the following:

• Relevance – Ensure that the content on your landing page is relevant to the page titles and/or your keywords/ad-groups if running a PPC campaign. For example, if a user is looking for a ‘cheap hotel’ it might be an idea to include a section in your side bar or a pop-up inviting them to “see our late deal specials offers.” This ties in with what the user is looking for and promotes site navigation.
• Learn more- Simply having a home, products and contact us page can often lead to a high bounce rate. Every consumer wants to get the best possible deal and will buy comparatively , meaning they may enter your site wanting to read more about your products and services prior to making a purchase. With this in mind have smaller sub-pages allowing the user to engage with your site and read what exactly it is that you do.
• Page links – Users want usability and to be guided to what they want with relative ease. Once you have established your websites purpose help your user navigate to your end goal with links throughout the page enabling them to easily navigate your website and achieve your sites goals.