Ways to Minimize Bounce Rate of Your Website

Typically, a high bounce rate means bad news for a lot of marketers. A high bounce rate is usually equated with low engagement and thus, non-conversion. Marketing logic dictates that you want your visitors to stay longer on your website, browse through different pages, really digest your content and ultimately, respond to your call to action.

While the factors that affect bounce rate differ site from site, outlined here are a few tips which you can implement to bring down your site’s bounce rate to the minimum. Again, this is not to claim that all these tips will work magic on your site. This is just a simple guideline and it is still up to you to examine your analytics data and drill down on the real source of your site’s skyrocketing bounce rate.

Don’t Frustrate Your Visitors with Poor Navigation

If your site visitors can’t find what they need on your site or if your site navigation seems cumbersome on the first glance, there’s no way that they will stay on your site and browse. It is much easier and more efficient for them to just close your site and turn to your competitors. Make sure that your site is user-friendly and easy to navigate by utilizing tools such as navigation bars, a search bar and breadcrumbs just to name a few.

Put Your Best Foot Forward

Ever heard of the term “dress to impress?” The same aesthetic principle applies to web designs. With hundreds of similar websites competing for the attention of the same audience, sloppy designs just won’t cut it. And it’s really not just about being visually attractive. It’s about internet users looking for immersive and pleasurable browsing experience.

Make sure you know your target audience and use graphical elements in your design that appeals to their demographic and psychographic. Readability is also a key factor so make sure you use typography appropriately and creatively.

They Want it Fast

Many economists say that the rarest commodity in the modern world is time. That being said, internet visitors who are paying money for ultra-high speed internet subscription will not tolerate sites which are slow to load. In the real world, 10 seconds might sound short but this is already considered extremely slow in terms of page load time. There’s no way that you can convert site visitors into actual paying customers if it takes ages for your site to load. Further, page load time is also a ranking factor so it’s not only your bounce rate that is affected, it’s your site’s overall SEO potential.

Leverage on Intent

When an internet user runs a query on Google, he or she is driven by a specific motivation – whether it’s finding an answer to a question, a guide to doing a specific task or resolving a problem. One reason that a site might experience high bounce rate is because the content of the site does not satisfy this user intent.

To do this, make sure that all your messages are tied together – from the meta description that convinces a user to go to your site and the landing page copy. This also means that you have to conduct a thorough research on your target audience’s motivations.

Tailor Fit for the Mobile Audience

Now, this is something that is not for everyone. Of course, the easiest solution in order to deliver great browsing experience to mobile internet users is by using responsive website design. However, you can take this a bit further by creating a dedicated mobile site. There are subtle nuances that distinguish the browsing behaviors when people are using their desktops as opposed to when they are using their laptops. Creating tailor fit content execution made for the mobile browsers can bring down your bounce rate by making your site more suited for those who are on-the –go.

There are other things you can do to minimize your bounce rate, but as mentioned, before performing any action, you have to understand first what’s causing your visitors to leave your site immediately causing you not to get the results you want. Find the source of the problem and act on it.