Cut Your Bounce Rate and Increase Profits
Tips on reducing bounces and website exits
Reducing bounce rates should be a primary task of anyone involved in website development. Every percentage point in bounce rate reduction can represent hundreds or thousands of people who stayed on the site a little longer, and got more exposure to your message or value proposition. In the world of Search Engine Optimization, a high bounce rate can damage your search engine rankings. The quickest way to reduce your bounce rate is to look at your website and ask yourself if there is anything that would either turn people off or make them leave the site. Hard to read fonts, bad grammar, confusing site configuration, and difficult navigation may keep visitors from going on to the next page. A poor site design may reduce customer confidence or trust in the website. Always ask yourself, “Would I buy a product from this website?” and don’t be afraid to be overly critical or your own site. A good site should answer most of a client’s major questions in a few seconds. Having credit card, PayPal, and HackerSafe logos visible above the fold on a site can increase confidence, reduce bounces, and increase your conversion rate. If you are targeting a certain keyword for SEO or PPC, make sure that keyword is very prominent in the text, or the main image of the site is relevant to the keyword. For instance, if you are selling antique rugs, you should show pictures of the rugs and have text like “Antique Carpets & Persian Rugs” which not only matches the customer’s expectation, but also indicates the most common type of product in that category.
Want to find out some useful information? In Google Analytics, or another platform, check to see how your bounce rate varies by web browser type, screen size, and internet connection speed. If a large percentage of your traffic comes from any one of these categories, and the bounce rate is higher, you can become the hero of your marketing department just by getting the bounce rate lowered in one of these areas!
Any opportunity to reduce your website’s bounce rate, and lower the number of bounces on landing pages, is an opportunity to make money and gain customers. From the paid search and sponsored traffic side, lower bounce rates mean a higher ROI on you SEM campaign, lower cost per conversion, and more money left over for additional marketing initiatives. They also mean that you are going to get more sales leads, and give your salespeople a bigger batch of leads to pick through. Although there is no such thing as a zero percent bounce rate, you can definitely take a bite out of your bounces.
Notes and Special Information
Special note: Make sure to keep track of your bounce rate reduction so you can make adjustments over time.