In digital marketing, the bounce rate refers to the percentage of visitors who come on to your website, but instead of spending some time on it, leave immediately. Some experts also define bounce rate as the percentage of visitors who come to a page on your site and leave right away, without going to any other page.
When the bounce rate is too high, it leads to a bad ranking on search engines and hinders your website’s appearance on the first page of Search Engine Results Page (SERP). Therefore, businesses should try to keep the bounce rate as low as possible.
The bounce rate of a website can be learned with the help of Google Analytics or Google Webmaster tool. A high bounce rate indicates that the blogs, images, or videos on your site are not good enough to keep users engaged, which hinders the growth of your client database.
If you want your website to have a high ranking on Google and appear on the first page of the SERP, you need to pay attention to the bounce rate, since it is a major factor that affects the ranking.
In order to understand how much this rate should be to keep your website working successfully, let’s look at the range of rates for different types of websites.
Most successful websites: 1% – 10%
Considered good: 10% – 40%
Average: 40% – 70%
Below average: More than 70%
There are some mistakes committed by website designers and developers that lead to a high bounce rate. These are:
- When a website takes too long to load properly. Visitors do not have the time to wait for your website to load. If it takes more than a few seconds, they would rather switch to other websites.
- When a website has a single page. The visitors don’t have other pages to click on, so the bounce rate will automatically increase.
- When the quality of the content is not good enough. Content is the soul of a website. It is what keeps people engaged. So if the blogs, images or videos are not good, the visitor will easily get distracted and leave the website.
- When the linking between pages is not done properly. This can be frustrating for the visitor. He/she would rather spend more time on websites that are organized properly.
- When there are not enough Call to Action (CTA) buttons. The click-through rate of the website is low, which leads to lower rankings on search engines.
- When the design of a website is outdated. A website with up-to-date design and functions has a good impression on visitors. This increases the chances of them staying longer on the website.
- When a website is non-responsive. Nowadays, people use mobile phones and tablets more than desktops and laptops, so it is essential for websites to have a responsive design that is compatible with all types of devices.
- When the headline is not catchy. The headlines need to be attractive and engaging. Catchy content keeps the visitors engaged longer.
Now, here are a few ways in which you can reduce the bounce rate of your website:
1. Engaging Website Design
A website with alluring and attractive design lures users towards itself and keeps them interested to explore further. So you should make sure that the content, images, and videos on your website are well organized and complement the design that you have chosen. Use your creativity and make a colorful and engaging site.
The design of a website is the very first thing that people notice. Even before they read the content. Moreover, if they are engaged properly, chances are that people will remember you and come back in the future as well.
2. Low Page Loading Time
Studies have shown that people do not wait more than 2-3 seconds for a website to load. If your website takes longer than that, it is probably repelling visitors more than it is attracting them. The loading time and bounce rate are directly proportional to each other. The lesser the time to load, the lower will be the bounce rate.
A perfect site takes just 1 second to load; an above-average site takes 1-3 seconds; an average site, 3-7 seconds; and a very poor site takes more than 7 seconds.
Utilize the services of professional website designers and developers to create the perfect website.
3. Quality Content
Write content that is likely to keep your target audience engaged for a long time. It should be informative as well as interesting. Otherwise, visitors will leave your page immediately and contribute to a high bounce rate. They are looking for informative content that does not bore them.
The content on your website should also meet its guidelines. For example, the length of the content should be 800-1000 words and the writing style and language should be such that your target audience can understand it easily. The audience should not need too much effort to understand the meaning of the content.
4. Catchy Headlines
The headline of the content should be catchy enough so that the reader is intrigued and interested in reading further. Secondly, the content and headline should agree with each other. A misleading headline is the last thing you need because it will not leave a good impression on the visitor. The content must be up-to-date and in relevance to the target audience’s needs.
5. Proper Internal Linking
Pay a lot of attention to the internal linking on your website. It should be done correctly so that the visitors are not repelled from the site. So if you want to keep the bounce rate in check, make sure that the internal linking is proper. These links also help in ranking your page higher on a search engine.
Internal links are hyperlinks that guide visitors to other pages on your website. This leads to them spending more time on the website.
Here’s a tip. If you make sure that the links open in new windows, it will be extremely helpful in reducing the bounce rate and increasing traffic.
More than half of Internet users utilize smartphones, tablets, and other mobile devices to view websites and their content. People are constantly on the move and they prefer using portable devices to access information from anywhere.
Moreover, websites that have a responsive design are preferred by Google. So if your site does not have a responsive design, it will not be ranked high on Google and won’t appear on the first SERP.
Keep these points in mind and utilize them while building a website and you are good to go. The bounce rate will stay low and your site will surely rank higher on Google.