Top 10 Ways to Effectively Reduce Bounce Rate

Launch Your Online Business in Just 7 Days

Stressing about your bounce rate being too high?


Well, don’t be too alarmed, you’re not alone.


This happens to digital marketers far more often than you’d think.


If you’ve been struggling to increase search traffic to your website, get more leads and email signups, it may be because your bounce rate is too high.


There’s a number of things that can cause a high bounce rate, but in a nutshell, your site is just not doing what it’s meant to!


It means that users who access your site are left disappointed and unsatisfied, because they couldn’t find what they were searching for.


So, before you go and fire someone, let’s first try to better understand bounce rate and learn about the 10 proven ways you can reduce it!

1. What is bounce rate?

Bounce rate is the number of users who access your site, but then click off, instead of continuing to view other pages on your site.


Bounce rate measures the visit quality.


If yours is high, it usually indicates that your landing pages aren’t doing their job.


So, the lower the bounce rate, the better!


Here’s a simple way to understand the bounce rate ranking system:

  • +80% is very poor
  • 70 – 80% is poor
  • 50 – 70% is average
  • 30 – 50% is excellent
  • 20% or below is likely to be a tracking error

Different industries usually have different bounce rates, so it’s better to compare your bounce rates with other businesses to get a more accurate measure.

compare your bounce rates

Are you wondering how you can calculate your bounce rate?


Well, Google Analytics is a great tool!

Google Analytics

Bounce rates can be found on the behavior > site content > all pages report in google analytics

You can also see the bounce rates for individual web pages in Google Analytics.


You can search by page name— /cart/ or /pricing/—or use the advanced search feature which adds exclusions, or dimensions and metrics to the search.

 Google Analytics

Google Analytics is a service which reports and tracks web traffic - calculating bounce rate is just one of the many great things it can do.


It also provides you with data that will help you reduce your bounce rate too - keep reading to find out how!


But before we get into that, let’s take a look at some of the other ways you can reduce your bounce rate.

2. How can you reduce your bounce rate?

2.1. Create easy-to-read content

easy-to-read content

It’s vital that your site’s content is simple and easy for your reader to follow.


If your font is too small or illegible, chances are the users will click off.


To ensure that your content is easy to read, follow these guidelines:

Here you can check the readability of your site’s content.

2.2. Include a captivating Call-to-Action (CTA)

Expert Content

Your business’ CTA is where you motivate your audience to take real steps toward becoming a customer or client.


It can be the determining factor between a lead and a conversion.


CTAs are also great for your users.


A lot of users depend on CTAs to tell them what the next step is once they’ve finished reading your website.


A call-to-action button must be such that it grabs users' attention and gives them a chance to contact companies easily for any issues.


A few of the examples of CTA buttons are "Call us now!", "Book a demo," etc. Implementing these CTA buttons results in gaining a competitive edge among other competitors, closing more sales, and increasing overall ROI.


CTA buttons tell users exactly what to do, and they are confused and disappointed when they don’t see one.


These are some of the most common types of CTA:

  • ‘Fill-in’ forms
  • Subscription sign-ups
  • “Add to cart”/buy buttons
  • “Try it Now”
  • Social media share buttons
  • An Online Chat button
  • “Read More”

There’s a misconception that there should only be one CTA per page. That’s simply not true.


The more CTAs there are on a page, the greater chance of conversions.


The same applies to having CTAs on every page.


Now, where’s the best spot to place a CTA?

best spot to place a CTA

Here is the best-to-worst CTA placement ranking.


It’s always advised to have your CTA placed above the fold of your website, as this is the best way to get your user’s attention.


Netflix has a great example.

Netflix

Netflix has used a perfect CTA.

  • It's simple and concise, and is action and benefit-oriented - Join Free for a Month
  • t's easy to spot and not hidden by any other design, or CTAs.
  • It's placed above the fold and is instantly seen by users.
  • Its design stands out from the rest of the page design.

2.3. Boost your site speed

Boost your site speed

According to Strangeloop,even just a one-second delay can cost your business.


You can lose out on up to 7% of sales, 11% fewer page views, and a big 16% decrease in customer satisfaction.


This is something you can’t afford.


Up to 47% of users expect websites to load in two seconds or less, and 40% of users will click off a page that takes three seconds or longer.


What’s even scarier, is that up to 79% of users said they would never return to a website that had performed poorly.


So, getting a second chance is rare!


Test your site’s speed here.


Some ways to increase website speed include:

  • Enabling compression: Using Gzip to reduce the size of your HTML, CSS and Javascript files larger than 150 bytes.
  • Using a Content Delivery Network (CND): CDNs function by hosting your website’s files across a large network of servers across the world. So, when a user visits your website from England, they will be downloading files from the server closest to them. Using a CDN is one of the best ways to boost your website speed, and will often save 60% bandwidth and halve the number of requests your site makes. Cloudflareis a great CND.
  • Fixing broken links: broken links affect bandwidth and also cause users to leave your site. Fixing all your site’s broken links can result in the average pages visited by users from 1.4 to 1.85 pages/visit, and can also show a noticeable decrease in bounce rate. We’d recommend you checking out the following free tools, Google Search Central, Ahrefs, and Screaming Frog SEO Spider.

2.4. Interlink

Interlink

Adding internal links is a great way to ensure that the users stay on your website.


Advantages of interlinking include:

  • Connecting web pages and building authority: this gives Google the idea of your website structure, allowing it to establish a hierarchy. This then enables you to give the most important pages more link values than other pages.
  • Improving user experience and usability: It becomes so much easier for the users to find other pages, and they can just click on a link to get more information on a topic, instead of having to open another tab and search for it themselves.

Your anchor texts (the clickable text with the internal link) need to point to content that is relevant and related, and will interest your readers.


Make sure that these pages open in a new tab, otherwise the user may lose their place on the original page, get frustrated, and then exit your site.

2.5. Optimize for easy mobile use

Research

It’s a pretty well-known fact that tons of people use their mobiles when they are surfing the web.


It’s simple, easy and not everyone has access to a computer.


In 2017, mobiles were the most common source of web traffic worldwide with an astonishing amount of 50.3%.


So, it’s time to stop thinking that mobile users are only a portion of your audience, but actually a majority!


According to Semrush, mobile-friendly websites are an absolute necessity in the digital marketing world since 2016.


If your site has a really difficult, and awkward mobile layout - you’re going to be losing out by gaining on your bounce rates.


There are big advantages to optimizing your site as mobile-friendly.


Google has informed us all that ‘mobile-friendliness’ is a big ranking factor of websites.


They’ve also created a lengthy list of criteria to determine just how mobile-friendly a website is, these include:

  • How well the fonts scale for readability on small screens
  • Page loading time
  • Whether or not the website uses Flash (as this doesn’t work well on mobiles)
  • The usability and spacing of the touch elements
Mobile front view

It is also a lot easier for users to connect with your website, it allows you to add CTAs such as “Call us now!” button.


And it works! Solitaired reduced their bounce rate from 34% to 30% by optimizing their website for mobile.


This will help potential customers to quickly get hold of your business, without any hassle.


Overall, mobile optimization will improve (potential) customer satisfaction by making your website more accessible.


It will also give users the impression that you care about your customers and want them to have the best experience possible.


Systeme.io offers a great solution to all your site’s concerns with mobile optimization.


You can easily set up a mobile version of your site using systeme.io by selecting the mobile version in our editor.

systeme.io's editor

After you’ve selected the mobile version, you'll be able to view the site exactly how it would appear on a mobile

systeme.io's editor

How great is that?


Some other alternatives include Squarespace and WordPress.

mobile website builder tools

Check out these mobile website builders and see which is best suited for your website, according to your budget and business model.


With such a variety of options, you’re sure to find the right one just for you.

2.6. Create simple site navigation

create simple site navigation

Every website has navigation of some sort, but not every website has good navigation.


Your website’s navigation is extremely important, and can ultimately be a making/breaking factor.


Good website navigation means that users can easily identify exactly what they’re looking for, without having to become frustrated after a lengthy search.


Poor website navigation will drive users away, as it confuses and frustrates them - which is the perfect way to ensure you lose out on potential customers.


So, how can you ensure that your website has good navigation?

  • Use clickable links - if you are using various categorical divisions in your navigation, all of the heading elements should be clickable links.
  • Break up categories - if your website has various sections, categories, or sub-categories, they must be clearly and visually shown. The category headings must always be separated from the sub-categories.
  • Provide every clickable image with ALT text - this is very important for images that link to other webpages, although it applies to all images. Include the ALT attribute with a descriptive text. This will ensure that users know what the link is, irrespective of how they are viewing your website.
  • Keep it consistent - your pages should all be in the same format. If your navigation is always changing from each page, users will need to reorient themselves and this is both time-consuming and annoying.
  • Optimize your search result feature - when using an in-site search feature, the search results page must always produce relevant results. It should compensate for incorrect spelling, show related items, and display similar products you offer. You should never produce a search result as “no products found.”
  • Create accurate navigation titles - users should have a general idea of what they can find on a page even before clicking on it, regardless of whether it’s a main navigation, or an internal text link. Accurately describe the linked page so that users will know what to expect.

2.7. Add translations to your site

Imagine how frustrating it would be to click on a website, that offers exactly what you are looking for, but doesn’t offer the content in your language.


This unfortunately happens far too often, for something that can so easily be avoided.


You can use WMPL to translate your site into many different languages.

WMPL

It is important that you cater correctly.


If your site is targeted at Canadians who have two official languages, you need to offer both French and English.

  • By satisfying the user’s language demands, you will keep them on the page longer, reducing bounce rate and increasing chances of conversion.
  • By providing translations on your website, you will be able to gain international customers.
  • You will stand out from your competitors who don’t offer translations.
  • Your website will benefit from SEO. Translated content is filled with SEO-rich keywords which help tremendously with discovery, when users search in their preferred languages.
  • It will improve your user experience if users can easily read your site’s content in their preferred language.

Look at your website’s statistics, and identify where most of your users are from, and then make sure your website is providing your content in those specific languages.


Additionally, it is a good idea to add languages that are most widely spoken throughout the globe, such as Spanish, Mandarin, Arabic, etc.

2.8. Showcase your business’ credibility

Showcase your business’ credibility

Don’t even give people a chance to be skeptical about your business.


It’s always advised to publish positive testimonials on your website, as well as any well-known customers/clients.


Publish your customers’ testimonials on your homepage, as this is the page that gets the most views.


This is a way to ensure that users will be seeing them, even if they don’t browse further.


After all, first impressions matter, right?


According to Fan & Fuel (2016), up to 94% of online customers will read reviews before they make any purchase.


In 2017, customers were observed to read about seven reviews before they would trust a business.


So, placing the testimonials by your product/services list, is also a great way to reinforce their trust in your business and its ability to deliver high-quality.


Small Business Trends (2017) shows 83% of job seekers use reviews to support their decisions on which companies to apply to.

testimonials

Reviews not only have the power to influence consumer decisions but can strengthen a company’s credibility.


Reviews have the power to gain customer trust, and they encourage people to interact

with the company.


This way, users can immediately recognize your business as trustworthy and reliable.


Customer interaction ultimately leads to improved profits for businesses.

2.9. Use an exit-intent pop-up

pop-up

Interviewing can be a very time consuming process.


Think about it. Try to take into account all the time you’ll spend matching schedules and setting up questions. It’s guaranteed to take a while.


With that said, you’ll have to make sure you pick the right candidates to get the most out of your time.


“I think the main point is, you want to be realistic,” Fio said.


“If I want to write a piece about management, Michelle Obama is not going to say yes to me. I need to find somebody who's likely to say yes to my request and would add some valuable insight.”


Here are three things to keep in mind when identifying potential interviewees:

  • Improved conversion rates: the best pop-ups can have conversion rates ranging between 10% to 60% if you optimize them effectively.
  • Email list growth: asking for a user’s email address in pop-ups can encourage 4% to 7% of your site visitors to join your email list. This means two new email addresses for every 100 site visitors.

Here are a couple of ways that websites can determine whether a user is going to leave their page:

  • The user’s activity on the page
  • How long the user is idle
  • The user’s previous website activity and history
  • How far a user scrolls down through their website
  • Where a user moves their cursor

There are also different kinds of exit-intent pop-up:

  • Offering a coupon or discount
  • Asking users to fill in a survey
  • Providing a free eBook or guide
  • Encouraging visitors to read reviews or watch testimonials
  • Directing users to a new website tool
  • Presenting them with items in their cart

The correct type of exit-intent pop-up will depend on your business’ goals.

2.10. Use Google Analytics

Google Analytics logo

Since almost all successful businesses have an online presence through websites or social media, it’s so important to keep track of your online progress.


Regardless of whether your business is an informative blog or an eCommerce website, understanding the behavior of your users is always super beneficial.


You need to know:

  • How long users are staying on your website
  • Which pages users are visiting on your website

Google Analytics can provide a thorough, detailed report of the pages.


It can determine:

  • The conversion value that each social platform is bringing
  • The amount of traffic coming from social referrals
  • How many users are talking about your business
  • The age of the users
  • The gender of the users
  • The devices they are using to access your website
  • The location of the users

With this report, you will then be able to determine what is, and what isn’t working with your current marketing methods.

3. Conclusion

Bounce rate has such an important role in determining how well your website ranks on Google.


So, it’s crucial for you to identify the reasons for an increasingly high percentage, and to make the necessary changes.


Get started by making your content easy to read, adding translations, or optimizing for mobile use, and see how it will positively affect your bounce rate.


There’s plenty of tools available to you, check them out and reduce your bounce rate with their tips and tricks.


It’s really that simple!

Other resources about SEO that might interest you:

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