It may be hard to come to terms with the idea that your website has a high bounce rate, but it is a necessary step to solving any problems and improving your business. Even if you are happy with the look and design of your website, the analytics may tell a different story. Worried about how high your current website’s bounce rate is? Here are Bailey Creative’s top 10 tips for reducing this metric and retaining your website visitors’ attention.
Tip #1: Optimize Page Speed
Nothing is worse than the dreaded spinning wheel of death. Your bounce rate may be high, not because of the quality of your content, but because users click off before the content even has a chance to load. It doesn’t matter how good or bad a page’s content is if a user can’t access it. It’s quite simple: make your site faster, and your bounce rate is likely to go down.
Tip #2: Answer Questions
You want to put yourself in the shoes of anyone clicking on your website and consider if you are satisfying their searches. What keywords or phrases are you targeting and why would people be searching for them? Can they find the answer to their questions on your website? Rejig your content to satisfy the intent of your possible site visitors. You want to make sure your website is highly relevant to the questions your visitors are asking.
Tip #3: Link to Internal Content
Do this with purpose and selectivity. It is important to link to other content on your website, but only if this content will be relevant and of interest to your visitors. Overdoing it with links can make your website feel cheap, sleazy, and full of pushy ads. Do not add a link to every sentence or even every other sentence. This will often confuse and overwhelm your visitors plus it will likely decrease the chance that these visitors will actually click on an internal link.
Tip #4: Create an Engaging Format
No one wants to click on a website to find a wall of text. This will only intimidate and scare away your visitors. Add videos, images, and different media throughout your text to keep people engaged. Make sure your content is easy to read and accessible by using white space to help visitors skim or skip to the info they are after. If people can’t find what they are looking for on your website quickly then they will click off and find it elsewhere.
Tip #5: Use Sidebars Purposefully
Speaking of format, you should be using your website’s sidebars as a way to add more substance to your content. You don’t want to cram your sidebars with ads for your services or products. Instead include information that will be of additional value to your visitors, like related blog posts, testimonials, or awards. Remember not to overdo this though because it will overwhelm your visitors and tempt them to bounce off your website.
Tip #6: Include Smart Calls to Action
Again, do not overload your website with calls to action to avoid coming off as pushy and cheap. Include keywords in your calls to action and use them sparingly so that you do not overwhelm or confuse your readers. We often recommend our clients stick to one single call per webpage. Think about what specific action you want visitors to take as they consume your content and make it crystal-clear and easy to find.
Tip #7: Reduce Dead Clicks
Also known as rage clicks, dead clicks are when people click on an aspect of your website thinking it is a button or link, but it is not. This can be infuriating for your website visitors. You can use heat tracking software to determine if your website is confusing people and then resolve the problem. If you fix your website’s dead clicks then people are more likely to click on elements that are actually clickable.
Tip #8: Make It Searchable
Providing your visitors with the option to search your website is extremely important for a lower bounce rate. If someone searches your website instead of using a search engine, then you have engaged them. Make this functionality clean, obvious, and simple so that users can find exactly what they are looking for on your website without having to go looking somewhere else. Making your site searchable means people can find what they are looking for instead of what you think they are looking for.
Tip #9: Optimize for Mobile
Always make sure your website is optimized for the ever-growing number of mobile users out there. If your website does not look good, loads slowly, or does not work on mobile devices then you are practically inviting people to click off and onto your competitors’ websites. At Bailey Creative, we actually design our websites on mobile first and then adapt them to the desktop version to make absolutely sure it will work for this large group of users.
Tip #10: Design for Easy Navigation
Put in the simplest of terms, you want to make your website as simple and easy to navigate as possible. If you make your visitors do too much work to find what they are after, they will inevitably click off and find this information elsewhere. You want to put yourself in the shoes of your potential visitors and set up your menus that will make the most sense to them. Your navigation should be immediately understandable and offer users the seamless ability to move from one page to another.
We’re Here to Help!
Not sure how to find your bounce rate? Worried about how high it is currently? We’re here to help answer any of your questions and get you on the right path to a lower bounce rate! Our website design and development services will help you create or update your website so that it separates you from your competitors and keeps your consumers’ attention. Fill out our contact form, give us a call at (519) 837-8333 or send us an email at info@baileycreative.ca to get started!
Want more digital marketing advice, tips & tricks, articles, and facts? Don’t forget to sign up for our monthly Digital Digest newsletter to stay up to date on our services and ideas! As a digital marketing agency, we’re here to answer any questions you may have and to help your business grow online to reach new consumers. Contact us if you’re ready to improve your online channels and build your brand’s digital marketing potential.
10 Tips to Reduce Your Bounce Rate
It may be hard to come to terms with the idea that your website has a high bounce rate, but it is a necessary step to solving any problems and improving your business. Even if you are happy with the look and design of your website, the analytics may tell a different story. Worried about how high your current website’s bounce rate is? Here are Bailey Creative’s top 10 tips for reducing this metric and retaining your website visitors’ attention.
Tip #1: Optimize Page Speed
Nothing is worse than the dreaded spinning wheel of death. Your bounce rate may be high, not because of the quality of your content, but because users click off before the content even has a chance to load. It doesn’t matter how good or bad a page’s content is if a user can’t access it. It’s quite simple: make your site faster, and your bounce rate is likely to go down.
Tip #2: Answer Questions
You want to put yourself in the shoes of anyone clicking on your website and consider if you are satisfying their searches. What keywords or phrases are you targeting and why would people be searching for them? Can they find the answer to their questions on your website? Rejig your content to satisfy the intent of your possible site visitors. You want to make sure your website is highly relevant to the questions your visitors are asking.
Tip #3: Link to Internal Content
Do this with purpose and selectivity. It is important to link to other content on your website, but only if this content will be relevant and of interest to your visitors. Overdoing it with links can make your website feel cheap, sleazy, and full of pushy ads. Do not add a link to every sentence or even every other sentence. This will often confuse and overwhelm your visitors plus it will likely decrease the chance that these visitors will actually click on an internal link.
Tip #4: Create an Engaging Format
No one wants to click on a website to find a wall of text. This will only intimidate and scare away your visitors. Add videos, images, and different media throughout your text to keep people engaged. Make sure your content is easy to read and accessible by using white space to help visitors skim or skip to the info they are after. If people can’t find what they are looking for on your website quickly then they will click off and find it elsewhere.
Tip #5: Use Sidebars Purposefully
Speaking of format, you should be using your website’s sidebars as a way to add more substance to your content. You don’t want to cram your sidebars with ads for your services or products. Instead include information that will be of additional value to your visitors, like related blog posts, testimonials, or awards. Remember not to overdo this though because it will overwhelm your visitors and tempt them to bounce off your website.
Tip #6: Include Smart Calls to Action
Again, do not overload your website with calls to action to avoid coming off as pushy and cheap. Include keywords in your calls to action and use them sparingly so that you do not overwhelm or confuse your readers. We often recommend our clients stick to one single call per webpage. Think about what specific action you want visitors to take as they consume your content and make it crystal-clear and easy to find.
Tip #7: Reduce Dead Clicks
Also known as rage clicks, dead clicks are when people click on an aspect of your website thinking it is a button or link, but it is not. This can be infuriating for your website visitors. You can use heat tracking software to determine if your website is confusing people and then resolve the problem. If you fix your website’s dead clicks then people are more likely to click on elements that are actually clickable.
Tip #8: Make It Searchable
Providing your visitors with the option to search your website is extremely important for a lower bounce rate. If someone searches your website instead of using a search engine, then you have engaged them. Make this functionality clean, obvious, and simple so that users can find exactly what they are looking for on your website without having to go looking somewhere else. Making your site searchable means people can find what they are looking for instead of what you think they are looking for.
Tip #9: Optimize for Mobile
Always make sure your website is optimized for the ever-growing number of mobile users out there. If your website does not look good, loads slowly, or does not work on mobile devices then you are practically inviting people to click off and onto your competitors’ websites. At Bailey Creative, we actually design our websites on mobile first and then adapt them to the desktop version to make absolutely sure it will work for this large group of users.
Tip #10: Design for Easy Navigation
Put in the simplest of terms, you want to make your website as simple and easy to navigate as possible. If you make your visitors do too much work to find what they are after, they will inevitably click off and find this information elsewhere. You want to put yourself in the shoes of your potential visitors and set up your menus that will make the most sense to them. Your navigation should be immediately understandable and offer users the seamless ability to move from one page to another.
We’re Here to Help!
Not sure how to find your bounce rate? Worried about how high it is currently? We’re here to help answer any of your questions and get you on the right path to a lower bounce rate! Our website design and development services will help you create or update your website so that it separates you from your competitors and keeps your consumers’ attention. Fill out our contact form, give us a call at (519) 837-8333 or send us an email at info@baileycreative.ca to get started!
Want more digital marketing advice, tips & tricks, articles, and facts? Don’t forget to sign up for our monthly Digital Digest newsletter to stay up to date on our services and ideas! As a digital marketing agency, we’re here to answer any questions you may have and to help your business grow online to reach new consumers. Contact us if you’re ready to improve your online channels and build your brand’s digital marketing potential.
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