Bounce Rates: What They Are and How to Reduce Them
Sandro Salsi| November 1, 2021
As mentioned in Wikipedia:
Bounce rate is an Internet marketing term used in web traffic analysis. It represents the percentage of visitors who enter the site and then leave (“bounce”) rather than continuing to view other pages within the same site. Bounce rate is calculated by counting the number of single page visits and dividing that by the total visits. It is then represented as a percentage of total visits.
Bounce rate is a measure of “stickiness.” The thinking being that an effective website will engage visitors deeper into the website. Encouraging visitors to continue with their visit. It is expressed as a percentage and represents the proportion of single page visits to total visits.
Bounce rate (%) = Visits that access only a single page (#) ÷ Total visits (#) to the website.
Is a high bounce rate always a bad thing?
From the above mentioned definition it is easy to understand that the lower our bounce rates are the better it is.
This metric is often misunderstood because it has negative connotations, but when you understand what truly constitutes a ‘bounce’ a high bounce rate is not necessarily a bad thing.
In a very simple way, a bounce is defined as a single page visit; therefore, if a visitor arrives at a page on your website, spends a few minutes reading that page, and then leaves your site, it is counted as a bounce. The trouble is that the user could find exactly what they’re looking for and still be counted as a bounce.
However, generally speaking, because search engines view high bounce rates as a bad thing we try to lower them as much as possible. See below a few tips that can help reduce your bounce rates.
Tips to help reduce your bounce rates
- Figure Out why Visitors Are Leaving So Early
- Provide A Good Overall User Experience
- Make Your Click To Action Buttons Clear And Easy To Understand
- Make Your Content More Accessible With Smart Formatting
- Attract The Right Kind Of Visitors
- Optimize Your Call Of Action Placement
- Think About Incorporating Live Chat Support
- Use Sidebar Promotions Sparingly
- Improve Your Website’s Page Load Time
- Utilize Useful Internal Linking Structure
- Make Sure Your Website Is Responsive
- Use Videos To Engage Your Audience
- Cross-Reference Bounce Rate With Time On Site
- Optimize For Mobile Devices
- Use High-Quality Images And Videos
- Make Your Site Easy To Search
- Utilize Testimonials As Much As Possible
- Use Interactive Content
- Optimize For Relevance (this One Is Big)
- Show You Are Credible And Trustworthy
- Include A Single, Clear Call To Action
- Monitor, Test, And Optimize
Having a website with a low bounce rate requires constant monitoring and maintenance. We at Genex Marketing design “Marketing Ready” Websites with incredibly low bounce rates. Make sure you give us a call to discuss your next web redesign.