How to Reduce Bounce Rate: 4 Doable Steps

When it comes to running a website, there are a few things nobody wants, like viruses, hackers, and a high bounce rate. A bounce rate is the measurement of how many visitors go to the website and click off without exploring more than one page.

For business owners, this can be frustrating, because a bounce rate is a quick and easy way to gauge how much potential business the company is missing out on. This leaves many CEO’s and workers alike wondering how to reduce their bounce rate.

The good news is that reducing bounce rate isn’t all that difficult. In fact, it can be done in four steps, which will be outlined more fully below.

How Accurate is Bounce Rate?

Truth be told, the usefulness of bounce rate is questionable at best. That isn’t to say that companies shouldn’t use it, because website monitoring boasts one very serious flaw.

There isn’t really a good way to measure it. Many use bounce rate to see how many people continue further into the website after seeing the first page. Others use a measurement known as “dwell time,” which tries to account for the effectiveness of visitor traffic by measuring how long perspective customers stay on the site. Still, others rely on how far the visitor scrolls down.

There are potential issues with all of these methods. Since bounce rate doesn’t always measure how long someone was on the site, it can’t necessarily tell when somebody closely examined a whole page and then moved on.

Also, it’s difficult to measure bounce rate because there isn’t much of a standard. There are percentages of how many are clicking away after the home page, but there isn’t necessarily an agreement on how much is tolerable. Oftentimes, it differs based on the specifics of the company in question.

Dwell time doesn’t account for people spending a lot of time on a page because A. they can’t get off it, B. they set it aside in a tab to look at later, and C. It opened in a separate window and the customer didn’t notice.

Scrolling doesn’t help because there’s always a possibility that the customer is simply chasing a link at the bottom of the screen.

In summary, no, a bounce rate isn’t all that trustworthy, but neither is anything else. It mostly has to do with personal preference of the CEO and what method they most trust.

1. Fast and Simple

Nobody likes slow internet, but businesses hate it. That’s because the longer a customer has to wait for a page to load, the more likely they are to get bored and go do something else.

Loading issues aren’t the only thing that can instantly kill an online business. For a page to gain and retain visitors, it needs to be fairly easy to read and navigate.

This is not to say that long articles are a bad idea, but the smartest writers and web designers will put in breaks of some kind, such as short paragraphs and straightforward outlining.

2. Social Media

Things have changed a lot in the past few decades. Roughly ten years after the public was introduced to the internet came the advent of social media.

In order to stay modern and connected to their audiences, many companies, both large and small, have taken to Twitter, Facebook, and a few other platforms. Even so, it’s not necessarily enough to just have a social media account.

It has to be updated regularly, and the company should feel free to get creative. People sympathize more with a company who has fun with their social media accounts.

In fact, it’s all too common for a potential customer to click away because, even if they like the site, not all the information is there.

There’s no email list to get on, no social media to follow, and no other way to stay up to date with the company and the services they offer. This also means they may not get any answers to questions they may have.

3. Call to Action

A call to action can come in many forms, but it always encourages the viewer to do something. Usually, this is an offer for a free trial or the location of a branch nearby or anything else that would make it easier to use the service once.

Ideally, the call to action should be clear, but not overwhelming. A free trial, for instance, asks nothing out of the client.

They have a chance to get familiar with the product at no cost to them. Pointing out the location of a branch also demands nothing out of the customer. It simply lets them know that the opportunity is there.

4. How to Reduce Bounce Rate with a Blog

A method that a lot of companies are using to attract and retain customers is blogging. The blog could be about any number of things, but successful companies relate it back to their business.

For instance, a company that sells tools and toolboxes might dedicate their blogs to carpentry and give their readers tips on room design and teach them how to build wooden furniture.

Primarily, though, the blog has to be entertaining and informative. If the customer doesn’t trust the company to give them accurate information in a manner that’s easy to read, they aren’t likely to come back.

Bounce Rate and How to Keep it Low

High bounce rate has been the downfall of all too many online businesses, and it’s something many others still struggle with. Naturally, one of the biggest questions people have is how to reduce bounce rate.

There are countless ways to deal with bounce rate, only a few of which could be discussed in this article. Those who wish to learn more about bounce rate and how to deal with it are encouraged to do further research.

For more information about online advertising, please visit istats.com. Anybody can use online advertising to help their business. It can help doctors attract patients. There are even articles that can help businesses to design their websites effectively and on a budget.