What is a Bounce Rate Anyway?
Simply put, a bounce rate is the percentage of visits in which a user views one page of your website and then leaves. The fewer pages of your site they see, the less likely they are to convert to paying customers. So, you want as low of a rate as you can get. Keep reading to find tips that will help you get there:
Bounce Rate Grading Scale
A+ <25%
B 26-40%
C 41-55%
D 56-70%
F >70%
Decrease Page Load Times
The bounce rate’s version of an arms race can be found in page load times. Culture has dictated that all of us are busy people, or at least we should be. Therefore, we’re unable and unwilling to wait out long page loads. As internet speeds continue to increase and average page load times shorten, users grow more and more sensitive to the amount of time it takes for a page to load. But don’t worry, you can see where your website stacks up and decrease your load times without loading on website features. In fact, you could even see the overall cost for your website maintenance go down.
Create Multiple Landing Pages for High-Value Keyword Phrases
It’s likely you have just a few products and services that account for 80 percent of your revenues. These make up your high-value keywords. With keywords this valuable, it makes sense to create several pages of information that mention them and bring in your traffic. There, you can point to pages where visitors can get more information. By giving visitors a clear path to pages they might be interested in, you’re naturally and rapidly increasing the likelihood that they will stay on your site after viewing the first page, which then creates more opportunities to convert visitors into customers.
Improve Readability
If users are having a hard time reading the information on your website, they’re more likely to leave. But readability comes in many different forms:
- Contrast — This requires a rudimentary understanding of brand color theory, but the higher the contrast between the font and its background, the more easily read the text is. Black and white have the highest contrast against each other, green and purple have significantly less, and two shades of the same color have the least contrast.
- Whitespace — Whitespace literally refers to how much blank space is on a page at any given time. The more whitespace there is, the easier it is to read. Think of the difference between a headline and fine print. Not only is the font size larger, but how crowded the space is contributes to readability as well.
- Reading Level — Did you know the average American reads at about a 4th grade level? Crazy, right? Even CEOs have an average reading level of about 6th grade. So, keep your sentences relatively short and your vocabulary within reason. If you want to check, you can get a Flesch Kincaid readability score on any Word document!
Protect User Experience
Nothing can turn away a user more quickly than when they’re not having a good time. So, it’s a good idea to avoid user experiences that will frustrate them. This means steering clear of pop ups, screen-covering ads, steps or numbering systems that don’t follow an easily-recognized pattern, complex cancellation routines, and music or videos with sound that play automatically. For many of these situations, there are much more user-friendly options available, like hello bars or increased whitespace. These options allow you to give your users all the information they need without interruption that may lead to a bounce.
Keep Them Coming with Regular Blog Content
Remember how we just said you should create multiple landing pages for your keywords? A branded blog is a great tool to do that with. Each entry is an opportunity to target one or several important keywords, and the option to link to each other and your service pages is huge. Not only that. It gives visitors a valuable reason to check back in regularly if you’re going to keep giving them quality info.
So, how does your bounce rate stack up? If it’s not looking as good as you expected, that could be an indicator that you have opportunities for growth with brand management services. Getting an expert to get you started can create more awareness of your service offerings and improve your customer relationships.
