Coming to terms with high bounce rates on your website can be somewhat disheartening.
You (or your web designers) have worked tirelessly on the designs, aesthetics and the content of your web page, yet the data pulled from your Google Analytics report shows that despite all of your hard efforts, people still aren’t sticking around after the first landing page.
The question springs to mind – what is wrong with my page?
Well, it is important to note that a high bounce rate doesn’t necessarily reflect the success of your site, or say that people don’t enjoy what they see upon their first click.
In fact, many successful blogs have a high bounce rate. Users are still completely able to enjoy your content without choosing to navigate the rest of your site – take a social media post that links to one of your articles, for example.
The likelihood that a user clicks on that page, solely to consume the contents of that article and leave, is probably fairly high.
However, if you’re running a website, and promoting a certain service, then the bounce rate is a metric that you should be keeping an eye on, as ultimately, each bounce may be representing a lost opportunity or customer.
With that being said, here are 8 ways in which you can reduce your bounce rate in 2022:
1. Check your page’s response time
47% of users expect a web page to load in two seconds or less.
Several years have saw our digital landscape evolve from an easy-going pace to one that is growing competitively quick and impatient.
Within the next few years, 5G internet access is expected to implement some of the most incredible changes our digital world will have encountered in several years.
In 2022, where our attention spans are getting weaker and companies are grappling for our attention, a slowly loading web page can lose a customer before they even begin their experience on your website.
2. Ensure that the UX is positive
Have you ever been on a website where you’re eager to purchase something or access information and the website is just awful to navigate?
Annoying drop-down menus that load so slow that you end up clicking the wrong menu item, or a strange navigation system with unfamiliar labels? If it irks you, it is most definitely going to irk your customers, too.
Make sure to optimise your website for easy accessibility and navigation, and don’t drive potential customers away with something that doesn’t have to be complicated in the first place.
3. Ensure that mobile functionality is a priority
I don’t know about you, but I use my phone for just about everything, and it has come to replace much of the browsing I would usually do on my laptop.
Not only is it more accessible – whilst on the go, for example – but due to 4G, mobile page response times have greatly improved over the past few years.
Personally, though, I would argue that there is nothing more maddening than when a webpage isn’t optimised for your phone’s screen.
There have simply been too many times where I have tried to scroll or click on an icon at the side or bottom of a page that repeatedly is being cut off.
For this reason, it is imperative that you (or your web designer) design your website to account for smaller screens, too.
You don’t want to inconvenience your customer by making them resort to using their PC instead – or worse – not making a sale at all.
A dysfunctional mobile site is throwing a large amount of your potential market away.
4. Avoid pop-ups
If possible, just don’t do it. They are irritating, they disrupt the user experience, and they can drive people off of your site very quickly.
Not only this, but it can make your beloved site an absolute nightmare to navigate around. Please avoid.
5. Try implementing some calls to action (CTA)
These help to encourage potential customers to take the desired action on your web page.
These usually take form of either a text hyperlink, a button, or plain text. Encouraging site users to ‘Subscribe today, so you never miss a post’, or ‘Go to Checkout’ can reduce your bounce rate with little effort.
After all, you want the user to either return to your page or to buy, so it is worthwhile at least planting the idea in their mind.
6. Large walls of text can be intimidating
Let’s face it – as previously noted, our attention spans are getting shorter. Your page may have the answer to life and the universe, but nobody is going to read it if it is presented like James Joyce’s Ulysses, are they?
Try implementing some colour, pictures, lists (you see?), headings or videos to your content. Experiment with wordplay, sentence structure and rhythm (but only if you are comfortable) and make a bid to connect with the reader.
It breaks up text, makes it easily digestible, easier to skim, and you are more likely to keep your reader engaged and willing to consume more from your site.
7. Demonstrate to your users that your company is credible
Ever used a new site, and are enamoured by a particular product or service, but you are wary about falling victim to a scam? Most likely.
It is natural for many people to feel like this, and thus they are prompted to exit your site, in order to seek reviews elsewhere.
Something as small and silly as this can increase your bounce rate, so it may be worthwhile proving to your customers that your site is legit, without them having to click a button.
You can showcase your credibility as a company by including third party reviews, endorsements and affiliations on your landing page.
8. Ultimately, be transparent!
Transparency, self-awareness, honesty and integrity are key to sales.
Often, once something clicks in our head as a sales pitch, we disengage.
We are living in a world where it feels like faceless products are always being sold to us, and it can feel like sales are being pushed down our throats. People don’t want to feel like they’re being sold to, or any pushiness for that matter.
If your website permits, show elements from behind the scenes of your company; show who makes or provides your services; advise what materials you use, for example.
Show what separates your company from the rest.
Above all, it is important that your site accommodates and validates your user’s experience as a customer and as a human. Your customers will certainly thank you for it.
Need any more help with bounce rates, or simply getting more traffic to your site? Contact us here today!
