Engaging viewers with content is the purpose of almost all websites, but a high bounce rate means that while people are visiting your site, they are not being drawn in. There could be many reasons for this, some of which are easy to fix as long as they are identified. So, what can you do to improve the bounce rate of your website?
1. Maximise Mobile Accessibility
In today’s world, the number of people who choose to access the internet through a mobile device, such as a smartphone or tablet, is constantly increasing. If your site does not provide a good experience to a mobile viewer, you are likely to have a high bounce rate as people navigate away from your site quickly from mobile devices. Ensuring your website is inviting and easy to navigate from a range of devices will help to lower your bounce rate.
2. Loading Time
Another factor to consider in the modern world is people’s demand for instant access. Just a few seconds delay in loading your page can cause frustration, which makes people less likely to engage positively with your content. Delays of longer than a few seconds may often cause people to exit from your site before it has even fully loaded. Make sure that your site loads quickly and efficiently over a variety of devices to help keep viewers absorbed in your webpage.
3. Content
Your content needs to be well formatted to make it visually appealing. Use images and subheadings to break up text into easily digested paragraphs, and allow the reader to scan for specific information. It is also important to make sure your content is relevant, and useful, or people will navigate away. Use applicable keywords, or expand your website’s visibility by working with an agency like clickintelligence.com, to increase your site traffic in a relevant manner. If you are using ads, make sure they are also appropriate and specific to either your content or your viewer.
4. Streamline Your Site
As well as formatting your pages to be inviting, you also need to make sure your site is easy to navigate. Even if the information a viewer requires is not on your homepage, they may try to look for it on other pages on your site, so you need to make this as easy as possible. It is vital that internal linking is both logical and concise, so viewers are able to navigate effortlessly to the content they require. Adding a search function is a great way to make information more accessible, and can help to keep people engaged with your website.
Another way to streamline your site is to avoid having large numbers of call to actions on one page. This can make your page look too busy, and may confuse the viewer. Instead, focus on a few specific call to actions for each page. Again, it is important to keep these highly relevant to the rest of the content.
There are other indicators of a website’s success, but bounce rate can be a good signal of how well your site is engaging your current audience. Following these tips can help to improve your bounce rates, and help you to interact with your viewers in the most positive way possible.
