We’ve put together 15 verified ways to reduce your bounce rate and help turn visitors into sales opportunities, whilst improving your site’s performance so that Google becomes your friend.
1) Make Site Search Easy
Some websites overlook adding a search functionality to their website or if they have one, make it difficult to find.
If a visitor is looking for something specific that they cannot find on a page, this is an extremely useful way they can find it instead of possibly leaving the page or site entirely.
2) Lookout For Page Load Time
When a user has to pause for an excessive amount of time for a page to load, it creates an incredibly poor user experience. We’re talking 3+ seconds.
You spend an incredibly long time creating an amazing piece of content but it all goes to waste if a visitor cannot even see it instantly.
Use tools like GTmetrix to test and analyse your site’s speed and performance.
3) Provide Easy Navigation
Navigation should be effortless for everyone who lands on your website.
When a visitor gets to a site, they need a clear direction of where to go and where your content lives. If this is not straightforward and clear, most people will bounce!
4) Easy To Read Webpages
Make sure the content on your webpage is clear and well-formatted.
This is essential from a user experience standpoint, as no one wants to see messy and disorganised text.
When this happens, users will usually skip over important content.
Instead, make your content into small blocks of text, including bullet points and image or video content. Users will have a much easier time understanding the content and sharing it with others.
5) Know How to Target Your Audience
Relevant content should be used across the site, and the correct users should be targeted.
Identify YOUR audience and create niche content around that.
Don’t make your target audience too broad, as there is a greater chance of getting users who are not looking for what your site features.
Focusing on a specific audience of users ensures you are finding the right people who want to read the content on your site.
Then, these users will spend more time on your site as they are more engaged with the content you are offering.
6) Get Your Links to Open On A New Tab
When creating an internal linking strategy and linking to other pages on a site, it is crucial to make sure those links open in a tab.
This will help increase the time a user spends on your site as they will have multiple pages open at once.
7) Avoid Popups
Users do not like popups that prevent them from getting to the content they want to see.
Allowing them to scroll and enjoy the content first is a better user experience.
If you can, avoid using popups.
8) Stay Away From Distracting Ads
Like avoiding popups, distracting ads should be stayed clear from as well.
A horizontal rectangular ad at the top of your webpage generally performs better than others.
Similar to popups Larger adverts that stop users from reading the content can be a poor user experience.
9) A Good Use of Keywords
Use Keywords that are fitting for the content topic.
Good use of relevant sentences, words, headings and paragraphs will help to communicate to Google what the page is about.
Stay on topic!
The more accurate the webpage is to the topic, the more likely the users Google sends to the page will also be on-topic. This means a reduced bounce rate.
10) Utilize Analytics & Tools
There are lots of tools to help you when tracking user engagement.
Google Analytics can track:
- Pages per session.
- Time on site.
- Most frequently and least frequently visited pages.
- Bounce rate.
- And lots more!
11) Post New Content Often
Creating new content frequently offers users a wider variety of topics to explore. This will make users stay on your site longer, making your bounce rate low.
12) Try and Use An Array of Content
Visitors will find your site more engaging if you are using multiple forms of content.
Some kinds of video content is more effective and efficient than paragraphs of text.
High-quality images can also be used to improve communication and also reduce bounce rates.
13) Concentrate on a Great Design
A good website design is a signal of quality and builds trust with a user.
Visitors will not spend time on a site that is unpleasant, unattractive or they have difficulty using.
Its not just about how it looks, It’s about creating a functional and pleasant overall website experience.
14) Think How It Would Look On A Mobile
Mobile users seem to have less patience than desktop users.
It is essential that when designing your site you also think about how it would look on a mobile.
15) Show Off Your Credibility
A trustworthy site is important to users.
As soon as users go to your site they will be examining the content and assessing how reliable it seems.
As a way to help build credibility and increase trust with visitors, it is a good idea to include testimonials from clients or users.