High bounce rates are common for many websites. It is quite challenging to impress every user into a subscriber or a customer. Losing perspective conversions is a very expensive mistake for brands. Not to worry, working on improving your bounce rate can transform your business. It can cause an increase in conversion. If your bounce rates are high, then do continue reading to learn the best practices by SEO experts everywhere to reduce bounce rates.
What is bounce rate?
Bounce rate is a figure in website analytics that show the number of users who land on your website but exit the page without any action. For example, making a purchase, clicking another page, or signing up. When bounce rates are high, they usually indicate scope for improvement. It means that the user was not convinced to stay and to act on a CTA (Call-To-Action). A user can bounce from your site by clicking the exit page, opening a new tab, typing a different URL, or due to errors.
What is a good bounce rate?
The following percentages are the general rule of thumb:
● 30 per cent-50 per cent: Good bounce rates
● 50 per cent-70 per cent: Average bounce rates
● 70 per cent-80 per cent: Poor bounce rates
● 80 per cent: Very poor bounce rates
It must be noted that if the bounce rates are below 20 per cent, usually it is a tracking error. Bounce rates are susceptible to change according to the industry and the kind of content your website has. Many SEO experts recommend not just fixing issues related to the content but also fix problems that might arise before the user has had the opportunity to visit your site. Here are some ways to boost the retention of users.
Improve page loading page
As internet users ourselves, when pages take long durations to load, we end up exiting the page. The user is not presented with an opportunity to see if he/she likes the page. 47 per cent of users expect the page to load in lesser than 2 seconds. SEO fixes to improve your loading speed can tremendously help bounce rates.
Easy to read content
Users can get frustrated and exit the page when they land on content that is huge, and without images. Formatting pages to be accessible can make the visitor feel like the content is concise, helpful and requires lesser effort. Do not fill out your white spaces, but add a couple of relevant, high-quality images. Do not include hefty intro paragraphs. Furthermore, write well-articulated and organized content. Make use of bulletin points, subheadings etc. Maintain tonality and language in accordance with your industry and competitors.
A clear Call-To-Action
It can be overwhelming for users when they are bombarded with CTAs. It does sound convenient to have various CTAs but this hinders your user from doing what they initially landed on your page for. User intent is a very important concept when it comes to including CTAs.
Think mobile
It is imperative for website developers to think of a mobile-friendly site. It is quite challenging to design huge websites. However, neglecting mobile friendliness can be counter-effective and end up costing you a lot of money. Covid-19 has impacted a user’s mentality. The number of mobile users has tremendously increased over the last few months, therefore, to stay relevant it is important to adapt mobile friendliness.
Strategic interlinking
It is a common misconception that the more the interlinks, the lesser the bounce rates. Let us visualise a page where every line there is an interlinked word, it surely gives a sleazy user experience. Excessive interlinking can look unprofessional and unappealing. It gives the users too many options and prevents them from gaining holistic knowledge on the topic. Interlink pages that are only relevant. If your blog is for 750 to 850 words, then inserting three to four interlinks is the ideal technique. For example, on this page by fintech company Zest Money, all the interlinked pages are relevant to the topic. They also appear regularly but are not continuous.
Working on your overall user experience factors such as loading speed, readability, easy navigation, and mobile-friendliness has the power to change your user’s attitude. Bounce rates require continuous tracking and strategies. While these are the top five practises, do consider doing more research to understand what more can be done. Walking the extra mile can always impress the user.