Top things affecting bounce rate on your website

Did your latest website audit come up with a high bounce rate on your website? That can be pretty displeasing and detrimental to your SEO.

Bounce rate refers to the percentage of website visitors that leave your site without interacting with it. That is, the user opens the page but exits without clicking any call to action or navigation button to access another page. This may happen when the visitor loses interest in the page or doesn’t find the content valuable or compelling enough to keep them longing for more.

If users keep bouncing off a page, Google’s algorithm interprets it to mean that it isn’t of high quality or relevant, so it’s pushed down the ranking scale.

If your website currently has a high bounce rate, knowing the causes will help you determine what changes need to be made.

First of all, your web design!

How good is your web design?

We’ve always said that content is king. But with great content flying everywhere, how it’s presented matters. The web design or user interface (UI) is the first thing a visitor first subconsciously notices as they land on your page. If it doesn’t appear professional, aesthetically pleasing, or organized, it will put off the visitor.

So even though the content truly is king, its horrible ‘palace’ will only discourage users as they find it difficult to access the king. Therefore, it becomes crucial to invest in a front end web development company to create a smooth browsing experience for your website visitors. Landing on a page that appears organized, clean, and works smoothly will encourage you to scroll through and read the neatly-formatted content.

That said, the following specific factors may be contributing to your website’s high bounce rate:

1. Slow loading speed

This one is a no-brainer. A website that loads slowly will cause the user to grow impatient and bounce off. You can’t wait for the world to end before each product loads. You’ll go back to the search engine results page and look for an alternative website. Expert front-end and back-end website development can fix your loading speed.

2. Too many ads

Ads can be quite displeasing, especially when they cover up relevant content and force you to click before they leave. Google even drops the ranking of web pages with too many ads as such pages offer nothing but poor user experience.

3. Complicated menu

Web pages ought to be intuitive these days to make life easy for users. An overly complicated menu will make users grow impatient as they try to figure things out. On the other hand, an extremely simple one may not include enough helpful navigation. A good UI or front-end developer will know the right balance to give users the best experience.

4. Weak call to actions

A call to action doesn’t only have to be present; it needs to be strong. For example, a compelling call to action such as “discount expires in 24 hours, don’t miss out” will work much more than “buy this product.”

5. Improper outbound link usage

Are all your links directed to other websites? If yes, then you’re encouraging the user to leave your website. One way to go around this is to code it so that external links only open in a new tab so that your page remains open and in use.

Final words

While it’s okay for an informational page to have a high bounce rate (the user doesn’t need to click after getting satisfied with the information), it’s detrimental to sales pages as it means losing a customer.

So if your web page is aimed at making sales or winning leads, it’s best to reduce the bounce rate quickly by addressing the above factors.

Author’s bio: 

Imala Green is a professional B2B content writer and digital marketing strategist at Outreach Monks. Having written across various industries and owning a few blogs herself, she has garnered immense knowledge about how SEO works. 

Green isn’t all work and no play, as she enjoys spending the evening at the local cinema every now and then.