Decreasing the bounce rate Google Analytics can be done in several ways. Here are some tips to optimize the site and reduce bounce rates.
How to Decrease Bounce Rates?
One of the biggest problems that most website owners face is high bounce rates. This rate is defined as the percentage of visitors that visit only one page on a website. When visitors are only checking out one page and ditching your site, it’s a surefire indication that you need some improvements.
We’re going to share our best tips for decreasing bounce rates below so that you can start retaining those visitors and converting them into your newest customers.
Optimize Pages for Quicker Load Times
All too often, website owners get stuck thinking that their website content is responsible for deterring visitors. In a sense, this is right. But not in the way that you likely think.
Many times, visitors don’t even get to see your page content when they visit your site. If the content takes too long to load, the visitor will simply hit the back button and move onto the next site.
Each page of your website should load in two seconds or less. Optimally, you want to shoot for under a second if you can. Anything longer, and visitors will be hitting the back button.
Optimizing your page speed can be as easy as compressing large images. With a simple search, you’ll find a long list of things that you can do to optimize the load time of your website pages.
Smart Formatting Matters
It doesn’t matter how valuable or informative your content is. If it doesn’t physically look enticing to read, most people won’t spend the time doing so.
This usually is the case when websites are not formatted correctly. Visitors feel immediate overwhelm when they’re met with a wall of text.
Instead, consider some smart formatting practices. Use whitespace to your advantage. Break up longer walls of text into small sections. Ideally, each paragraph should be three lines or less.
This way, it feels less intimidating and more manageable for the website visitor. Realize that headings and bulleted or numbered lists are great to draw in the attention of visitors.
Get a Clean Website Design
We can’t complete our list of tips for decreasing bounce rates without mentioning website design. The actual design of your website is so imperative to its overall performance.
When you offer a clean website design that is easy for a visitor to navigate, you’ll be able to decrease your bounce rate. It’s all about building a positive user experience.
Many times, website owners try to cram too much into their site. This can create an overall messy design that makes it overwhelming for a visitor to navigate.
In addition, many lack the simple function of navigational tools to allow users to get where they want to go. These navigational buttons need to be in plain sight. It’s such a simple concept, but so many people overlook it.
Keep the Sidebar Advertising to a Minimum
People are visiting your site to learn about something or purchase an item. If you’re experiencing higher than normal bounce rates, it could be due to the fact that visitors perceive your website as non-authoritative.
Think about this for a moment. Many of your well-known websites have very minimal, if any, advertising on the sidebar.
Sidebar advertising jumps out to the viewer as a lack of quality. Instead, you should be focusing your advertising efforts throughout your main website content. Leave the sidebar open for navigation.
This will help to drastically enhance the perceived authority of your website. And, this will, in turn, decrease your bounce rates.
Cross-Reference With Other Statistics
In the analytical world, you can’t base all of your decisions on one statistic. Rather, you need to cross-reference to identify how specific statistics interact with one another to create an overall story for your website.
For example, your website may have a higher bounce rate. Before you get started assuming it’s your content or site design, stop and look at some other statistics from your analytics program.
For example, consider your time on site statistics. If your time on site is within an acceptable range, then it’s very likely that your high bounce rate is due to your content.
However, if your time on site is pretty low, it’s more likely that you’re simply not supplying your visitors with what they’re looking for. Always take adequate time to cross-reference your analytics statistics to see what they are telling you in an overall picture.
Decreasing the bounce rate of your website can be done in a number of ways. The above are just some common suggestions to get you started.
Select enhancement options based on the individual needs of your website. By cross-referencing and understanding the various components of your website, you’ll be well on your way to formulating the right game plan to lower your bounce rate.