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Top Reasons For A High Website Bounce Rate
There can be many reasons why your website would have a high bounce rate and not all are “bad”. But in most cases, having a high bounce rate is an indication that something isn’t right. You’re not alone as many businesses face the same issue and may not even understand what it means. If you’re reading this, it’s a good thing, at least you know that there are many opportunities for improvement.
As an experienced digital marketing agency, IM Creative puts serious consideration into bounce rate data and the factors behind it. We try and maximise every dollar a client spends with us. Thus, using our Google Ads management services as an example, we don’t want a high bounce rate. If people are clicking through the ads at our clients’ expense but bouncing right away, this is money wasted. That’s why factors like relevancy, loading speed, and technical faults should be your first check for a high bounce rate.
We will be giving you some insight into the reasons for high bounce rates but first, let’s look at the basics.
What is a Bounce Rate?
According to Google, bounce rate is the number of users who visit your site but don’t take any other action. It is classed as a single-page session. It is referred to as a “bounce” as they view one page and then “bounce”/ leave.
This is calculated as a percentage and can be found in Google Analytics. Here, you will be able to see the percentage for all the individual pages on the site as well as the overall average. In addition, Google Analytics is great as you can also see other metrics such as:
- The time on site
- The average number of pages visited and
- How many visitors have come by
It pays to look at the bigger picture when looking at your bounce rates. Look at the metrics in conjunction with each other to get an accurate reading. For example, you have a high bounce rate but also the time spent on the site is high. This could mean that users have gotten what they came for on that one page and then left. Or the page with a high bounce rate is the Contact page where users are coming for a phone number. The bounce rate may be high but so is the success rate. It all depends on what your site is used for and your current site goals.
What is Considered a Good or Bad Bounce Rate?
As mentioned above, a good bounce rate depends on your needs. A high bounce rate could be good news for you and vice versa. The average bounce rate is between 26% to 70%. Bounce rates differ across industries so it’s hard to give one figure around what is good and what is bad. Instead, we can look at what is a high bounce rate along with supporting metrics.
70% and over is classed as a high bounce rate and it isn’t good when conversions are also low. If you have looked at your Google Analytics and at the right metrics, you can determine what needs work. Does the page have a low conversion rate? Are user’s not spending a lot of time on a page? Is the bounce rate high? If so, then you know this page needs attention.
Now, let’s look at some of the reasons you may have a high bounce rate.
Possible Reasons for a High Bounce Rate
1. Content
When users click on a website, they generally come to find the information they are looking for. After reading and scrolling on the landing page, they will be able to determine if your site was what they were after. If not, they will turn to another site – namely your competitors.
To combat this, you must understand your users and your target audience. Why do users choose your site over others and how can you improve this? With that in mind, alter and develop your content to fit those needs and answer their queries. Declutter and rearrange if necessary, removing anything not relevant and it may just be what you needed. If you find users are not spending enough time on your site, you can strategically place CTA’s or other written content to entice them to move around your site.
The medium where your visitors are coming from will also have an impact on the content expectations. Google advertising can drive visitors with intent and ready-to-go. A social media agency on the other hand brings visitors who need more information to make an informed decision.
Generally speaking, user attention span is generally extremely low. You’ve got a few seconds to answer their questions and provide them with a solution. That is why the solution can’t be hidden in a sea of content. It must stand out. In particular, if you’re engaging in SEO services, content must be of high quality and straight to the point. Shy away from cheap content providers that will overload your website with poor unrelated content.
2. User Experience
A user’s experience or UX can be affected by a lot of things. The layout of the site, the colour palette, pop-ups, ads, or site navigation. All these things can make or break the user experience. That is where hiring a good website design company makes a huge difference.
Sometimes less is more when it comes to your site. A simple layout with just the right colours does wonders, as well as cutting back on the clutter. In terms of navigation, you will know your site inside out but you may overlook certain things unknowingly. Like adding a search bar or tinkering with your menu to make it user-friendly. Remember, people aren’t as invested in your site as you are. Things must be clear and easy to navigate from the offset.
It may even pay to have a web design company look over your site for that second professional opinion.
3. Not Mobile Friendly
Everyone knows they should be mobile-friendly but not everyone has made the shift. If your site hasn’t been tweaked for mobile compatibility, it might run slower and look different. It may be too big for mobile screens and some of the content will be squished or below the fold. All this will most likely steer users back to Google and to the next result in line. Mobile phones are in almost everyone’s pockets, so it’s recommended you take the leap if you haven’t already. According to BroadbandSearch, 56% of internet traffic was done through mobile. Therefore, if your site isn’t mobile responsive, more than half of internet users may have a poor experience.
In particular, when generating traffic to your website through email marketing, mobile responsiveness is crucial. People generally tend to view open emails on the go and on mobile. Thus, if you’re directing mobile users to a bad landing page, your conversion rate will suffer.
If you aren’t 100% sure if your site is mobile-friendly, jump on the Test My Site tool to check.
4. Speed
As you probably know from experience, a site should load up almost instantly. If it doesn’t, then you are most likely to either try again or look elsewhere. Fixing or improving the speed of your site is never a waste. Some practical ways to improve speed are reducing image size, browser caching, and removing unnecessary code.
You can even jump online to PageSpeed Insights for website performance and testing analysis. Check your website’s loading speed as well as a breakdown of opportunities to improve.
Any SEO agency will tell you that loading speed plays an important role in search rankings.
5. Technical Issues
It’s highly probable that there is a technical issue if you have a high bounce rate and users are spending a few seconds on that page. For example, it could be due to an error with JavaScript or a plugin. A way to check this is by looking through your user’s eyes and going through your site as they would. This could be through Chrome on your mobile or Safari on a desktop. Google Analytics is great as it will break down the devices and platforms used to access your site. This way, you are replicating their experience and have a higher chance of catching that technical issue. If one is found, make sure to fix that straight away or ask someone who can.
6. Asking too much?
Does your site require your user’s to enter their information at some point? What are you asking of them? Sometimes, user’s can be put off by what information a site requires of them. This could be their credit card details, DOB, children’s names, IRD number, etc. At some point, a line needs to be drawn and you need narrow the information gathering down. If possible, and based on Google Analytics, cull the unnecessary and keep it minimal. In today’s day and age, internet privacy is big and users steer clear of those who ask for too much.
Tips to Reduce Your Bounce Rate
Seeing the whole picture when it comes to bounce rates is crucial as it is not always bad. But after looking at the data from Google Analytics, you will be able to pinpoint the areas that need work. Once you have found that, here are some tips on what to do next:
1. Start With the Page With the Worst Bounce Rate
If you have a high bounce rate overall, then it’s likely that one or two pages are copping it all. Once you have located it, as mentioned above, look at the metrics data. Are users getting what they came for? Are they spending a lot of time on it or barely a few seconds? You can look at your layout and content next to try and find the culprit. If you are still struggling here, you can even ask a friend to navigate the page and tell you what stands out. An outside opinion might just do the trick.
2. Visualisation Tools
To take it a step further, you can access these two visualisation tools to get an inside scoop. Website recording, such as Hotjar, shows you how your users navigate your site. You can see when they click on the mouse, where they hover, and what routes they take on your site. It is a super handy tool you can access, especially on the high bounce pages. Another tool you can use is HeatMaps via Hotjar. It allows you to see the “heat signature” where your user’s cursor lands on-page and where most activity is. If you find there are certain spots their cursor is landing, this could be a place to put a call-to-action. With this tool, you get an idea of what is working for your users and what isn’t.
3. A/B Testing
With the assistance of the above visualisation tools, you can implement some A/B tests. This is where you copy a page from your site and make minor tweaks here and there. For example, you could change the headers, images, or content. Once you have made a copy, upload it and see how your users interact with the updated content. This way, you can see which of the two pages is more appealing and potentially lower your bounce rate.
4. Your Content
Sometimes it’s not clear if the beginning of your content is what you make it out to be. It takes reading and re-reading many times before it can be refined. Whatever it is you are advertising, it must be reflected in your content. As in you can’t say you have the “best” product in the market but it barely has a 4-star rating. Make sure it aligns with what you are providing as well as getting content spell-checked too.
Conclusion
A “bounce” is when your site is visited but the user doesn’t go beyond that initial landing page. They leave a few seconds later or so, with or without converting. The “bounce rate” is the percentage that this happens and for some, a high rate is not desirable. Note that having a high bounce rate on some pages may be what you want or isn’t an issue. Things like affiliate links or blogs will have high bounce rates as it is a single visit in most cases.
So, not all bounces are bad but if it is an issue, there are things you can look at to combat it. Make sure your site is user and mobile-friendly. Remove any outdated content and maybe invest in a site revamp. Colours and layouts are just as important, so take note of some sites you like and how they do things. A high bounce rate doesn’t have to be the end of the world but in many cases, you can lower it.
For help with these tips and a site assessment, feel free to get in touch.
