A successful website is one that attracts a steady stream of qualified visitors and compels those visitors to stick around. That’s why bounce rate is an important factor to consider when testing the effectiveness of your website.
Bounce rate is defined as the percentage of visitors who enter a site and “bounce” rather than continue to view additional pages on the same site. According to web analytics expert Avinash Kaushik, a bounce rate of less than 30% is good, but a bounce rate of 60% or higher is a cause for concern.
A low bounce rate is an indication that your website is performing optimally, as visitors are spending a significant amount of time on it. On the other hand, a high bounce rate shows that visitors are clicking away instead of seeing all that your website has to offer. To reduce your website’s bounce rate and increase its stickiness, motivate visitors to spend more time on your website with the following tips.
1. Create Compelling Content
One of the factors that motivate people to stay on a website longer is content. Well-written content that speaks directly to the interests of your target audience will grab and hold their attention. For example, if your website is about dog breeding, your content should provide helpful tips and advice about the subject and present solutions to your target audience’s most difficult challenges. Relevant, engaging content will pique the interest of your prospects and motivate them to explore your website further.
2. Encourage Visitors to Comment
Encourage your readers to leave comments after consuming your content by asking them intriguing questions or covering hotly debated topics. Your readers will be motivated to share their views. Furthermore, reply to all comments in a friendly manner to encourage new visitors to participate in the conversation.
3. Interlink Your Articles
When writing an article, link to other articles you’ve written in the past to make it easier for readers to find additional content on your website. Not only will this minimize your website’s bounce rate, it will also have a positive impact on your website’s SEO.
4. Make Links Open in New Windows
The idea behind reducing bounce rate is to ensure that visitors check out more than one page of your website, so when you link to external websites, make sure that those links open in new tabs or windows. That way, your visitors will keep the landing page (the page they reached upon visiting your site) open and also spend some time on the newly opened pages.
5. Leverage Your Sidebars
Don’t leave your sidebars empty or fill them with distracting widgets. Make good use of your sidebars by linking to valuable resources that your visitors won’t be able to resist. In your sidebars, feature links to new, popular, or essential content. This will encourage people to explore your website. In addition, organize your content archives neatly to enhance the user experience and make it easier for visitors to browse all of your content.
6. Make Your Search Box Highly Visible
If visitors can’t find what they are looking for on your website, they may get frustrated and click away, unless you give them the option to perform searches. Be sure to include a prominent search box on every page of your site to enable visitors to find the exact information they seek.
7. Display Excerpts of Content on Your Home Page
One factor that will influence visitors’ decisions regarding whether or not to explore your website further upon landing on the home page is the layout of the content. Display excerpts of your articles on the home page to entice visitors to click through and read more. Your visitors may get overwhelmed and leave if you display your content in its entirety.
8. Display Additional Articles Readers Might Like
At the bottom of each piece of content you publish on your website, display links to other relevant articles that visitors can consume once they’re finished reading. If you’re using a CMS like WordPress, there are plugins created exclusively for this purpose. Visit LinkWithin.com for more information.
9. Create an Informative “About” Page
After your home page, your “about” page is likely the most visited page of your website. This is because people want to find out more about you and your business. So, put your “about” page link next to your home page link in your website’s main navigation bar, and provide relevant details about yourself and your products or services on your “about” page.
10. Improve Page Load Times
Your website visitors have limited attention spans. If your website takes too long to load, they might get fed up and leave. Improve your site’s page load times by getting rid of unnecessary social media widgets, images, pop-ups, and ads. Perform tests to determine what your website’s page load times are and how you could improve them.
Bounce rate is an important factor to consider when evaluating the performance and usability of your website. A high bounce rate indicates that something is not right. To significantly reduce your website’s bounce rate and compel visitors to stick around longer, follow the above tips and improve your website’s overall user experience.
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