How to reduce your website's bounce rate

Avoid interruptions

The most annoying thing is being interrupted while trying to browse a website.  Avoid using splash pages. These are pages which serve as a cover page for your actual website. These can look very attractive and inviting but can also deter a visitor as they will need to be clicked to enter the actual site.

Having intrusive pop up surveys and polls will also put people off. These may require too much effort from your visitor.

Remove any audio features on your website as this could discourage your visitor. If you do need sound then make it an option to turn it on or off easily. Providing distractions will make it hard for your user to concentrate and therefore more likely to exit your site.

 

Relevant content

The content on your page will greatly affect your bounce rate. Your content needs to be engaging, easy to read and digestible. It could be the key to making your visitor stay and browse other pages within your website. You need to have something that will grab their attention, proceed to keep them interested and want to read on.

When a visitor lands on your page there’ll want to see something that matches or answers the search that they have typed in. Ensure that your visitor gets as much relevant information in as short amount of time as possible. You’ll need to make your heading highly relevant to what your user is likely to have searched. They’ll need to be enticing and prompt your user to take action upon reading them. Write for your audience and use language that they can easily relate to.

 

Appealing design and images

The design and layout of your website is an obvious contributor to the overall bounce rate of your site. It needs to look attractive and enticing and play on your visitor’s visual senses. Experiment with themes and colour schemes that are well suited to the image of your company. Having a clean page that can be scanned also helps. Putting a company logo at the top of your page will make your site look more professional and therefore more trustworthy.

Choosing the right image for your homepage can be tricky. It needs to really show off the best from your website and be related to the content. A well chosen image will really appeal to your visitor’s aesthetic senses and make them more inclined to explore the rest of your site.

 

Visibility

All your most important content should be at the top and remain above the fold so the user doesn’t have to scroll down to read vital information. Having all the important information at the top where it is highly accessible means your user will have instant access to it and find out what they need to.

 

Search box

Providing a search box on your page means that users will be able to search for what they want to find on your site straight away. This is a great way of sending your visitor directly to the page they’re looking for especially if your site is packed with various information and pages.

 

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