For any business around the world - whether it’s an online organization or an offline one - creating and maintaining a quality website is key to bringing in more prospects and converting them into buying customers.

But this is easier said than done.

When creating your own website, one of the key factors to look out for is the bounce rate.

In this article, I’m going to give you a crash course on website bounce rates.

I’ll explain what exactly a website’s bounce rate is, and why you should pay special attention to this metric.

I’ve even got a couple of basic guidelines to keep in mind to help you lower that bounce rate and retain more visitors on your website.

Let’s jump right in.

What Is Bounce Rate?

Bounce Rate is an online marketing terminology that is used to analyze traffic on the website.  It gives you a complete analysis of the percentage of website visitors who open up a webpage and leave it almost immediately, rather than sticking around the same web portal and viewing other pages in the website.

A high bounce rate implies that there's something significantly wrong in the way the website is strategized since it is unable to attract and call in the right set of visitors in hopes of generating more leads.

To calculate a website’s bounce rate, you need to divide the number of single page visits by the total number of website visits.

Before we go any further, it’s important to note that while the aim of most marketers is to ensure a  low bounce rate but for a matter of fact, having high bounce rate does not always imply a poor performance since there are websites where  the objective can be easily met without having to view anything beyond that single landing page.

That’s why having the right interpretation of the bounce rate measure needs to be understood before calculating it in a way that it is aligned with the objectives of the business.

What Is A Good Bounce Rate?

When you look for a perfect rate of conversion or a good bounce rate, the rule of thumb says that ideally you should be having a bounce rate of somewhere in between 40 to 50% because anything above 50% depicts that there's a lot of room for improvement which can be significantly covered up.  

Bounce rate of 80% is actually pretty amazing. Also, do not forget that if your bounce rate seems above 90% or somewhere below 20% that might indicate an installation error or the tracking of the code itself.

Though in certain circumstances, it is perfectly fine to have a bounce rate somewhere above these mentioned figures like in the cases suggested above.

How To Lower Your Website Bounce Rate?

There are certain strategies that you can actually look out for and incorporate in order to reduce the website bounce rate. Think of these strategies as a checklist to keep in mind when optimizing your website to boost conversion rates.

1. Pay Attention To The Page Load Time

When a visitor visits your website and has to unnecessarily wait for an excessive long time, say more than 3 to 4 seconds just for your page to load before they can explore its contents, they are more likely to leave your website and check out your competition.

Having to wait longer clearly implies that the user experience you are providing your audience is not up to the mark. The content on your website does not matter if your visitors are not able to immediately see it as soon as they click on your link.

The deal is that you understand that nobody wishes to wait for even a bit to look through something that you're offering and this thing even plays a much more crucial role when it comes to devices like mobile as people tend to become infuriated with the slow paced stuff and just tend  to bounce back.

Also read: How To Decrease Customer Churn With Personalized Videos

2. Avoid Pop Ups Until Absolutely Necessary

Pop ups are a very crucial element for conversions. A well timed popup can convince a website visitor to leave their contact details, or even click on the CTA to become a paying customer.

However, having too many of them, especially in the  wrong places on your website can have a very negative impact, leading to an overall bad user experience for your website visitors. Incorporating too many popups without thought can be really annoying for visitors and make them leave your website.

While incorporating pop-ups, make sure that they are not generic and have the relevant information in context to the web page they are on and also are not very intrusive. Also, do not forget that the visitors get really annoyed if these pop ups are difficult to close or dismiss. Situations like these turnout to be really irritating and take a toll on your visitor’s patience.

3. Create A Compelling Call To Action

Having one liners and fancy graphic content isn’t enough to convert visitors. You need to create a call to action that is equally compelling and eye catching. A good call to action can lead to a substantial decrease in the visitor exits or the bounce rate of the website.

While creating a call to action element or actually optimizing it, it's not just one element but its cohesiveness with all the elements along with it because something as small as changing the phrase on the call to action button is something that can have a huge impact and make a huge difference in that sense.

Also, make sure that your call to action is absolutely honest,  clear and very easily understood. This ensures that visitors who are on your website know just what they’re about to sign up for by clicking on the call to action.

Having an optimized  call to action improves your overall conversion rate in a way that once your customer has tapped in your CTA  and are aware of what your offering them and how it will be beneficial for them, they will gladly stay on your side and perform the needful for both the ends leading to lesser bounce rates and a much better performing website.

4. Be Relevant To Your Target Audience

Stop serving what hasn't been ordered.  In other words, stop loading your website with content that doesn't really make sense to your audience or is not of any matter to them because visitors on your website don't have much time and would bounce back the moment they find something that is not what they're looking for.

Your website or webpage should be optimized in a way that it serves to the direct needs and queries of your visitors instead of using irrelevant high rated keywords which most of the businesses these days tend to do.

The content that you plan to put up should be well aligned with the keywords and the end result of what is expected out of your brand and what you expect out of your users.

There are certain questions that you can ask yourself before you start putting all the content together like, what is your visitor here for? What problems are they potentially trying to solve?

What stage of the marketing funnel are they currently in? etc. Also,  do not forget that although your website has been put up to create more customers, it does not mean that you start selling your product or service at odd places. Everything you put up needs to have a revised thought behind it for it to perform the way you expected it to.

5. Make Your Site Readable

It’s important to make your website as readable as possible to ensure that you don’t overwhelm your visitors with information that they didn’t ask for. Be direct and to the point.

There are a few very easy tips that can be followed to help your site get better in terms of its readability:
- Break chunks of content into easier to read single liners or at least smaller pieces of the same.
- Make sure that your headlines are big, bold and clear.
- Incorporate plenty of graphics, statistics and quotes from the field experts wherever required and feels appropriate.
- Put up content that is interactive and not just readable from a single end.

6. Create A Smooth Navigation Experience

Your website is a place where you perform better the moment you put the visitors at the center of your website design. When you start designing and strategizing the way your website is going to turn out, it is important for you to step into the shoes of your user in order to understand what they want and how they want.

This way you can easily trace out a way in which your visitors get to see what they are looking for the moment they come to your webpage and further take the call to action accordingly.

In simple words, your website's navigation experience should be such that it is immediately understood and offers your visitors an effortless experience.

7. Use Video Content

When it comes to the content that is not just engaging but also seems interactive, videos are the ones that do the job much better than any form of text or even images could possibly do.

Especially these days, videos have become a trend where in the animations, music, narration, colors, additional Giphy's act as  really persuasive tools to getting your visitors to act the way you wish them to do.

This sort of video content can be incorporated anywhere, from the basic background of a website to your call to action to create a more dynamic experience for the website visitor.

Conclusion

Now that you know why your potential buyers are bouncing back, it's time for you to understand the reasons and incorporate strategies based on them. Also, the game doesn't end here.

Besides reducing the bounce rate of your website, it is important for you to analyze your conversion rate and work towards the enhancement of the same.  

Do not forget the trendy part of incorporating videos for much more engaging and personalized content on VideoForm for the same. It helps you create your content with a lot of ease and while respecting your convenience.

Book a demo today to know more!