A Bounce Rate is a common website metric you’ll find on Google Analytics or other statistics services. It refers to the percentage of website visitors that directly leave rather than look at other pages on the same site. If a visitor stays on a landing page and doesn’t leave after a certain time-out it also counts as a bounce.
It’s an effective tool to determine how well your landing page performs and how well it encourages visitors to delve deeper into your site. Generally, the lower the better. A subjective rating would be something like:
0-20% – Excellent, But Difficult to Achieve
21-35% – Very Good, On Target
36-50% – Average, May Need Review
51-100% – Poor, Action Needed
A high bounce rate may not necessarily be bad. If your site is purposely designed so that a visitor finds everything they need on the landing page, the bounce rate is irrelevant. However, if you have a e-commerce site there is a conversion path. This is a chain of web pages on your site that ultimately lead to a completed sale. With a high bounce rate, customers are not completing transactions – no sales.
So, if you have a high bounce rate, what can you to do to lower it? The first thing is to determine the reason.
Search Engine Keyword Mismatch
If there is a mismatch between customer expectations and your site’s content, visitors will immediately leave. This is especially true if you’re running a search engine ad using misleading keywords. For example, if you have a Motorcycle business and you’re using seemingly logical keywords like “Custom Bikes”, “Cycle Sports” or “Yamaha”, you will draw people interested in Bicycles and Pianos. They will leave your site quickly.
Wrong Page
When you run ads, you can specify a landing page. It is very important to select a page that will engage the customer in the conversion path. If you run a shoe store, and your keywords are “Italian Shoes”, the landing page should be the Italian Shoe catalog, not the home page or the press releases.
Page Layout
Even if the correct content is on the landing page, it might not be obvious to visitors. If they can’t immediately find what they’re seeking, they’ll leave. Use eye-tracking tools like Attention Wizard, CrazyEgg or Click Tale to find hotspots on your page and change your layout.
Complex or Confusing Conversion Path
The conversion path or online customer’s purchase path should be dead simple and clear. If you try to collect too much information or display distracting or irrelevant information, visitors will simply give up. Give them a call to action and make it obvious how to buy.
Summary
Once you’ve determined the source of your high bounce rate, you’ll be able to see the solution.
Constantly monitor your analytics. The bounce rate should be one of the first things you look at. Adjust your site pages and ads accordingly, and you should see a steady decline the bounce rate.
If you’d like to share any experiences with fixing high bounce rates, please leave a comment below.