What is a Bounce Rate and Why is it Important?
You run a website. You want to keep people on your site to make sales and to advertise key features of your business.
But, when you look at the analytics you see that your site has a high bounce rate. In short, people are coming to your site and then leaving after only a few seconds!
This can be a very frustrating experience for those new to website management. And you will find a common question arises, how do I lower my bounce rate?
To answer your question, there are many ways to lower your bounce rate. It will never be perfect (meaning there is exponential room for improvement), but a lower bounce rate will leave your competition reeling, readers will stay on your page longer, and your site will become king of the castle.
But before we go any further, let’s define bounce rate.
Bounce rate is the percentage of visitors to a particular webpage (your home page for example), who navigate away from the site after viewing just one page.
So, if a visitor goes to your home page and then clicks back to google after five seconds, they have bounced. However, if another visitor goes to your home page, then visits your about page next, they did not bounce.
The bounce rate is impacted by your website's user experience. You can think of it as a rough way to gauge visitors' first impressions of your site. Factors like slow loading speed, out of place graphics, and even confusing copy can turn prospects around in their tracks.
In this post, we will take a deep dive into bounce rate, look at some of the causes, and give you a few solutions for reducing your bounce rate (and turning visitors into sales and contacts).
Learn more about the Legend Web Works marketing department and the difference we can make for your site here!
A Deeper Look at Bounce Rate for Your Cincinnati or Dayton Business
Many business owners from Cincinnati and Dayton come to us for more information on bounce rates. If you have some questions about what bounce rate means and how it affects your business, you are not alone.
When site managers first start to wonder about bounce rate, they want two things, first, what is bounce rate, and second how to improve bounce rate for their site.
After that, they usually go on their way, content to think that they can find their own solutions for their personal bounce rate conundrum. This is often a mistake, as there are several verifiable bounce rate solutions you should try before you look for custom ideas.
So, now that we understand what a bounce rate is, let’s explore some deeper questions!
What is the first thing your readers should see when they go to your site? Learn the answer with this quick guide!
What is a good bounce rate? What are some bounce rate best practices?
On average, most sites have a bounce rate between 26% and 70%. This is according to a study done by RocketFuel. If you are in that range, then your site is probably doing fine (but there is room for improvement).
Meanwhile, the SEO experts at Semrush say the average bounce rate is 41-55% and the optimal rate is 26-40%.
We love this guide! Learn more from Semrush here!
Contrary to common belief, a low bounce rate may not be great either. Anything below 25% means something on your site is broken.
Here’s a quick scale you can scan to determine where your site is at and how it can improve.
70%+: Red alert! Houston we have a problem! You’re in deep trouble, and there are likely multiple areas you need to address.
56-69%: A bit high, but nothing a few weeks of work can’t fix. Likely one or two problem areas.
41-55%: Your site is average. You’re not doing anything wrong, but there are a few small changes that can make a big difference.
26-40%: Your site is aces when it comes to bounce rate and user experience. Let’s focus on keeping that bounce rate low!
25% and lower: Okay, this is a bit too low. Something is wrong with your tracking program, or you are getting so few visitors that bounce rate is insignificant. Verify that your analytics are correct. If you are still posting sub-25%, call Legend Web Works and we’ll give you a few tips!
Also, keep in mind that bounce rate will look different for different industries. Those industries that experience high web traffic and a great deal of browsing and price comparing will have higher bounce rates than those industries that are more direct.
Our good friends at Custom Media Lab have put together this handy guide for bounce rate by industry.
- 20% – 45% for e-commerce and retail websites
- 25% – 55% for B2B websites
- 30% – 55% for lead generation websites
- 35% – 60% for non-e-commerce content websites
- 60% – 90% for landing pages
- 65% – 90% for dictionaries, portals, blogs, and generally websites that revolve around news and events
Let’s wrap up this section with a word about determining the quality of your bounce rate.
No two sites are the same. That is true whether you live in Cincinnati, Dayton, or anywhere else in the world. A high (or low) bounce rate isn’t necessarily a good or bad thing. It is just that generally a lower bounce rate is good, and generally a higher bounce rate is bad.
What is most important is following bounce rate best practices and bounce rate optimization.
If you are consistently working to improve your site and your user experience, then you will find success on the web, even if your bounce rate is higher than you want.
Think of it this way, for all those bounces your site experiences, the likelihood that they would make a purchase or fill out a contact form is pretty low, to begin with. So long as you have a healthy site speed, and invest in quality graphics, layout, SEO, and copy, the customers who want to buy your product or service will find you.
If you are not sure if your site’s bounce rate is too high or too low, shoot Legend Web Works a quick message and we can help you decide!
Bounce Rate Solutions to Boost Your Conversions in Cincinnati and Dayton
Bounce rate isn't everything, but it is still important. Correcting your bounce rate from too high to average can make a big difference when it comes to converting website visitors into sales.
When we see that a bounce rate is not where it should be, there are a few factors we immediately look at.
Don’t Let Your Web Design Fall Flat!
One of the biggest factors impacting bounce rate is web design. If your site looks like it should be running on Windows 98, then that is an immediate red flag. Poor graphic design, an unsightly or unwieldy layout, and other eye sores are huge reasons that people click away from your site.
If your site is not well maintained, then your visitors will start to wonder how you will treat them as a client.
Great Copy? Copy That!
Another bounce rate downfall is poor or missing copy. Copy, or the text that appears on your website, should be simple and clear, and your reader should know exactly what to do after reading.
Copy will create hype for a product. It will establish the tone of your brand. It may even encourage a reader to make a purchase.
But it cannot be directionless, blocky, poorly spaced, convoluted, or sloppy.
Be sure to use subheadings in addition to page headers to keep your copy well organized and skim-able.
It is best to invest in a copywriter so you get copy you can count on, but if you decide to do it yourself, keep it simple, informative, and always point towards a goal (usually a sale or a contact form).
Slow Site? Take Flight!
Another big issue that causes people to bounce from your site is slow site speeds.
This is often caused by sites that have too many widgets, features, or large/non web optimized images. Great sites are simple and attractive. Trying to do too much can cause your site to struggle to load.
In today's world, the average internet user's attention span is less than three seconds. If your site takes longer than that to load, you can count on your visitors looking elsewhere.
Your Bounce Rate Solutions Summarized
Want to improve your bounce rate? Do the following:
- Improve your site speed
- Use clear copy and make your site easy to read
- Consider what your visitors are searching for and satisfy their intent
- Use a table of contents for quick skimming
- Create a better mobile experience
- Use internal links wisely and purposefully
Above are a few solutions that can help improve your bounce rate. But again, every site is different. Your site may just have a naturally high bounce rate due to industry or clientele. Or you may have a naturally low bounce rate that you can improve on.
If you run a business in Cincinnati, Dayton, or anywhere in Ohio and Northern Kentucky, and you have questions on your site’s bounce rate, shoot Legend Web Works a quick message!
Legend Web Works Gives You a Stronger Website in Cincinnati and Dayton
User experience is king. This is the golden rule when it comes to building websites.
You need to give your visitor what they want and you need to make relevant information as plain as day. They want to get in and get out with what they need as quickly as possible.
Following bounce rate best practices will help improve the user experience and will see you getting more sales or contacts.
The problem? It is not always easy to tell whether your bounce rate needs improvement.
That’s where the experts at Legend Web Works come in. Our team of website developers and marketing experts know what it takes to improve your website’s bounce rate so you can find sustainable online success..
Whether it be a few simple tweaks or a website rebuild, we can identify what you need to keep your bounce rate low and convert your visitors into sales and contacts.
If you are wondering about your bounce rate, reach out to Legend Web Works now! We can look at your site and give you a fair assessment of your strengths and weaknesses, and we can help you start the road to improvement today!
For a site with a bounce rate that will burry the competition, click here to reach out to Legend Web Works!
Satisfied with the Legend Web Works difference? Leave us a quick review on Google here!
Don’t miss out on the best! Follow Legend Web Works on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn for more free web marketing content!
