What is Your Bounce Rate Telling You?
April 2, 2013
A bounce rate is the percentage of people who visit only one page of your custom website in Scottsdale or another city before clicking the back button. If you have a high bounce rate upward of 60 percent, this is typically a cause of concern and should be investigated. While high bounce rates can often mean that the content of your custom websites in Scottsdale are failing to connect with your audience, you should also know that sometimes the high rate doesn’t necessarily mean failure.
If your business has a pretty high bounce rate, it could mean that the searcher was able to gather all the information they needed from one page. For example, a user could have entered a very specific search query that took them directly to the page that met their needs without any further investigation. They may have received the phone number or email address or any other information that they needed, which means your custom website in Scottsdale was a success; however, this still will negatively affect your bounce rate because the user didn’t explore more than one page. For this reason, it is important to investigate the reason behind your high bounce rate.
As a business owner, you should understand that not every customer is the same. When visiting your custom websites in Scottsdale, customers may be looking for very different information to solve a wide array of needs. In order to better understand the potential customers visiting your custom website in Scottsdale, you should break the visitors into segments based on their behaviors.
To do this, use an analytics program to count all the visitors that didn’t complete a specific goal. Then, count the visitors that completed micro conversions, such as research or support. These individuals received the information they needed from your custom website in Scottsdale and shouldn’t be included in the bounce rate calculation. When you remove the segment of visitors completing micro conversions, you are left with the visitors that had the intent, but didn’t convert for one reason or another. This will give you a more accurate bounce rate.
If your bounce rate is still relatively high, you may actually have issues with your custom websites or custom mobile websites in Scottsdale that need to be improved upon. Consider the following techniques for reducing the bounce rate on your custom websites in Scottsdale and other cities around the country:
• Reduce page load times. If the pages on your custom website in Scottsdale are loading too slowly, this will lead to a spike in bounce rates. Visitors now-a-days expect websites to load almost instantaneously and will click the back button if they are forced to wait more than a few seconds for your custom websites in Scottsdale to load. Using an online program, you can measure the load time of your site and receive recommendations for improved speed times.
• Redesign the site structure. One cause for high bounce rates is the design of your custom website in Scottsdale. If users aren’t able to find the information that they are looking for due to a design that is not appealing, user friendly or organized, they will immediately discount your site and click the back button.
• Spruce up your content. If you have high bounce rates, it may be because your content doesn’t connect with your audience. The content has to be valuable and relevant to the visitors reading your custom website in Scottsdale in order for them to continue searching through the pages. Think about your industry and what kind of information your customers want to learn. Look at what your competitors are doing and try to find a way to provide information that may be more interesting and unique. Once you have solid content, always have a few people review it for grammatical and spelling errors as these can immediately discount your credibility as an expert in your industry.
If your bounce rate is high, it is essential that you segment your visitors to better understand why they are leaving your site and then determine what you can to do improve these statistics should there be a problem with your custom website in Scottsdale.
At Fasturtle, our talented designers are able to create custom websites in Scottsdale and other cities that are designed to be both appealing to the eye and easily navigable. We also have a team of experienced copywriters that research and write valuable content for your custom website in Scottsdale that is delivered in the voice of your business. If you are interested in reducing your bounce rate through the creation of custom websites or custom mobile websites in Scottsdale or another city, please call Fasturtle at (888) 468-8785 or contact us online.