Wednesday, February 20, 2013

Reducing High Bounce Rates

When you view the metrics for your website, do you notice that you have an increasing number of bounce rates? What are bounce rates, anyway?



According to the definition that was given by Google Analytics, bounce rates refer to the quantity of Internet users who exit just a few minutes after they arrive in a particular site. This is not always a negative occurrence, since there are times when a site visitor immediately sees what he or she was searching for and decides to leave. At least they did not have to research further and use up more time.

The problem is that this rate is normally a sign that users have been entering and exiting a site because of something negative. It’s either they don’t believe it can give them what they need, or the site really does not have what they were looking for – well, at least not immediately. If more site visitors are leaving your website as fast as they came in, here are some possible reasons why, and some solutions to remedy them:

The dreaded “Pop-ups”

This form of advertising can encourage discussion and more users subscribing to your goods and services or your mailing list if the timing and use is right. The problem is that a lot of site visitors are annoyed by this. If you observe that more users have been bouncing off your website since the time you added the pop-up, try programming a delay so that users get to look at your site first.

Lackluster design

While Internet users may not be web designers, they will know what a poorly built site looks like. It is at your best interest to have a visually harmonious design that will strengthen your brand.

Usability and navigation

Any user who arrives at a website that is full of clutter and has nothing of value will have many reasons to leave it. Consult the experts of web usability standards to figure out the best way to set up a clean website and keep your users in there longer.