As defined by Google Analytics, the “bounce rate” is the percentage of single-page visitors to a website. On most websites, you want visitors to “convert” by clicking through to another of the site’s webpages – start buying something, read more, fill out a form, etc. But if the visitor bounces, it suggests:
– The visitor didn’t find what he or she was looking for.
– The webpage was too difficult to use.
Set realistic expectations
Ultimately, you should be tracking bounce rate against your own historical performance and goals. But it is wise to ground your expectations in reality.
Google Analytics Benchmark Averages for Bounce Rate:
Content websites: 40-60%
Lead generation: 30-50%
Blogs: 70-98%
Retail sites: 20-40%
Service sites: 10-30%
Landing pages: 70-90%
Attract the right visitors
Choose the right keywords to match your content, not just attract any visitors.
Create multiple landing pages with unique content and keywords for different types of visitors.
Maintain top rankings for branded terms.
Write attractive, useful meta-descriptions for search engine users.
Improve targeting of online advertising campaigns.
Enhance Usability
Good color contrast
Larger fonts
Large headlines
Bulleted lists
White space
Sensible organization
Use Good Layout
Easy to find search
Quick navigation
Content in sections
Responsive layout for multiple platforms and browsers.
* 17.4% of views from mobile devices.
Speed up pageload – use little or no self-loading multimedia content.
Set external links to open in new windows.
Don’t let ads distract.
– Place statis ads to sides.
– Avoid pop-ups.
– Avoid self-loading multimedia ads.
Provide good content
1. Obvious main message
2. Clear heads and subheads
3. Tailored to intended visitors
4. Stylist copy and images
5. Few errors
6. Clear call to action
7. Obvious links to next steps
Case Studies
Robert Gainer
Decreased bounce rate from 86% to 1.5% in 2 days by implementing responsive layout.
Simple SEO Group
Simple SEO Group reduced a client’s bounce rate from 50% to 5% by
– Improving navigation
– Updating images to be better looking and have clearer calls to action
– Remove unnecessary website elements
– Improved layout responsiveness
Simple SEO Group reduced a client’s bounce rate from 58% to 29% by
– Reorganizing navigation to lead purchaser to a strong call to action
– Improving the writing quality of the content and breaking it down into 6 categories
– Consolidated, improved and updated the websites blogs
– Added web sliders with clear calls to action
Ascendia
Ascendia improved Kenosha Area Convention and Visitor Bureau’s (KACVB) bounce rates in for several visitor types through responsive layout changes and a targeted PPC campaign to attract the right visitors.
– New mobile-specific website reduced bounce rate of mobile visitors by 13%
– Optimized general website reduced bounce rate by 14%
– PPC visitors reduced bounce rate by 26%
Search Engine Optimization decreased the bounce rate of an online shoe retailer by 42% through URL optimization to gain high PageRanks for all major shoe keywords specific to brand, style and gender.
