The bounce rate of your website can affect how well your site performs in search engines, and it’s an indicator of how well your website is performing. There are some strategies you can use to improve your bounce rate, and keep readers on your website longer. Google lists several potential reasons for a high bounce rate, including having a single-page site, poor implementation and/or site design, and typical user behavior.
A High Bounce Rate Isn’t Always Bad
A perfectly tuned website, with stringent, in-depth answers to reader questions might be a successful website but still have a high bounce rate. A high bounce rate could simply indicate that you’ve answered your readers question completely and they had no need to stay on your site any longer. You can determine if this is the case by checking the average time users stay on your site. If users are staying long enough to read entire articles, it may be they are getting what they want and leaving.
Use Multiple Pages
A single-page website is going to have a high bounce rate. If you post all your content on a single page, consider breaking it up into multiple pages with specific subheadings for each page. This has the effect of improving your overall bounce rate since readers will navigate to the next page in your article.
Fine-tune Articles
Placing content on multiple pages allows you to fine-tune your articles to find out where people are leaving. If they make it to the second or third page of an article and then leave, you know where you need to boost their attention with offers, images or other forms of enticing media.
Install Live Chat Features
Especially if you have an eCommerce or large website, a live chat can drastically improve your bounce rate. Consider implementing an instant messaging software for business that is smart and unobtrusive. Programs that monitor your visitors in an intelligent way can check what your customers are doing and better identify the kind of help they need. If you can get them the information they want and provide assistance before they leave, you’ll be in a better position to help your customers and keep them on your website longer.
Managing a website is about the customer experience. You need an appealing website that makes customers feel comfortable doing business with you. Ensure your website is mobile-ready and contains easily readable fonts and a clear, concise website design. Engage your visitors with valuable content and they will stay longer, click on more pages and decrease your bounce rate.