A term that many website owners may not be familiar with now, but a vital asset to monitor on your website. The definition according to Google Analytics is “the percentage of single-page visits or visits in which the person left your site from the entrance (landing) page.” Other sites and designers may consider visitors who come to you home page, but don’t visit other pages on your site – not just those who come and then leave. I’d also like to mention that a website with a lot of traffic but a low turn-over rate when it comes to leads is still not a fully functioning website.
We use our hosting company 1and1 and they’re Website Statistics tool via the control panel. It shows stats on all files accessed on your site and not just the pages. An easier tool is Google Analytics which is free from Google. All you need is a Google account which takes a few minutes to setup. If you’re hosting company doesn’t offer site statistics this is a great option for you. This tool show you your links to your site, hits, time on each page, traffic sources, browsers, and of course bounce rates.
Read below for some tips on how to improve your website bounce rate.
- Have an attractive call to action. Some calls to action items include free give-aways, analysis, downloads, contest, etc.
- Short talking points that link to other pages of your site that have more information to read in-depth.
- Relevant content to what your site is about. This one is a bit tricky because when someone lands on your page from searching or a specific topic or key words; they’re hoping to get those questions answered when they “land” on your site. Whether that information is on your home page, or another specific landing page.
- Headlines. Especially in bold or big letter font.
- Forms. Not just any type of form, but a simple and quick to fill out form that gathers visitor email, name, phone, and if possible social media handles.
- Browser compatibility. I’m not just talking about Firefox vs IE. Think about Google Chrome, Opera, and mobile browsers like Safari too.
Though these are just a few simple key items to focus on, they are big when it comes to your website’s ROI. Also consider they ease reading the content of your website. Reading the details or articles on your pages should be easy. I’ve read in some blogs that eighth grade vocabulary is a good level for the text on your site. Personally, I feel that it should be easy to read and directly to the point. If I want to read more, I’ll click the “read more” link or follow on to another page that seems to have more information about a particular topic or details. If you have more questions about this topic, or how your own website’s bounce rate is feel free to give us a call (1-888.603.1090) or send us an email. Here at Design Theory we provide free consultations to understand your needs and provide solid options to choose from.
Thanks for the reminder about Google Analytics. I have it installed on my site, I check it now and then, but I should be checking it more and diving down deeper into the areas such as bounce rate etc. Nice article Jean.
Yea, look into the new beta features they have like the In-Page Analytics that Google has. Its a great tool for finding out what visitors are viewing based on the percentage of traffic each page is getting. I plan on doing a write up soon on it. Everyone should have this on their site and check it weekly.